George Springer homered twice and made two nifty catches in right field, Colby Rasmus hit a three-run homer and the Houston Astros beat the Colorado Rockies 6-3 Monday night. Rasmus gave the Astros a 4-0 lead with his shot in the first inning and Springer hit solo home runs in the second and seventh. Dallas Keuchel (8-2) retired the first 15 Colorado batters. He wound up allowing four hits and left after an RBI double by Nick Hundley pulled the Rockies within 5-3 with two outs in the seventh. Luke Gregerson allowed one hit in a scoreless ninth for his 16th save. Chad Bettis (2-2) gave up seven hits and a season-high five runs in five innings.
Across the Majors Monday:
— The Toronto Blue Jays saw their 11-game winning streak end in agonizing fashion. Lucas Duda and Wilmer Flores hit RBI singles with two out in the bottom of the 11th to push the New York Mets past the Jays 4-3. Toronto went ahead on Dioner Navarro’s sacrifice fly before ending their team record-tying winning streak. Jose Bautista homered twice for the Blue Jays, including a game-tying blast on the first pitch of the ninth inning. Juan Lagares and Ruben Tejada hit consecutive RBI doubles for the Mets, who stretched their lead in the NL East to 1 ½ games over Washington. Mets starter Noah Syndergaard had to settle for a no-decision after striking out 11 over six innings and leaving with a 2-1 lead.
— Meanwhile, San Diego was a loser in its first game under manager Dave Roberts, who took over when Bud Black was fired yesterday. Stephen Vogt belted a grand slam while Oakland put together a five-run eighth to earn a 9-1 rout of the Padres. Vogt, Josh Reddick and Brett Lawrie hit RBI singles in the third inning to put the A’s ahead to stay. The Padres managed just a run and three hits in 6 2/3 innings against Athletics starter Jesse Hahn. Black was let go with the team a game under .500 at 32-33. He was the 2010 NL Manager of the Year and went 649-713 in eight-plus seasons as San Diego’s skipper, but the team never reached the playoffs or won more than 90 games.
— Mark Reynolds and Yadier Molina hit back-to-back homers in the fourth inning to put St. Louis ahead 3-0 in a 3-2 triumph over Minnesota. John Lackey looked good in holding the Twins to a pair of runs and five hits in eight innings.
— Erasmo Ramirez threw six shutout innings and Logan Forsythe was 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI singles in the Rays’ fourth consecutive win, 6-1 over Washington. The Rays have won 10 of their last 13 to move one game ahead of the New York Yankees atop the AL East.
— Yovani Gallardo scattered four hits in seven shutout innings of the Rangers’ 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Texas. Rougned Odor went 3-for-3 with a two-run single just hours after his recall from the minors.
— Lorenzo Cain bashed a two-run homer and Alcides Escobar lined a pair of RBI singles while Kansas City was building an 8-2 lead in an 8-5 triumph at Milwaukee. Edinson Volquez gave up two runs and six hits in five innings as the Royals extended their lead in the AL Central to 2 ½ games over Minnesota.
— Anibal Sanchez fired a two-hitter with seven strikeouts in Detroit’s 6-0 shutout of Cincinnati. J.D. Martinez hit a two-run homer and had three RBIs, while Miguel Cabrera added a two-run double to the Tigers’ sixth victory in eight games since an eight-game losing streak.
— Starling Marte was 4-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored as Pittsburgh crushed the Chicago White Sox 11-0. Francisco Cervelli and Jung Ho Kang also drove in two runs apiece to back Francisco Liriano, who struck out 12 and gave up only two hits in eight innings.
— Derek Dietrich hit a tiebreaking homer off Masahiro Tanaka in the seventh inning, and Tom Kohler combined with two relievers on a three-hitter as Miami downed the New York Yankees 2-1. Koehler gave up the three hits, including Mark Teixeira’s solo blast in the second inning.
— Wei-Yin Chen struck out nine and held the Phillies to four hits in eight innings of Baltimore’s 4-0 shutout of Philadelphia. Matt Wieters hit a three-run homer as the Orioles handed the Phillies their seventh straight defeat and third shutout loss in four games.
— The Mariners were 5-1 winners in San Francisco behind Taijuan Walker, who gave up a run and seven hits in seven innings. Logan Morrison singled home the tiebreaking run, Austin Jackson had two RBIs and Kyle Seager homered as the Mariners dealt the Giants their fifth consecutive loss.
— Robbie Ray held the Angels to a pair of hits in seven shutout innings as Arizona posted a 7-3 victory at Anaheim. Paul Goldschmidt is hitting a major league-leading .366 after going 3-for-4 with a three-run homer in the Diamondbacks’ fourth consecutive win.
— Williams Perez worked six shutout innings and Atlanta put together a 3-run fourth in a 4-2 triumph at Boston. Nick Markakis was 2-for-4 with an RBI single and a run scored for the Braves.
— Monday’s game between the Chicago Cubs and visiting Cleveland Indians has been rained out and rescheduled for Aug. 24.