Alvarez hits 25th homer, Astros take 2 of 3 from Guardians

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.