HOUSTON (AP) — José Ramírez homered for a third straight game, Angel Martínez also went deep and the Cleveland Guardians got a 4-2 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday night to complete a three-game sweep.
It’s the first time the Guardians, who entered the series on a 10-game skid, have won three in a row since a four-game winning streak from May 21-24.
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Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Slade Cecconi throws against the Houston Astros during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Houston Astros starting pitcher Brandon Walter looks the outfield after giving up a home run to Cleveland Guardians' José Ramírez during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Cleveland Guardians' Angel Martínez celebrates after hitting a home run against the Houston Astros during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Cleveland Guardians' José Ramírez watches his home run against the Houston Astros during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Slade Cecconi (4-4) allowed five hits and two runs with a career-best nine strikeouts in 7-plus innings for the win. Paul Sewald pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save.
Martínez homered for a second straight at-bat with his shot to the Crawford Boxes with one out in the first inning. His grand slam with two outs in the 10th inning Tuesday night lifted Cleveland to a 10-6 win.
Four pitches after Martinez's homer Wednesday, Ramírez also connected off Brandon Walter (1-2) to make it 2-0. Walter settled in after that, retiring the next 17 batters, with seven strikeouts before Bennett Sousa took over to start the seventh.
Ramírez and Carlos Santana hit consecutive singles with no outs in the inning before David Fry walked to load the bases. Johnathan Rodríguez then singled to score two and extend the lead to 4-0.
The Astros had managed just four singles when Taylor Trammell walked with no outs in the eighth and scored on a double by Mauricio Dubón that cut the lead to 4-1. There were two outs in the inning when Jose Altuve’s RBI double made it 4-2.
The AL West-leading Astros went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position to cap this disappointing series which came after they swept the Dodgers in Los Angeles over the weekend.
Martínez and Ramírez had back-to-back homers in the first.
Ramírez, who dropped out of next week’s All-Star game Wednesday to rehab a nagging Achilles injury, has four homers and seven RBIs this month.
LHP Logan Allen (5-7, 4.07 ERA) will start for Cleveland in the opener of a four-game series against the Chicago White Sox Thursday night. The Astros are off Thursday and haven’t announced their rotation for their weekend series against the Rangers.
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Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Slade Cecconi throws against the Houston Astros during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Houston Astros starting pitcher Brandon Walter looks the outfield after giving up a home run to Cleveland Guardians' José Ramírez during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Cleveland Guardians' Angel Martínez celebrates after hitting a home run against the Houston Astros during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Cleveland Guardians' José Ramírez watches his home run against the Houston Astros during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — In the aftermath of a fire inside a Swiss Alpine bar that killed 40 people celebrating the new year, survivors, friends and family members, the region’s top authorities and even Pope Leo have spoken to the public in remarks in French, Italian, German and English, reflecting the tradition of Swiss multilingualism.
Another 119 people were injured in the blaze early Thursday as it ripped through the busy Le Constellation bar at the ski resort of Crans-Montana, authorities said. It was one of the deadliest tragedies in Switzerland’s history.
Investigators said Friday that they believe sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited the fatal fire when they came too close to the ceiling of the crowded bar.
Here’s a look at what people said in the wake of the disaster:
— “I’m looking everywhere. The body of my son is somewhere,” Laetitia Brodard told reporters Friday in Crans-Montana as she searched for her son, 16-year-old Arthur. “I want to know, where is my child, and be by his side. Wherever that may be, be it in the intensive care unit or the morgue.”
— “We were bringing people out, people were collapsing. We were doing everything we could to save them, we helped as many as we could. We saw people screaming, running,” Marc-Antoine Chavanon, 14, told The Associated Press in Crans-Montana on Friday, recounting how he rushed to the bar to help the injured. “There was one of our friends: She was struggling to get out, she was all burned. You can’t imagine the pain I saw.”
— “It was hard to live through for everyone. Also probably because everyone was asking themselves, ‘Was my child, my cousin, someone from the region at this party?’” Eric Bonvin, general director of the regional hospital in Sion that took in dozens of injured people, told AP on Friday. “This place was very well known as somewhere to celebrate the new year,” Bonvin said. “Also, seeing young people arrive — that’s always traumatic.”
— “I have seen horror, and I don’t know what else would be worse than this,” Gianni Campolo, a Swiss 19-year-old who was in Crans-Montana on vacation and rushed to the bar to help first responders, told France's TF1 television.
—“You will understand that the priority today is truly placed on identification, in order to allow the families to begin their mourning,” Beatrice Pilloud, the Valais region's attorney general, told reporters Friday during a news conference in Sion.
Pope Leo said in a telegram Friday to the bishop of Sion that he " wishes to express his compassion and concern to the relatives of the victims. He prays that the Lord will welcome the deceased into His abode of peace and light, and will sustain the courage of those who suffer in their hearts or in their bodies.”
— “We have numerous accounts of heroic actions, one could say of very strong solidarity in the moment,” Cantonal head of government Mathias Reynard told RTS radio Friday. "In the first minutes it was citizens — and in large part young people — who saved lives with their courage.”
— “Switzerland is a strong country not because it is sheltered from drama, but because it knows how to face them with courage and a spirit of mutual help," Swiss President Guy Parmelin, speaking on his first day in the position that changes hands annually, told reporters Thursday.
People bring flowers near the sealed off Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)
A woman holding a stuffed animal, whose daughter is missing, gather with others near the sealed-off Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)
People light candles near the sealed off Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)
