MLB
The Houston Astros performed a high-wire act yet managed to run their winning streak to a team record-tying dozen games. The defending World Series champs spotted Tampa Bay a 4-0 lead before pulling out a 5-4 victory on Alex Bregman's two-run double in the bottom of the ninth.
Yuli Gurriel sandwiched a pair of RBI singles around Josh Reddick's sacrifice fly after Joey Wendle's two-run single gave the Rays a four-run cushion in the third inning. Bregman bailed out Gerrit Cole, who was about to drop to 8-2 despite yielding only three hits over seven innings.
The win gives the Astros a two-game lead over Seattle in the AL West.
Wilson Ramos hit a two-run homer for the Rays.
Checking out Monday's other major league action:
The Yankees dropped the completion of a May 15 suspended game before earning a split of the odd twinbill. Aaron Hicks launched a go-ahead, two-run homer in the fifth inning of the Yankees' 4-2 victory over the Nationals. Giancarlo Stanton opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first inning and doubled home in the insurance run in the seventh.
The Nats took the suspended game as Juan Soto belted a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the sixth inning of a 5-3 decision over the Bombers. Soto's blast came three batters after the resumption of the game, which was halted by rain on May 15. It was his sixth home run since making his major league debut May 20, five days after the game was suspended. The Yankees host Seattle Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.
Trevor Bauer tossed three-hit ball over seven shutout innings and Jason Kipnis went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer as the Indians whipped the White Sox, 6-2. Robert Perez also had two RBIs to support Bauer, who struck out eight and lowered his ERA to 2.50. The White Sox committed three errors in the first three innings, lost their fifth straight and dropped a season-worst 23 games under .500.
Adrian Beltre smacked a three-run homer and Shin-Soo Choo added a solo homer while reaching base five times as the Rangers doubled up the Royals, 6-3. Bartolo Colon gave up three runs over six innings before becoming the winningest Domincan-born pitcher in major league history. It was Colon's 244th win, one more than Hall of Famer Juan Marichal.
Trevor Williams struck out seven and held the Brewers to one hit over seven innings of Pittsburgh's 1-0 victory. Francisco Cervelli went 2-for-2 and scored the lone run on Jordy Mercer's seventh-inning double. Milwaukee managed just two hits and suffered their third consecutive loss to fall into a virtual tie with the Cubs for the NL Central lead.
Paul Goldschmidt launched a two-run homer while the Arizona Diamondbacks were building a 6-0 lead in a 7-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels. Ketel Marte and Nick Ahmed added solo shots for the Diamondbacks, who stopped a two-game skid and moved two games ahead of the second-place Dodgers in the NL West. Zack Greinke gave up three runs over 6 1/3 innings, including back-to-back homers by Justin Upton and Albert Pujols.
The Phillies blew a 4-0 lead before beating the Cardinals, 6-5 on Aaron Altherr's two-run double in the bottom of the 10th. St. Louis tied it with a two-run ninth and went ahead on Tommy Pham's home run before Altherr sent Philadelphia to its third win in a row. Odubel Herrera belted a three-run homer in the first for the Phillies, who are 3 ½ games behind the NL East-leading Braves.
Jacob deGrom picked up his first victory in exactly one month by holding the Rockies to one earned run over eight innings of the Mets' third straight win, 12-2 at Coors Field. DeGrom struck out seven and lowered his major league-leading ERA to 1.51. Brandon Nimmo hit two of New York's four home runs while going 4-for-6 with four RBIs. The series continues Tuesday at 8:40 p.m.
Hunter Strickland blew a 4-2 lead in the ninth inning of the Giants' 5-4 loss to the Marlins. J.T. Realmuto got the rally going with an RBI double before Lewis Brinson and Miguel Rojas furnished run-scoring singles. Rojas had two hits and three RBIs to help Miami overcome a 4-0 deficit.
The Cubs and Dodgers were postponed by rain and a limited power outage at Wrigley Field. The game will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader on Tuesday.
Boston had the night off, they head to Minnesota to take on the Twins Tuesday at 8:10 p.m.
In MLB news:
The Washington Nationals have bolstered their bullpen by getting Kelvin Herrera from the Royals for three minor leaguers. Herrera has 14 saves and a 1.05 ERA this season, allowing just three runs while striking out 22 over 25 2/3 innings. The two-time All-Star helped Kansas City win the 2015 World Series. The Royals received infielder Kelvin Gutierrez, outfielder Blake Perkins and right-hander Yohanse Morel.
Elvis Andrus is back in the Texas Rangers' lineup against Kansas City following his first trip to the disabled list. The two-time All-Star missed 59 games after a pitch by Kenyan Middleton broke his right elbow in an April 11 game against the Los Angeles Angels. Texas went 25-34 without Andrus, who hit .327 with two home runs and five RBIs in 14 games before the injury.
Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw threw a three-inning simulated game Monday as he moves forward in his recovery from a strained lower back. The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner says he felt really good and plans to pitch somewhere in four or five days, either in a minor league rehab start or for the Dodgers.
Indians starter Carlos Carrasco only bruised his right elbow when he was hit by a vicious line drive on Saturday. An MRI was negative and Carrasco is not expected to miss significant time. The right-hander has been hit before, and Indians manager Terry Francona does not anticipate Carrasco being affected.
The Phillies have optioned former closer Hector Neris to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and recalled lefty Austin Davis. The move comes after Neris gave up four runs in the ninth inning of yesterday's 10-9 win at Milwaukee, raising his ERA to 6.00 in 30 appearances this season. He has 13 saves this season after collecting 26 in 29 chances last year.
The Mariners have activated right-handed reliever Juan Nicasio from the 10-day disabled list as they continue to add options in their bullpen heading into a road trip through New York and Boston. Catcher Chris Herrmann was also added to the roster by Seattle, which optioned right-hander Rob Whalen and catcher David Freitas to Triple-A Tacoma.
The Astros have given general manager Jeff Luhnow (LOO'-now) a contract extension through 2023 and added president of baseball operations to his title. Luhnow was hired as GM in December 2011 and turned the club into World Series champions within six years.
Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman is the leading vote-getter among all National League players in the latest results released Monday. Freeman has received over 1.4 million votes, topping outfielder and Atlanta teammate Nick Markakis. Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford, Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado and Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper are the only other NL players with more than one million votes.
NHL
The NHL's most recent Stanley Cup-winning coach is now a free agent.
Barry Trotz has stepped down less than two weeks after leading the Washington Capitals to their first championship. Trotz and the team could not agree on an annual salary that would have put him in line with other Cup-winning coaches.
A person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press that the Stanley Cup final win over Vegas triggered a two-year extension for Trotz that would have given him a slight bump in salary to just over $2 million. Mike Babcock is getting $6.25 from the Maple Leafs, and Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville makes $6 million after leading the club to three Stanley Cups in this decade.
Capitals associate coach Todd Reirden is now the leading candidate to replace Trotz. The New York Islanders are currently the only other NHL team without a head coach.
Elsewhere in the NHL:
Former NHL coach Dave Tippett has signed on as senior adviser for the group looking to put an NHL expansion team in Seattle. The city is in the middle of the expansion process with the goal of renovating KeyArena and starting up for the 2020-21 season. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says the league's board of governors could vote to approve a 32nd franchise as soon as this fall but has emphasized there is no specific timetable.
SOCCER
Harry Kane's second goal of the game came in stoppage time to lift England past Tunisia, 2-1 in the World Cup opener for both teams. Kane opened the scoring in the 11th minute, but the Tunisians were able to knot the score on a penalty kick in the 35th.
Monday's other World Cup action had Belgium beating Panama, 3-0 and Sweden earning a 1-0 win over South Korea.
Meanwhile, Saudi team officials say the players made a safe landing after reported engine failure on their flight to Rostov-on-Don for a World Cup game against Uruguay. The team posted photos of the players exiting the plane and smiling Monday night but did not release further details of the engine problem.
Tuesday Colombia takes on Japan at 8 a.m. EST Poland goes against Senegal at 11 a.m. and Russia will face off against Egypt at 2 p.m.
NFL
The Carolina Panthers now have all of their 2018 draft picks under contract after working out a deal with first-rounder D.J. Moore.
The wide receiver was selected with the 24th overall selection after setting a Maryland single-season school record with 80 receptions last season. He also had 1,033 yards receiving and eight touchdowns.
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