HOUSTON — Jose Altuve and George Springer both hit two-run homers to back up another solid start by Justin Verlander and give the Houston Astros a 4-2 win over the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday.

Houston bounced back after Tuesday’s 4-3 loss in 11 innings snapped a six-game winning streak and improved to 9-2 against the Athletics this season.

Verlander (13-4) allowed two singles and one run, which was unearned, striking out 11 in six innings for his third straight win. Will Harris pitched a scoreless seventh and Ryan Pressly allowed one hit in a scoreless eighth after not pitching since Thursday because of a sore knee.

Roberto Osuna allowed two hits and a run in the ninth before striking out Chris Herrmann for his 23rd save.

INDIANS 4, BLUE JAYS 0: Shane Bieber pitched a one-hitter, allowing only a double by Eric Sogard in the seventh inning, and Cleveland kept up its surge by winning at Toronto.

The Indians topped prime trade target Marcus Stroman and improved to 14-4 in July. They are 30-12 since June 4, the best record in the majors over that span.

Bieber (10-3) struck out 10 and walked one in his second career complete game.

MARINERS 5, RANGERS 3: Mike Leake outpitched Mike Minor in what could be the final start for each before the upcoming trade deadline, Daniel Vogelbach hit a pair of solo home runs, and Seattle won at home.

Leake and Minor have both been the subject of trade rumors – Minor more than Leake – leading up to next week’s trade deadline. But it was Leake with the better performance in his first start since taking a perfect game into the ninth inning last Friday against the Angels.

Leake (9-8) threw seven innings, his only mistake giving up a two-out, two-strike home run to Roughned Odor in the sixth inning. Leake struck out seven, walked none and threw first-pitch strikes to 22 of 29 batters.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

NATIONALS 3, ROCKIES 2: Adam Eaton and Anthony Rendon homered, and host Washington won the first game of a doubleheader.

Washington has won 22 of 31 home games and improved to 35-15 overall since May 24, the best record in the majors in that span.

Colorado has dropped 8 of 9 and 15 of 18 to slide seven games under .500 for the first time since April 15.

CUBS 4, GIANTS 1: Javier Baez homered in the first inning, Kris Bryant and Albert Almora Jr. also went deep, and Chicago won at San Francisco.

Baez hit his 25th homer and Bryant his 21st to help Chicago avoid a three-game sweep. The Cubs bounced back from a 5-4, 13-inning loss Tuesday night to give Manager Joe Maddon his 442nd win with Chicago, tying Joe McCarthy for fifth in franchise history.

Bryant left in the fifth inning because of soreness in his right knee.

BREWERS 5, REDS 4:  Ryan Braun and Keston Hiura homered, Yasmani Grandal hit a go-ahead single and Josh Hader made a lights-out relief appearance to lift Milwaukee over visiting Cincinnati.

Grandal delivered his two-run single in the fifth, Hader struck out five over two scoreless innings and Freddy Peralta pitched the ninth for his first save as Milwaukee avoided a three-game sweep and ended a five-game skid against Cincinnati.

CARDINALS 14, PIRATES 8: Paul DeJong hit a career-high three home runs, including one during a nine-run second inning, and St. Louis won at Pittsburgh.

DeJong, Andrew Knizner and Paul Goldschmidt each hit two-run homers in the second as the Cardinals batted around against starter Jordan Lyles (5-7).

PADRES 7, METS 2: Fernando Tatis Jr. got three hits and San Diego beat Noah Syndergaard at New York for its third win in 11 games since the All-Star break.

The Padres took advantage of three errors by left fielder Dominic Smith and sent the Mets to their fourth loss in five games.

Dinelson Lamet made his fourth start since returning from Tommy John surgery, allowing two runs in four innings, striking out six.

INTERLEAGUE

PHILLIES 4, TIGERS 0: Vince Velasquez pitched impressively into the sixth inning and Philadelphia won at Detroit to finish a quick two-game sweep.

The Phillies won the series opener 3-2 in 15 innings in a game that ended shortly after midnight Wednesday morning. The teams returned to the field for an afternoon game, and Velasquez (3-5) outdueled Jordan Zimmermann.

J.T. Realmuto and Nick Williams homered for Philadelphia, which has won 5 of 6.

DIAMONDBACKS 5, ORIOLES 2: Carson Kelly hit a three-run homer, Taylor Clarke pitched six effective innings and Arizona won at home.

Arizona’s Yoshihisa Hirano and Archie Bradley worked out of bases-loaded jams in the seventh and eighth innings.

Greg Holland started the ninth, but was visited by Arizona’s trainer after a walk, then was removed by Manager Torey Lovullo following another walk. Yoan Lopez got the final three outs for his first career save.

Ketel Marte also hit a solo homer to become the first Diamondbacks player to hit 10 or more homers from both sides of the plate.
Trey Mancini and Anthony Santander homered for the Orioles.

ROYALS 2, BRAVES 0: Brad Keller thrived in his Georgia homecoming, allowing only four hits in seven innings and adding a second-inning single for his first career RBI, and Kansas City beat Julio Teheran and Atlanta.

Keller (7-9), a 2013 graduate of Flowery Branch High School north of Atlanta, won his fourth straight decision.

Keller had been 2-6 with a 4.81 ERA in 13 road starts this season. There were no signs of those road struggles as he did not allow a baserunner to reach second base.

MARLINS 2, WHITE SOX 0: Rookie Zac Gallen pitched seven innings of two-hit ball for his first major league win and César Puello hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning as Miami won at Chicago.

Puello launched his fourth homer deep to left on the first pitch from Reynaldo López, making a winner out of Gallen (1-2) in his sixth start since joining the Marlins’ rotation on June 20.

The 23-year-old Gallen struck out nine, walked one and hit two batters in his longest outing to date.

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