Austin Wells socked a leadoff home run to ignite a three-run seventh inning as the New York Yankees claimed a three-game series against the host Houston Astros with an 8-3 win on Saturday.

Wells’ second homer was the third of the game for the Yankees, who improved to 5-0 on their current nine-game road trip and have won eight straight overall. The Yankees were locked in a pitcher’s duel before Wells snapped a 2-2 tie by driving an inside fastball from Astros reliever Kai-Wei Teng (1-1) out to right field.

Teng faced only three batters before ceding the mound to left-hander Bennett Sousa, who was reinstated from the 15-day injured list and made his season debut. The Yankees made it a forgettable appearance for Sousa, who issued four walks, including two with the bases loaded.

Sousa walked Trent Grisham, Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Jazz Chisholm Jr., with Bellinger and Chisholm forcing home Grisham and Ben Rice (who had singled) in succession to up the lead to 5-2.

Rice delivered a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the eighth that plated Ryan McMahon. Rice and Jose Caballero recorded three-hit games for the Yankees, with Caballero extending the lead to 2-1 in the fifth with his third homer, a solo shot to left off Astros starter Mike Burrows.

Burrows matched his career high of eight strikeouts while working five innings. He allowed five hits and issued three walks. Burrows surrendered a solo home run to Grisham, his fourth on the season, with one out in the third inning that enabled the Yankees to erase a 1-0 deficit.

The Astros grabbed that lead in the bottom of the first. Carlos Correa roped a leadoff double to left-center and scored when Isaac Paredes added an RBI single to left two batters later. Yankees starter Ryan Weathers immediately settled down and retired 11 consecutive batters after Paredes’ run-scoring hit.

Yainer Diaz opened the fifth with a single, but Weathers didn’t allow another run until Correa led off the sixth with his second homer, a 391-foot blast to left-center that tied the game at 2-2.

Weathers surrendered two runs on six hits with no walks and four strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings. Right-hander Fernando Cruz (2-0) earned the win in relief for the Yankees.

–Field Level Media

Sal Stewart homered and drove in five runs on Saturday night to help the streaking Cincinnati Reds earn a 9-2 victory to clinch a series win over the visiting Detroit Tigers.

Brady Singer (2-1) allowed two runs on eight hits across 5 1/3 innings for the Reds, who have won nine of their last 11 games. Singer struck out three and TJ Friedl went 3-for-4 with a solo home run, as Cincinnati scored nine runs for the second straight day.

Jack Flaherty (0-2) lasted just two innings for Detroit, yielding six runs on five hits, striking out four and walking two. Spencer Torkelson homered in his fourth straight game for the Tigers, who have dropped four of their last six.

Kevin McGonigle turned on the second pitch of the game, connecting on his second homer of the year to give Detroit a 1-0 lead.

After Matt McLain and Elly De La Cruz each earned out-one walks in the bottom of the first, Stewart’s three-run homer put the Reds ahead 3-1.

Nathaniel Lowe followed with a solo homer, his third in the last two games, to make it 4-1.

In the second inning, De La Cruz belted a two-run blast to extend the margin to five before Torkelson’s solo shot cut the Detroit deficit to 6-2 in the fourth.

Ke’Bryan Hayes and Friedl singled off Tigers left-hander Tyler Holton to begin the sixth before Connor Seabold entered for Detroit. After De La Cruz’s walk loaded the bases, Stewart’s single to right plated two to push the lead to 8-2.

Four Reds relievers combined to throw 3 2/3 stellar innings, including Emilio Pagan’s scoreless ninth.

–Field Level Media

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a playoff career-high 42 points to lift the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 121-109 road win over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday.

The reigning NBA Most Valuable Player finished 15 of 18 from the floor with eight assists to give the Thunder a commanding 3-0 lead in their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

Oklahoma City has won 11 consecutive first-round games.

Gilgeous-Alexander’s previous playoff high was 40 points in Game 4 of last season’s Western Conference Finals against Minnesota.

“We did a really good job tonight playing to our identity offensively,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Everyone was aggressive. Everyone was playing within themselves. Everyone was moving around the ball.”

Playing without Jalen Williams, who suffered a hamstring strain in Wednesday’s Game 2 victory, the Thunder leaned even more heavily on Gilgeous-Alexander.

Gilgeous-Alexander hit his first 11 shots, not missing until less than three minutes remained in the third quarter.

“The efficiency was ridiculous,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.

“He’s mastered the art of just staying disciplined and staying inside of himself and controlling what we can control at a really high level,” Daigneault said. “That’s what allows him to stay in games when things aren’t going his way, and that’s what allows him to improve. He feels a sense of control over his game and his craft. He also, as a result, feels a sense of control over his performance.”

Dillon Brooks led the Suns with 33 points while Jalen Green added 26 points. Devin Booker scored 16 points, but was held to 6-of-16 shooting from the floor.

Despite being without Williams, which moved Ajay Mitchell into the starting lineup, and Isaiah Joe, who was out for personal reasons, the Thunder reserves still dominated their counterparts. Oklahoma City’s bench outscored Phoenix’s 36-12.

“Those guys were awesome. They gave us great minutes, especially in the first half,” Daignuealt said of his bench. “… In a playoff series, you need everybody at different times, to execute different things, and we had those guys step up in a big way today.”

The Suns were within nine early in the fourth quarter when Gilgeous-Alexander checked back in.

Moments later, Cason Wallace stepped into a passing lane, intercepting Devin Booker’s pass and fed to Gilgeous-Alexander for a layup on the other end, sending the Oklahoma City bench into celebration while Phoenix called a timeout with the Thunder up 98-85 with 7:25 remaining.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished 14 of 15 from inside the arc and 11 of 12 from the free-throw line.

“Give him credit. He had us spinning,” Suns coach Jordan Ott said. “He had us spinning tonight.”

Mitchell scored 15 points while Alex Caruso scored 13 off the bench.

Dillon Brooks scored nine consecutive Phoenix points to help his team pull within 10 with three minutes remaining, but the Thunder hit four consecutive free throws to maintain the double-digit advantage.

“He was efficient and I got him Game 4,” Brooks said of Gilgeous-Alexander.

The Thunder took a 62-53 lead into halftime with a 12-2 run to close the second quarter.

Grayson Allen, who had missed the last five games with a hamstring injury, made his first appearance of the postseason, playing 17 minutes and scoring seven points on 2-of-8 shooting.

The Suns were without Jordan Goodwin, who suffered a calf injury in Game 1, and Mark Williams (foot).

The Thunder have a chance to close out the series Monday in Phoenix.

–Field Level Media