Rays’ Snell masterful again against Red Sox

Blake Snell continued his dominance of the Boston Red Sox with eight strikeouts over six scoreless innings as the Tampa Bay Rays avoided a three-game sweep with a 6-3 win on Thursday in St. Petersburg, Florida.Snell (6-3) has allowed two runs with 19 strikeouts in three starts against Boston this season. He gave up three hits and walked two Thursday to boost his team-leading win total as the Rays snapped a three-game skid.Wilson Ramos went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and Matt Duffy and Brad Miller each drove in a run for Tampa Bay, which has lost all but four of its 13 games against the AL East rival Red Sox this season.Mitch Moreland hit a solo homer for the Red Sox, who had won four straight and six of seven. Boston starter Rick Porcello (6-2) allowed six runs (four earned) on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings.Astros 8, Indians 2Alex Bregman and Jake Marisnick slammed three-run homers and combined to drive in seven runs, and right-hander Charlie Morton ran his record to 7-0 as Houston won at Cleveland.Houston secured its ninth win in 11 games and its third victory in four tries against the Indians this season as the teams began a four-game weekend series.Morton went six innings, giving up two runs and five hits with three walks and five strikeouts. His ERA rose from 1.94 to 2.04. Morton has posted quality starts in eight of his 10 outings.A’s 4, Mariners 3Oakland rocked Felix Hernandez for four runs in the bottom of the first inning and then used five double plays to thwart Seattle.The A’s got seven innings of one-run ball from their bullpen. Injury-replacement starter Josh Lucas was pulled after struggling through the first two innings, allowing a run in each but getting bailed out from further damage by a pair of double plays.In between, the A’s did all their scoring against Hernandez, whose 26 career wins are the most of any active pitcher against Oakland.Mets 5, Brewers 0Brandon Nimmo continued his breakout season by collecting four hits and reaching base in all five plate appearances as New York won at Milwaukee.Mets left-hander Steven Matz (2-3) tossed six scoreless innings, allowing four hits and three walks while striking out three.Paul Sewald tossed two perfect innings before Jacob Rhame worked a one-hit ninth to complete New York’s five-hit shutout.Nimmo, who has been thrust into everyday duty due to injuries to outfielders Yoenis Cespedes and Juan Lagares, has reached base in his past eight plate appearances dating back to Wednesday, when he walked, homered and singled in his final three at-bats.Angels 8, Blue Jays 1Martin Maldonado had three RBIs, Mike Trout and Albert Pujols hit home runs, and Nick Tropeano pitched 7 1/3 strong innings as Los Angeles was victorious in Toronto.Tropeano (2-3) allowed one run, four hits and one walk while striking out six for his first win since April 12, a stretch of five starts in which he was 0-3.Toronto’s Marco Estrada (2-5) yielded four runs, seven hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings. He has not won since April 20, a span of six starts with four losses.