Houston • Alex Bregman and Tyler White homered and drove in four runs each, and the Houston Astros rallied for an 11-4 win over the Oakland Athletics on Monday night.
It was the sixth straight win for the first-place Astros, who moved to 21/2 games ahead of Oakland in the AL West standings.
George Springer and Jose Altuve helped in the victory, driving in a run each during a five-run third inning that erased an early 4-0 deficit. This was the first game Springer, Altuve and Carlos Correa were in the lineup together since June 25.
The Astros led by 1 with two on and one out in the eighth inning when Bregman, who tied a career high with four hits, sent a pitch from Lou Trivino just over the short fence in left field to push the lead to 8-4. White made it 11-4 with two outs in the inning when he launched a fastball from Emilio Pagan onto the train tracks atop left field for another three-run shot.
The Athletics jumped on starter Gerrit Cole (12-5) for four runs behind a two-run homer by Marcus Semien in the second and a two-run run shot by Matt Chapman in the third. The homer by Chapman was his 21st after he homered twice Sunday.
Cole settled down after the tough early innings to throw three scoreless frames and collect his second straight win. He allowed four hits and struck out eight.
Trailing 4-0, the Astros got a single from Martin Maldonado off Brett Anderson (3-4) with one out in the third inning before Springer cut the lead to 4-1 with a double. Bregman followed with a double to send another run home. Altuve then knocked a third straight double into left field to score Bregman and get Houston within 4-3. An RBI single by Marwin Gonzalez, who finished with three hits, with two outs in the inning chased Anderson. Yusmeiro Petit was greeted with a single by White, which scored Gonzalez to put the Astros up 5-4.
White Sox 6, Yankees 2 • In New York, Carlos Rodon pitched two-hit ball over seven innings, Yoan Moncada doubled in two and surging Chicago beat the Yankees for their fourth straight win. Rodon (6-3) allowed a two-run shot to Gleyber Torres but was strong otherwise, and Chicago’s bullpen closed out a three-hitter. The White Sox have won 10 of 13 and clinched their first winning month of the season by improving to 15-10 in August. Rodon is 5-0 with a 1.84 ERA in his past nine starts. The 25-year-old left-hander hasn’t lost since June 30. New York (83-48) missed an opportunity to gain ground on the idle Red Sox, falling 61/2 games back of the AL East leaders.
Cubs 7, Mets 4 • In Chicago, Jon Lester pitched six innings, drove in two runs with a timely single off Noah Syndergaard and made two nice plays in the field, helping the Cubs beat New York for their sixth consecutive victory. Anthony Rizzo homered and Daniel Murphy reached three more times from the leadoff spot as NL-leading Chicago moved a season-high 24 games over .500 by improving to 5-0 against New York this year. Murphy, who began his career with the Mets, is batting .407 (11 for 27) in six games since he was acquired in a trade with Washington. Lester was in line for his 15th win before Kevin Plawecki hit a solo homer off Steve Cishek (4-1) in the seventh, tying it at 4 on a warm and windy night at Wrigley Field. But the Cubs went ahead to stay with two runs in the bottom half, including Ben Zobrist’s tiebreaking double off Jerry Blevins (1-2).
Nationals 5, Phillies 3 • In Philadelphia, Stephen Strasburg threw six effective innings, Matt Wieters hit a solo homer and Washington beat the Phillies. Strasburg (7-7) gave up two runs and five hits, striking out five. The Phillies fell 31/2 games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East after losing the opener for the seventh straight series. They’re 6-12 since Aug. 8 and have dropped five games in the standings during that span. Zach Eflin (9-5) allowed five runs — three earned — and eight hits in 51⁄3 innings. His throwing error in the fourth cost him, allowing the go-ahead run to score. Rhys Hoskins crushed Ryan Madson’s first pitch in the eighth for his 27th homer. Justin Miller tossed a perfect ninth for his first save in his first try.
Orioles 7, Blue Jays 0 • In Baltimore, Kendrys Morales had his home run streak snapped at seven games by the Orioles, who ended an eight-game skid by defeating Toronto. Striving to tie the major league record of homering in eight straight games, Morales went 0 for 3 with a walk and did not hit the ball out of the infield. In his final chance, the Toronto slugger swung through a slider from Paul Fry to strike out in the eighth inning. Though he failed to match the mark shared by Dale Long, Don Mattingly and Ken Griffey Jr., Morales owns the big league record for successive games with a home run by a switch-hitter. He also owns the franchise record for consecutive games with a long ball.
