Lance McCullers struck out 10 in six solid innings, Colby Rasmus broke out of a slump with a two-run homer and the Houston Astros beat the New York Yankees 4-1 on Wednesday night.
Rasmus snapped an 0-for-29 skid when he sent an off-speed pitch from Masahiro Tanaka (7-3) into the seats behind the bullpen in right-center field to make it 4-0 with one out in the third.
McCullers (6-4) allowed five hits and one run and tied a season high by fanning 10 for the second straight game.
Ken Giles and Luke Gregerson pitched a scoreless inning each before Will Harris got his 11th save by striking out two in the ninth.
Tanaka, who entered the game with a 1.50 ERA in nine road starts, allowed seven hits and four runs in five innings for the loss. He had thrown 12 1/3 straight scoreless innings on the road before an RBI single by Carlos Gomez with one out in the first inning.
Marwin Gonzalez extended his hitting streak to a career-high 11 games with a single to start the third. He advanced to second on a groundout and took third on a wild pitch. A single by Carlos Correa came next to score Gonzalez and push the lead to 2-0.
Rasmus then collected his first hit since July 5, when he also homered and drove in two runs, on his 12th homer this season.
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Brian McCann cut the lead to 4-1 when he led off the fourth inning with a home run to center field.
Didi Gregorius singled with one out before McCullers walked Starlin Castro. But McCullers ended the threat by striking out the next two batters to end the inning.
McCullers then struck out the side in the fifth to make it five in a row.
McCann's homer was the highlight of the night for the Yankees, who managed just four other hits, which were all singles, and struck out a season-high 15 times.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Astros: Houston 3B Luis Valbuena was out of the lineup after leaving Tuesday's game in the second inning with a strained right hamstring. Manager A.J. Hinch said he was feeling better on Wednesday and was confident that he would avoid a trip to the disabled list. ... Gomez left the game before the third inning with a strained right hamstring.
UP NEXT
Yankees: New York has a day off Thursday before opening a three-game series at Tampa Bay with Ivan Nova (7-5, 4.65) on the mound.
Astros: Houston is off on Thursday before Collin McHugh (7-6, 4.18) starts in the opener of a three-game series at Detroit. McHugh allowed two runs and six hits in six innings of a win over the Angels on Saturday.
