HOUSTON (AP) - Chris Carter homered twice, Dallas Keuchel pitched eight strong innings and the Houston Astros beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-1 on Wednesday night.
Keuchel (8-3) won for the sixth time in seven starts. He allowed four hits and a run, striking out five and lowering his ERA to 2.38. Even though the game is more than a month away, Houston manager Bo Porter was already stumping for Keuchel to get the All-Star call.
More from WholeHogSports
http://www.wholehog…">Keuchel enjoying breakout season
"You look at the season Dallas Keuchel has put together to this point and if he's not an All-Star, what is? He continues to impress," Porter said. "It's a joy to watch."
Carter's first solo home run made it 3-1 in the fourth inning, and he added an opposite-field shot in the seventh. It was the fifth career multihomer game for Carter and second this year.
Carter has struggled this season and is batting just .199, but his power is undeniable and he's tied for the team lead with 12 homers.
"He's been up and down this year," Porter said. "The power numbers are there. The batting average is not there, but at the same time he's had some big hits and tonight is a step in a huge direction to him getting going."
Carter led the Astros with 29 homers and 82 RBIs last year in his first full season in the majors. He feels less pressure at the plate now that the lineup has been beefed up with the addition of rookies Jon Singleton and George Springer.
"It's nice to have guys like that where you don't feel like you're the only guy in the lineup where you have to do everything or everyone is looking to you to get a home run or something," Carter said.
Brandon McCarthy (1-9) allowed eight hits and four runs in six-plus innings to remain winless since May 3.
Aaron Hill homered in the fourth for Arizona's only extra-base hit.
Springer had two hits and an RBI and Singleton drove in a run as the Astros won for the fifth time in seven games.
McCarthy has had success in Houston in the past and entered the game 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA in his career at Minute Maid Park.
But the Astros got going against him early, with Springer singling in the first, Singleton drawing a walk and Jason Castro grounding an RBI single. Singleton was thrown out at third on the play.
Jonathan Villar singled to start Houston's third before a one-out single by Springer. Both players advanced on a wild pitch by McCarthy before Villar scored on a groundout by Singleton to make it 2-0.
The Diamondbacks didn't get a hit until Hill led off the fourth with his homer to the Crawford Boxes in left field to cut the lead to 2-1.
Paul Goldschmidt singled after Hill's homer, but Keuchel got back on track after that and retired 13 of his next 14 batters. The only hit in that span came on a single by Chris Owings with one out in the sixth inning.
Ender Inciarte singled with two outs in the Arizona eighth, but Keuchel retired Owings to end the inning and Keuchel's night.
Springer drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning.