Tucker homers, Valdez goes 8 in Astros’ 9-1 romp over Mets

By JAKE SEINER
AP Baseball Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Kyle Tucker had a three-run homer and a stolen base, Yordan Alvarez hit his 23rd home run and Framber Valdez pitched a gem to lift the Houston Astros over the New York Mets 9-1. Alvarez reached base five times, Yuli Gurriel also homered and Alex Bregman had three hits as Houston beat the Mets for the third time in a week. The AL West leaders swept a two-game series at home to begin a stretch of nine straight games against the Mets and Yankees. Houston is 5-2 in that string so far. Valdez allowed six hits over eight scoreless innings, striking out four and inducing a bevy of groundball outs.