Houston’s Framer Valdez delivers a pitch in the second inning of the Astros’ 5-3 win over the Blue Jays on Thursday in Toronto. Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP

TORONTO — Mauricio Dubón hit a tiebreaking single in the fifth inning, Jeremy Peña added a solo home run and the Houston Astros beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-3 on Thursday for their 12th win in 14 games.

Framber Valdez pitched six innings to win his third straight start as the Astros extended their team-record Fourth of July winning streak to seven.

Yordan Alvarez reached base four times and scored a run as Houston won the four-game series 3-1.

Peña went 2 for 4 with a walk and scored twice. He extended Houston’s lead with a solo homer off Trevor Richards in the seventh inning, his seventh of the season. Peña also homered in Monday’s series opener.

Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette was scratched from the lineup because of a right forearm contusion. The two-time AL hits leader struck out on a pitch that hit him in the arm on Wednesday.

REDS 8, YANKEES 4: Frankie Montas made a triumphant return to Yankee Stadium, Nick Martini, Jonathan India and Spencer Steer homered and Cincinnati completed a three-game sweep of reeling New York.

Steer opened a 5-0 lead in the fifth inning with a three-run, opposite-field homer to right off Marcus Stroman (7-4). Jake Fraley boosted the advantage to 8-2 with a bases-loaded triple in the seventh against Jake Cousins as Cincinnati (42-45) became the first NL team to sweep a regular-season interleague series in the Bronx.

GUARDIANS 8, WHITE SOX 4: All-Star Steven Kwan homered, went 3 for 4 with two RBI and officially took over as the majors’ leading hitter while sending tghe Guardians to a win over Chicago in Cleveland.

Kwan connected for his eighth homer leading off the third inning against Justin Anderson as the AL Central-leading Guardians took two of three in the series and improved baseball’s best home record to 28-10.

Although his average has been over .350 for most of the season – he recently flirted with .400 – Kwan didn’t have enough at-bats to qualify for the MLB lead after missing a month with a hamstring injury.

He’s now batting .367 and has 12 three-hit games, the most in the AL.

MARINERS 7, ORIOLES 3: Julio Rodríguez homered for the first time since June 15 and doubled, J.P. Crawford lined a tiebreaking three-run double, and Seattle won at home to avoid a three-game sweep.

Seattle’s slumping offense broke out in a big way and it was the Mariners’ best player leading the charge. Mired in a slump at the plate, Rodríguez hit an 0-2 pitch from Baltimore ace Corbin Burnes an estimated 428 feet to center field in the fifth inning to pull Seattle to 2-1.

Two innings later, Rodríguez keyed Seattle’s five-run seventh inning with a line drive double off Baltimore reliever Bryan Baker. The Mariners eventually loaded the bases against Baker (1-1) and with two outs and Crawford cleared them after Keegan Akin fell behind in the count.

PADRES 3, RANGERS 1: Jurickson Profar hit his 12th home run and the All-Star left fielder also threw out a runner at the plate as San Diego won in Arlington, Texas.

Profar had two hits and scored both times against three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (1-2), who made only his third start of the season since offseason back surgery and a rehab disrupted by thumb soreness and a nerve issue. Profar singled and scored in the fourth, then went deep in the sixth for a 2-0 lead.

CUBS 10, PHILLIES 2: Ian Happ hit three-run homers from both sides of the plate for a career-high six RBI, and struggling Chicago pounded major league-leading Philadelphia to avoid a three-game sweep at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs trailed 2-0 when Happ connected from the right side against starter Cristopher Sánchez during a five-run fourth inning. Happ struck again batting left-handed in the fifth against Seranthony Domínguez, making it 8-2 and giving him 14 career multi-homer games.

NATIONALS 1, METS 0: Jake Irvin allowed just one hit and issued one walk in eight innings, Jesse Winker hit a pinch-hit home run and Washington beat New York in the traditional 11 a.m. Fourth of July game in the nation’s capital.

Irvin (7-6) pumped his chest and gestured to the crowd for applause after striking out Tyrone Taylor on his 99th pitch and walking off the mound following the longest outing of his major league career. That was Irvin’s eighth strikeout, and he faced just one batter over the minimum, retiring the final 17 batters he faced.

CARDINALS 3, PIRATES 2: Pedro Pages doubled home pinch runner Michael Siani and then scored on Alec Burleson’s RBI single as St. Louis won in 10 innings in Pittsburgh.

St. Louis took two of three from its NL Central Division rivals by winning a series finale for the 12th time in its last 13 chances.

TWINS 12, TIGERS 3: Jose Miranda went 5 for 5 with three doubles, four runs scored and three RBI as Minnesota beat visiting Detroit in a game called in the seventh inning due to rain.

A’S 5, ANGELS 0: Lawrence Butler homered, JP Sears won for the first time in more than a month, and Oakland blanked Los Angeles  to complete three-game series sweep in Oakland, California.

NOTES

PIRATES: Pittsburgh placed rookie pitcher Jared Jones on the 15-day injured list with a right lat strain.

The Pirates made the move less than 24 hours after Jones left following five innings and 78 pitches in what became a 5-4 victory over the Cardinals.

Jones reported feeling discomfort in his right side during the game but said afterward, “it’s nothing to be concerned about, I don’t think.”

The 22-year-old Jones is 5-6 with a 3.56 ERA and 98 strikeouts in 91 innings. The Pirates have been carefully monitoring Jones’ workload of late. The team skipped his return in the rotation last week in hopes of giving him a breather.