Top of the Morning: Red Sox beat sloppy Astros 6-1 behind Lucas Giolito's stellar start

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BOSTON (AP) — Trevor Story and Ceddanne Rafaela had consecutive RBI singles in a six-run fourth inning filled with five Houston mistakes, Lucas Giolito pitched a season-high eight stellar innings, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Astros 6-1 on Sunday to complete a series sweep.

Connor Wong added a sacrifice fly and Wilyer Abreu was credited with a sacrifice on a safety squeeze for an RBI during the inning, sending Boston to its third straight win over the AL West leaders and fifth in a row overall.

Giolito (8-2) gave up the run on three hits with four strikeouts and a walk, eclipsing his previous season-high innings of 7 2/3 on July 4.

Carlos Correa, acquired from Minnesota at the trade deadline, hit a homer for Houston, which has lost eight of 10.

The game’s first pitch was 11:38 a.m. EDT, the third time this season the Red Sox began a game in the morning. The others: their annual Patriots’ Day game when they beat the White Sox and the Independence Day victory at the Nationals.

Framber Valdez (11-5) gave up six runs, four earned, over six innings, ending his personal 10-game winning streak. He entered 10-0 with a 1.84 ERA in his previous 14 starts.

During the fourth, Houston missed a cutoff on Story’s run-scoring single, Valdez had a wild pitch, balked home a run and had Abreu’s bunt go under his glove for an error. Yainer Diaz had a passed ball.

Valdez hadn’t allowed three runs in an inning since May 19.

Astros: RHP Jason Alexander (1-1, 7.36 ERA) is slated to start the opener of a three-game series at the Marlins on Monday.

Red Sox: RHP Brayan Bello (7-5, 3.19) is set to start the first of three against the Royals on Monday.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

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This story has been corrected to show that the Red Sox have won five consecutive games, not four.