(TSX / STATS) — KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mike Fiers is unbeatable on the road, and he finally picked up a victory over the Kansas City Royals.
The Astros right-hander pitched into the sixth inning and was supported by two home runs as Houston topped the Royals 7-3 Monday night for its 11th consecutive victory.
The winning streak is the longest in the majors this year.
Fiers has not lost on the road since Aug. 20, 2016, a span of 10 away starts. The Astros have won a franchise-record 11 straight road games.
“We’ve had our troubles in past years winning on the road,” Fiers said. “I think it doesn’t really matter where we’re at. So, no matter where we’re at and who we’re facing, we just have that confidence to go out there and win ballgames.”
Yuli Gurriel homered for the second straight game, a three-run blast in the ninth to assure this one would end in the win column. Gurriel hit an 0-1 Kelvin Herrera pitch with Alex Bregman and Brian McCann aboard.
McCann belted a two-run homer in the fourth inning.
Fiers (3-2) earned a victory for the first time in five career starts against the Royals. He yielded two runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out four in five-plus innings. He won back-to-back starts for the first time this season.
“Just be aggressive, get ahead, strike one’s big,” Fiers said. “Just keep them in counts that are favorable to me. Just keep them out of the 2-0, 3-1 as much as possible. Execute quality pitches.”
The Astros jumped out to a 4-0 lead off Ian Kennedy (0-6), who is winless in 14 starts, including all 10 this season.
Houston took a 2-0 advantage in the second. McCann doubled with one out, and Gurriel walked. Nori Aoki singled to right, scoring McCann, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. George Springer’s two-out single scored Gurriel.
McCann homered with Marwin Gonzalez aboard in the fourth to make it 4-0. After Gonzalez walked leading off the inning, McCann drove Kennedy’s first pitch out to right-center.
“A fastball down the middle,” Kennedy said of the pitch to McCann. “Give them a lot of credit because they’re real hot, the pitching staff and their hitters are real hot. There is no real break in their lineup right now.”
The Royals cut the lead in half in the bottom of the fourth. Eric Hosmer doubled and Mike Moustakas walked. Brandon Moss’ opposite-field two-out double scored Hosmer and advanced Moustakas to third. Alcides Escobar’s bunt single to third baseman Gonzalez scored Moustakas.
Kennedy was removed after five innings, having allowed four runs on six hits and three walks. He threw 96 pitches. His ERA went up to 5.33 in 10 starts this season.
“He was just fighting his command,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “After two innings, he had more balls than strikes. That’s not recommended, especially against this team, to pitch behind in the count because they can do a lot of damage.”
The Royals threatened in the sixth with Hosmer and Salvador Perez singles and a Gonzalez throwing error putting runners on the corners with no outs. Houston manager A.J. Hinch summoned left-hander Reymin Guduan from the bullpen to replace Fiers.
Guduan retired Moustakas on a liner to third base and struck out Moss. James Hoyt relieved Guduan and struck out Escobar to strand the runners.
“Especially with nobody out, you’re looking to at least tack on one there,” Yost said.
Royals second baseman Whit Merrifield went 0-for-5 to end his 19-game hitting streak.
“I took some bad swings at good pitches,” Merrifield said. “It’s just one of those nights. I just didn’t make very good swings at pitches that I had been making good swings on.”
Gonzalez left in the seventh inning with a left hand injury.
“His left hand started bothering him a couple of innings before I took him out,” Hinch said. “It’s the heel of his hand, left hand discomfort. So, he’s got to get some tests done and see the doctor. I didn’t learn about it until his at-bat was starting to come up. He went down and tried to hit in the cage and didn’t feel like he could hit, so I took him out.”
The Astros (42-16) have the best record in the majors and are 26 games above .500 for the first time since October 2001.
The Royals (24-32) dropped to eight games below .500 and are 15-15 at home.
NOTES: Manager Ned Yost altered the Royals’ batting order, putting 2B Whit Merrifield at the top and batting rookie RF Jorge Bonifacio second for the first time. … Astros CF George Springer was selected the AL player of the week after hitting .500 with multiple hits in all six games. He had five home runs and nine RBIs. … Royals SS Alcides Escobar, who has swiped 17 or more bases in six straight years, stole his first base in the fourth inning. … Rookie RHPs David Paulino (0-0, 4.50 ERA) of the Astros and Jake Junis (1-0, 2.70 ERA) of the Royals are the Tuesday probables.
Photo credit – Â Charlie Riedel / Associated Press / Kansas City, MO
