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Astros tag Yanks, snap road skid

Apr 30, 2013 - 7:25 AM Bronx, NY (Sports Network) - Lucas Harrell spun 6 1/3 strong innings and batterymate Carlos Corporan went 4-for-5 with a homer and four RBI, with the duo leading Houston to a 9-1 shellacking of the New York Yankees that halted the Astros' nine-game road losing streak.

Harrell (3-2) also stopped Houston's four-game overall slide, while ending a string of four straight Yankee wins, by yielding just one run and scattering eight hits. Fourteen of the 19 outs the right-hander recorded came on the ground.

He was helped out by an offense that pounded out 17 hits and rocked Andy Pettitte (3-2) for seven runs in 4 1/3 innings of work. Brandon Barnes finished 3-for-5 with three RBI in the rout, with Carlos Pena contributing a run-scoring single as part of a 2-for-5 night.

"I've seen Andy since 1996, and I don't know if I've ever seen him not have his slider," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

Jose Altuve, Chris Carter and Brandon Laird also had two hits for Houston, which went 6-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

"You're just waiting for it to happen night in and night out and be consistent. That's why we stay positive, because we know it's in there," Astros manager Bo Porter said.

Vernon Wells, Brett Gardner and Robinson Cano each collected a pair of hits for New York, with Wells driving in the Yankees' lone run with a sixth-inning single.

The Astros wasted little time moving in front, with five straight hitters reaching base against Pettitte with two outs during a three-run top of the first. Consecutive singles by Laird, Carter and Pena accounted for the initial run, and Corporan followed a walk to Ronny Cedeno that loaded the bases with a double into the right-field corner that plated both Carter and Pena.

Pettitte briefly regrouped to hold Houston scoreless over the next two innings, but ran into trouble again in the fourth. After a Corporan base hit and Altuve double put two men in scoring position, Barnes extended the lead to 5-0 by ripping a hanging pitch down the left-field line for a double.

A Carter single and one-out double by Cedeno in the fifth ended Pettitte's night, with replacement Adam Warren immediately uncorking a wild pitch to bring in Carter before serving up Corporan's first homer of the season that staked Houston to a commanding 8-0 advantage.

The Astros scored once more during the inning, with Matt Dominguez drawing a walk after Corporan's blast and later coming home on Barnes' second hit of the game.

Aided by a trio of double plays, Harrell didn't allow a runner past first until the Yankees finally broke through in the sixth. Singles by Gardner, Cano and Wells in succession put New York on the board, though Harrell prevented a big inning by retiring Jayson Nix with the bases loaded and two out.

Travis Blackley and Riner Cruz finished off the victory by combining for 2 2/3 hitless innings.

Game Notes

Both Corporan and Barnes posted career single-game highs for hits and RBI ... ... The win was only Houston's second in 10 career matchups with New York. The other came on June 11, 2003 at the old Yankee Stadium, an 8-0 decision in which six Astros pitchers combined on a no-hitter ... Harrell has now induced an MLB-best 10 double plays through his six starts, and Houston leads the majors in that category (34) after turning four on Monday ... The Astros are 6-1 when registering more hits than the opposition and 2-15 when outhit by their foe ... Pitcher Vidal Nuno made his big league debut for the Yankees and tossed three scoreless innings.