Isaac Paredes' first 2 home runs of season power slumping Astros to 9-2 victory over Guardians

CLEVELAND (AP) — Isaac Paredes hit his first two home runs of the season and Christian Walker also went deep as the Houston Astros beat the Cleveland Guardians 9-2 on Monday night for just their third victory in 15 games.

Walker lined a two-run shot to left-center in the first inning to open the scoring. The first baseman snapped an 0-for-15 slump by going 3 for 5 with three runs.

Paredes broke a 2-all tie with a leadoff homer to left field in the fourth that sparked a four-run inning. His first longball of the year came in his 76th plate appearance. Paredes, who homered at least 19 times in each of the last four seasons, added a solo shot in the eighth to close the scoring.

Paredes and Carlos Correa each had three hits. Correa’s two-run single capped the fourth-inning outburst and put the Astros in front 6-2.

Spencer Arrighetti (2-0) pitched five innings and gave up two runs, five hits and four walks while striking out three. The Astros are 9-15 after beginning the season with a 6-3 mark.

Slade Cecconi (0-3) was tagged for seven runs (six earned) in five innings. Brayan Rocchio went 3 for 3 with a walk for the Guardians, who had won three of four.

Astros center fielder Taylor Trammell exited in the third inning after injuring his left groin while running the bases. Houston infielder Nick Allen (mid-back spasms) was placed on the 10-day injured list before the game.

The middle game of the series is set for Tuesday night, with Astros RHP Ryan Weiss (0-2, 6.75 ERA) facing LHP Parker Messick (3-0, 1.05), who took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against Baltimore last Thursday.

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Cleveland Guardians second baseman Juan Brito, left, catches a fly ball in front of center fielder Steven Kwan, right, in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros in Cleveland, Monday, April 20, 2026. (AP Photo/David Richard)

Cleveland Guardians catcher Bo Naylor, left, stands near home plate as Houston Astros' Christian Walker (8) scores in the fifth inning of a baseball game in Cleveland, Monday, April 20, 2026. (AP Photo/David Richard)

Houston Astros' Isaac Paredes, left, and Christian Walker, right, celebrate a win over the Cleveland Guardians in a baseball game in Cleveland, Monday, April 20, 2026. (AP Photo/David Richard)

Houston Astros' Isaac Paredes celebrates after his solo home run in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, Monday, April 20, 2026. (AP Photo/David Richard)

Houston Astros' Isaac Paredes hits a solo home run in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, Monday, April 20, 2026. (AP Photo/David Richard)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is out of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, the White House said Monday, after multiple allegations of abusing her position’s power, including having an affair with a subordinate and drinking alcohol on the job.

Chavez-DeRemer is the third Trump Cabinet member to leave her post after Trump fired his embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in March and ousted Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this month.

In a statement posted on social media, Chavez-DeRemer praised Trump and wrote, “I am proud that we made significant progress in advancing President Trump’s mission to bridge the gap between business and labor and always put the American worker first.”

Unlike other recent Cabinet departures, Chavez-DeRemer’s exit was announced by a White House aide, not by the president on his social media account.

“Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will be leaving the Administration to take a position in the private sector,” White House communications director Steven Cheung said on the social media site X. “She has done a phenomenal job in her role by protecting American workers, enacting fair labor practices, and helping Americans gain additional skills to improve their lives.”

He said Keith Sonderling, the current deputy labor secretary, would become acting labor secretary in her place. The news outlet NOTUS was the first to report Chavez-DeRemer's resignation.

Chavez-DeRamer’s departure follows reports that began surfacing in January that she was under a series of investigations.

A New York Times report last Wednesday revealed that the Labor Department’s inspector general was reviewing material showing Chavez-DeRemer and her top aides and family members routinely sent personal messages and requests to young staff members.

Chavez-DeRemer’s husband and father exchanged text messages with young female staff members, according to the newspaper. Some of the staffers were instructed by the secretary and her former deputy chief of staff to “pay attention” to her family, people familiar with the investigation told the Times.

Those messages were uncovered as part of a broader investigation of Chavez-DeRamer’s leadership that began after the New York Post reported in January that a complaint filed with the Labor Department’s inspector general accused Chavez-DeRemer of a relationship with the subordinate.

She also faced allegations that she drank alcohol on the job, and that she tasked aides to plan official trips for primarily personal reasons.

Late Monday, on her personal X account, Chavez-DeRemer posted, “The allegations against me, my family, and my team have been peddled by high-ranked deep state actors who have been coordinating with the one-sided news media and continue to undermine President Trump's mission.”

Both the White House and the Labor Department initially said the reports of wrongdoing were baseless. But the official denials got less full-throated as more allegations emerged — and when Chavez-DeRemer might be out of a job became something of an open question in Washington.

At least four Labor Department officials have already been forced from their jobs as the investigation progressed, including Chavez-DeRemer’s former chief of staff and deputy chief of staff, as well as a member of her security detail, with whom she was accused of having the affair, The New York Times reported.

“I think the secretary demonstrated a lot of wisdom in resigning,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said Monday after her departure was made public.

Confirmed to Trump’s Cabinet on a 67-32 vote in March 2025, Chavez-DeRemer is a former House GOP lawmaker who had represented a swing district in Oregon. She enjoyed unusual support from unions as a Republican but lost reelection in November 2024.

In her single term in Congress, Chavez-DeRemer backed legislation that would make it easier to unionize on a federal level, as well as a separate bill aimed at protecting Social Security benefits for public-sector employees.

Some prominent labor unions, including the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, backed Chavez-DeRemer, who is a daughter of a Teamster, for Labor Secretary. Trump’s decision to pick her was viewed by some political observers as a way to appeal to voters who are members of or affiliated with labor organizations.

But other powerful labor leaders were skeptical when she was tapped for the job, unconvinced that Chavez-DeRemer would pursue a union-friendly agenda as a part of the incoming GOP administration. In her Senate confirmation hearing, some senators questioned whether she would be able to uphold that reputation in an administration that fired thousands of federal employees.

Aside from reports of wrongdoing in recent months, Chavez-DeRemer had been one of Trump’s more lower-profile Cabinet picks, but took key steps to advance the administration’s deregulatory agenda during her tenure.

For instance, the Labor Department last year moved to rewrite or repeal more than 60 workplace regulations it saw as obsolete. The rollbacks included minimum wage requirements for home health care workers and people with disabilities, and rules governing exposure to harmful substances and safety procedures at mines. The effort drew condemnation from union leaders and workplace safety experts.

The proposed changes also included eliminating a requirement that employers provide adequate lighting for construction sites and seat belts for agriculture workers in most employer-provided transportation.

During Chavez-DeRemer’s tenure, the Trump administration canceled millions of dollars in international grants that a Labor Department division administered to combat child labor and slave labor around the world, ending their work that had helped reduce the number of child laborers worldwide by 78 million over the last two decades.

In her statement Monday, Chavez-DeRemer said, “While my time serving in the Administration comes to a conclusion, it doesn’t mean I will stop fighting for American workers.”

The Labor Department has a broad mandate as it relates to the U.S. workforce, including reporting the U.S. unemployment rate, regulating workplace health and safety standards, investigating minimum wage, child labor and overtime pay disputes, and applying laws on union organizing and unlawful terminations.

Associated Press writers Steven Sloan and Will Weissert in Washington, and Cathy Bussewitz in New York, contributed to this report.

FILE - Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer listens as President Donald Trump speaks with reporters while signing executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, April 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

The White House is seen, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)