Bregman’s grand slam powers Astros past Angels in Mexico

MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) — Alex Bregman hit a grand slam, his third homer during a two-game series in Mexico, and the Houston Astros blew out the Los Angeles Angels for the second straight day, 10-4 on Sunday.

The Astros, who won 14-2 on Saturday, hit eight home runs in front of pro-Houston crowds at Estadio de Beisbol de Monterrey. On Sunday, Carlos Correa had a two-run homer in the second inning and Michael Brantley hit a two-run shot in the ninth.

Bregman greeted Cam Bedrosian, who relieved starter Matt Harvey with two outs and the bases loaded in the fifth inning, by blasting a 2-0 fastball to the batter’s eye in center field. Harvey (1-3) was charged with five runs on five hits.

Justin Verlander (5-1) allowed homers in each of the first two innings but rebounded with four scoreless frames. He was lifted with one out in the seventh after Jonathan Lucroy took him deep for the second time.

Lucroy also had a two-run homer in the second. It was his ninth career multi-homer game, his first since 2016.

Verlander allowed four runs and struck out seven, giving up three homers in a game for the first time since last August.

David Fletcher also homered for the Angels, who had won six of seven before everything went wrong in Mexico.

Robinson Chirinos had an RBI double in the seventh for the Astros, and José Altuve had a run-scoring double in the ninth.

The regular-season games in Mexico were the first for both teams. Major League Baseball has committed to bringing games south of the border through 2021.

ALTUVE GIVES BACK

Altuve, who’s from Venezuela, said he had been sending aid to his home country amid a political crisis.

“There are several areas where help is needed in Venezuela, like medicines, food and education, and you have to choose where do you want to help,” Altuve said. “I decided to help with food because there are a lot of kids who don’t have anything to eat and they every day wake up with hunger, so I made a huge donation.”

Altuve did not provide further details about his contribution.

According to the United Nations, 1.9 million people in Venezuela are in need of food assistance, including 1.3 million children.

CORREA SOAKS IT IN

Correa arrived at the stadium four hours before the first pitch to record a game introduction in Spanish and then had fun using the public-address system to mock Altuve, who was doing interviews on the field.

Before the game, Correa exchanged jerseys and had a chat with soccer star André-Pierre Gignac, who threw the ceremonial first pitch.

UP NEXT

Angels: RHP Griffin Canning (0-0, 6.23 ERA) will make will his second career start on Tuesday at Detroit. Canning allowed four hits and three earned runs in 4 1/3 innings against the Blue Jays on April 30.

Astros: RHP Gerritt Cole (2-4, 3.95) starts on Monday as Houston returns home to face Kansas City. Cole got his second win of the season with a dominant performance against the Twins on April 30, allowing one hit over seven innings with 11 strikeouts.