CLEVELAND — Charlie Morton remained unbeaten this season with six solid innings, Alex Bregman and Jake Marisnick hit three-run homers and the Houston Astros defeated the Cleveland Indians 8-2 on Thursday night.

Morton (7-0) allowed two runs and five hits while extending his career-best winning streak to 10 games. The right-hander, who moved into a tie for the AL lead in wins, hasn’t lost since Sept. 9, 2017 against Oakland. He walked three and struck out five.

Morton fell behind after Michael Brantley’s two-run single in the third, but his offense gave him plenty of support. Houston scored three runs in the fifth and added five in the sixth to put the game away.

Mike Clevinger (3-2) opened with four scoreless innings, but couldn’t hold a 2-0 lead in the fifth. Bregman capped the inning with his fifth homer over the 19-foot high wall in left field that put Houston ahead. He added an RBI double in the sixth.

Marisnick, recalled from the minors Wednesday, homered to straightaway center in the sixth off Neil Ramirez. Marisnick was sent to Triple-A Frenso on May 15 and was called up when outfielder Josh Reddick went on the 10-day disabled list with a leg infection. Marisnick, batting .141 going into the game, also singled in the fifth but was picked off first by Clevinger.

Houston’s go-ahead rally came with two outs in the fifth. Clevinger hit Tony Kemp on an 0-2 pitch and George Springer drew a four-pitch walk. Pitching coach Carl Willis visited Clevinger, but Bregman then jumped on a hanging breaking pitch and Houston had the lead.

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ATHLETICS 4, MARINERS 3: Stephen Piscotty and host Oakland tagged Felix Hernandez early as Seattle had its five-game winning streak snapped.

Oakland turned a team record-tying five groundball double plays, and stopped a five-game home skid.

The A’s scored four times in the first inning, two on Piscotty’s double off Hernandez (5-4).

ORIOLES 9, WHITE SOX 3: Dylan Bundy struck out a career-high 14 and pitched a two-hitter for his second complete game in the majors, leading Baltimore at Chicago.

ANGELS 8, BLUE JAYS 1: Mike Trout and Albert Pujols each hit solo home runs, Shohei Ohtani doubled twice and Los Angeles won at Toronto.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

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REDS 5, PIRATES 4: Eugenio Suarez hit a grand slam off Ivan Nova – who dropped his sixth straight start against Cincinnati – and Jesse Winker added a solo shot as the Reds won at home.

NOTES

ANGELS: The Angels are pushing back Shohei Ohtani’s next outing as a starting pitcher to manage the workload of the two-way rookie, meaning he’ll miss a much-anticipated showdown at Yankee Stadium against Masahiro Tanaka on Sunday night.

WHITE SOX: Catcher Welington Castillo was suspended for 80 games by Major League Baseball following a positive test for a performance-enhancing substance.

The commissioner’s office cited use of EPO. Erythropoietin is a hormone that stimulates the red-blood cell production and often turns up in test results for cyclists.

Castillo apologized in a statement through the players’ union, saying he has “let many people down.” He pointed to an “extremely poor decision that I, and I alone, made. I take full responsibility for my conduct.”

Castillo accepted the penalty without contesting it before arbitrator Mark Irvings. The discipline stemmed from an in-season test, and he became the eighth player suspended this year.


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