Associated Press TAG - Cleveland Guardians catcher Patrick Bailey, left, catches Houston Astros' Christian Walker, right, in a rundown during the fourth inning of a baseball game Sunday,, in Houston.

HOUSTON (AP) — Yordan Alvarez hit his American League-leading 25th home run, Kai-Wei Teng threw six solid innings and the Houston Astros beat the Cleveland Guardians 2-1 on Sunday.

Alvarez hit a solo shot to right-center off Slade Cecconi in the first inning. It was his first home run since he hit two at Kansas City on June 12, snapping a streak of seven games without a homer.

Isaac Paredes, who had three hits, had an RBI single in the fourth, but the Guardians cut the lead to 2-1 in the fifth on an groundout by Travis Bazzana that drove in Petey Halpin, who had tripled.

Teng (4-6) yielded one run and four hits with four strikeouts to snap a three-start losing streak. Teng had allowed at least three runs in each of his previous four starts.

Steven Okert pitched a scoreless seventh, Bryan King threw a perfect eighth and Josh Hader pitched the ninth for his fifth save.

The Astros have won four of their last five games and are 17-11 since dropping to a season-worst 11 games under .500 (20-31) on May 20.

Cecconi (3-6) surrendered two runs and six hits in six innings. Cecconi has allowed three runs or fewer in nine straight outings since the Athletics tagged him for five runs on May 2, but he is 2-2 over that span. The 26-year-old right-hander hasn’t earned a win since an 8-2 victory over the Tigers on May 18.

The Guardians have lost four of their last six games.

Up next

Astros RHP Hunter Brown (1-0, 1.10 ERA) starts Monday in the first of a three-game series at Toronto.

Guardians RHP Gavin Williams (9-4, 3.83 ERA) starts Monday in the first game of a three-game series in Chicago against the White Sox.

SATURDAY

Bazzana’s career night leads Guardians to win over Astros

HOUSTON (AP) — Rookie Travis Bazzana set career highs with four hits, two homers, five RBIs and three runs scored Saturday night, and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Houston Astros 8-1.

Kyle Manzardo hit a two-run homer in the third inning to break a 1-1 tie, and tacked on an RBI single in the seventh.

Bazzana took Spencer Arrighetti deep on the first pitch of the game for his second leadoff homer, singled in the third inning and then hit a three-run homer off Arrighetti in the fifth. Bazzana added an RBI single in the seventh.

The first overall pick in the 2024 draft, who made his Major League debut April 28, is the second Guardians’ rookie to record a four-hit game and a two-homer game this season. Chase DeLauter hit two home runs at Seattle on March 26 and had four hits against the Athletics on May 1.

Patrick Bailey added three hits and two runs scored for the Guardians.

Joey Cantillo (6-3) pitched a career-high tying eight innings and allowed one run and four hits while matching a season high with nine strikeouts. The 26-year-old left-hander gave up one hit after the second inning.

Arrighetti (7-3) allowed a season-high six runs and six hits over six innings with eight strikeouts. He has a 6.95 ERA over his last four starts after posting a 1.34 ERA in his first eight starts this season.

Houston’s Yordan Alvarez went 0 for 3 and his on-base streak ended at 25 games.