KANSAS CITY, Mo.
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The Houston Astros won their 10th straight game, with Dallas Keuchel getting three-run homers from Max Stassi and Alex Bregman to rout the Kansas City Royals 10-2 on Saturday.Jose Altuve hit a two-run double in the first inning to send the World Series champions on their way. The Astros had an 11-game win streak last season that ended in Kansas City.
The Royals have lost five in a row and are just 2-12 since the calendar flipped to June.
Keuchel (4-8) began to emerge from a monthlong funk, allowing two unearned runs and six hits in six innings. The 2015 Cy Young winner had surrendered a combined 17 runs over his last three outings, and had not won since tossing seven scoreless innings against Texas on May 13.
Danny Duffy (3-7) had been pitching well of late, but the Royals left-hander allowed seven runs on seven hits and three walks in six innings.
Duffy was in trouble from the start. George Springer drew a leadoff walk, Bregman added a single and Altuve ripped a double to give the Astros a 2-0 lead.
The Astros tacked on two more runs in the fifth, getting a little help from Mike Moustakas in the process. The Royals third baseman flubbed an easy grounder that led to an unearned run.
Kansas City matched the tally in the bottom half, after an error by shortstop Carlos Correa. Ryan Goins, White Merrifield and Moustakas strung together hits to drive in two runs, but Keuchel bounced back to strike out Salvador Perez with the tying run on base.
Stassi took all the drama out of things in the sixth, when he swatted Duffy's 1-0 pitch to left field for a 7-2 lead. Bregman added his homer in the ninth.
The only consolation for the Royals was that they weren't grand slams. They pitching staff had served up one of them each of the past two games, including Evan Gattis' in the series opener.
STATS AND STREAKS
Royals C Drew Butera snapped a 0-for-16 skid with a single in the third inning. LF Alex Gordon ended a 0-for-13 slump with a single in the sixth. ... Houston is now a season-high 22 games over .500.
SO LONG, SOLER
Royals OF Jorge Soler will miss at least six weeks after breaking a bone in his left foot during the series opener. Soler will head to the DL but with Triple-A Omaha on the West Coast, a corresponding roster move will not be made until Sunday. Soler was hitting .265 with nine homers and 28 RBIs.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Astros: Stassi walked off the field with a trainer after a single in the ninth, but the nature of his injury wasn't clear. Brian McCann replaced him.
Royals: 1B Lucas Duda will begin a rehab assignment with Omaha on Sunday, manager Ned Yost said. Duda has been out since May 14 with plantar fasciitis in his right foot.
UP NEXT
The Royals send RHP Brad Keller (1-2, 2.31 ERA) to the mound in the hopes of avoiding a sweep. The Astros counter with RHP Lance McCullers Jr. (8-3, 3.83 ERA) as they try to keep their streak going.
