Astros manager A.J. Hinch is quite comfortable when Yuli Gurriel is at the plate with runners are in scoring position.

Gurriel hit a grand slam in Houston's eight-run second inning Youth Rashaan Evans Jersey , helping Gerrit Cole and the Astros beat the Kansas City Royals 11-3 on Sunday.

"He just has a knack for really putting the barrel on the ball and doing incredibly positive things," Hinch said. "His balance, his bat-to-ball skills, his bat path: Everything lines up when he can execute his game plan and he doesn't miss pitches.

"He can hit anything anywhere and he usually hits it hard. And that was a big knockout blow for them early in the game."

Gurriel finished with three hits as the AL West-leading Astros won for the 15th time in 17 games. Jose Altuve drove in two runs and scored twice, and Evan Gattis connected for a pinch-hit homer.

Cole (9-1) struck out eight while pitching five innings of one-run ball. The right-hander has struck out at least eight in 12 of his 16 starts.

"You know ideally I'd like to get a little more length there, especially after the bullpen had to work last night," Cole said. "Some of that is out of my control a little bit. So, just kind of get back to the grind and get to the next one."

Houston loaded the bases with one out in the second, and Tony Kemp brought home the first run when he reached on catcher's interference on Drew Butera. George Springer then lined out, but Alex Bregman walked, Altuve hit a two-run single and Carlos Correa walked before Gurriel connected against Jason Hammel (2-9) for his second career grand slam.

"Put guys on base for free and make mistakes and that's what happens," Hammel said.

Gurriel also hit a solo drive in Saturday's 4-3 win in 12 innings. It's the first time since July 21-22, 2017, that Gurriel has homered in back-to-back games.

"My concentration level definitely is focused when there are runners on base and guys that we want to get to score," Gurriel said through a translator.

Kansas City dropped to 3-18 in June. Hammel was tagged for nine runs, matching his season high, and walked five in four innings.

Lucas Duda hit his fifth homer for the Royals, and Rosell Herrera singled in a run.

"They have a really good pitching staff over there," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "It's hard to fall behind that group and battle back because they are so good."

TIME TO SHAVE

Bregman had been working on a mustache the last few days, but it disappeared during the game. A split-screen picture of Bregman during his at-bat in the second inning and next plate appearance in the fourth showed he had shaved at some point between the two at-bats.

"I don't pay attention to Alex's shaving habits during the middle of the game," Cole said. "I did like the mustache. I thought it played Jeff Kent-esque. It was on top of his lip when he stabbed that soft liner in the first inning, which got us out of the jam. So, personally I'm a fan of the `stache. I guess it's been sent down. It's been DFA'd and we'll wait until it comes back."

SURGING

Gattis has 11 homers and 32 RBIs in his last 25 games. He has driven in 25 runs in June.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Astros: RHP Joe Smith (elbow discomfort) threw his first bullpen session since going on the disabled list. Smith threw about 30 pitches. He said he felt good and will know more of where he is at depending on how he feels on Monday.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Brad Keller (1-2, 2.63 ERA) faces the Angels on Monday in a make-up game. Last time out, Keller got a no-decision against Houston in a 7-4 loss on June 17. Keller allowed three runs in six innings against the Astros.

Astros: RHP Justin Verlander (9-2, 1.60 ERA) faces the Blue Jays on Monday. Verlander leads the American League in ERA, WHIP Youth Harold Landry Jersey , opponent OPS and opponent batting average.

The Oakland Athletics were down to their last strike when Stephen Piscotty hit a tying home run off closer Brad Hand, who was San Diego's only All-Star last year.

Jed Lowie then hit a two-run shot with two outs in the 10th to lift the Athletics to a 4-2 victory Tuesday night.

Hand was trying for his 22nd save when Piscotty drove a 2-2 fastball into the second deck, his fifth.

"That's a guy you don't typically think you're going to string some hits together against and you're down to your last pitch and the next thing it's a homer," manager Bob Melvin said. "That's about as big a momentum shift as you're going to get, when you're a strike away from losing and all of a sudden now you potentially have got their closer out of the game and bullpen-wise maybe we're a little better set."

Against a pitcher like Hand, "you're probably only going to get one pitch to hit and you don't want to miss it," Piscotty said. "He did a good job of getting ahead but in my mind I was just waiting for that one, and luckily I got it and didn't miss it."

Piscotty took a 1-2 slider to even the count before homering.

"I saw that one really good and felt confident. Sometimes when you have a good take like that it locks you in," he said.

"We were one out away from winning the ballgame. I made a mistake, they came back and hit a home run and then the tenth inning didn't go our way," Hand said. "It was down, it was just inner third. A little more in would have been better, but it wasn't necessarily a terrible pitch, but he made a good swing on it."

Said manager Andy Green: "I'm sure if he had it back, he'd throw a slider instead of a fastball. I also think he wouldn't mean to throw the fastball right where he threw it. Brad's been good all year. I'm not the least bit worried about him. He's resilient as anybody, and it's one of those days, it's a tough loss. It one of those that stings late because we did have it. One strike away, and those games sting."

Adam Cimber (3-3) allowed Marcus Semien's one-out single in the 10th and retired Chad Pinder on a fly to right before Lowrie connected for his 10th homer.

"I was just looking for something over the plate that I could square up and he made a mistake right down the middle," Lowrie said.

Rookie Lou Trivino (4-1) pitched two innings for the win. Blake Treinen pitched the 10th for his 16th save.

Padres rookie left-hander hander Eric Lauer had been in line for the victory after pitching six strong innings. He settled down after allowing an unearned run in the second and held the A's to one run and three hits while matching his strikeout high with seven. He walked two.

The Padres had given Lauer just enough support in the first two innings against Paul Blackburn. Jose Pirela brought in a run in the first on a grounder and Raffy Lopez doubled with one out in the second to bring in rookie Franmil Reyes, who was aboard on a leadoff double.

Blackburn allowed two runs and four hits in five innings, struck out four and walked two.

The A's scored in the second with some help from replay. Khris Davis drew a leadoff walk and was originally called out on a force play on Matt Olson's ground ball. The A's challenged and the call was overturned, with shortstop Freddy Galvis given an error because his foot wasn't on second base when he took the throw. Davis advanced on Mark Canha's single and scored when Piscotty grounded into a double play.

ROAD WARRIORS

The Padres are in a stretch in which they will play just five of 28 games at home. After going 5-5 on a trip through Miami, St. Louis and Atlanta, the Padres are home for just two games before heading out for a seven-game trip to San Francisco and Texas. Then they're home for three games against Pittsburgh before a six-game trip to Oakland and Arizona.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Padres: Have cut short OF Franchy Cordero's rehab assignment after he felt something in his right elbow. Manager Andy Green said it's "highly unlikely" Cordero is back soon.

UP NEXT

Athletics: RHP Frankie Montas (3-1, 2.67 ERA) is scheduled to start the finale of the two-game series.

Padres: Rookie LHP Joey Lucchesi (3-2, 3.23) is scheduled to return from more than a month on the DL with a strained right hip.

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