HOUSTON _ Once more, the Astros' pitching at Minute Maid Park had a wet-blanket effect on the Yankees' lineup.
Charlie Morton took a no-hitter into Monday night's sixth inning, and the defending world champion Astros followed a familiar path in their 2-1 victory, snapping the Yankees' winning streak at nine straight games.
Including Games 6 and 7 of last year's AL Championship Series, the Yankees have scored one or fewer runs in each of their last six games at Minute Maid Park, where 30,061 fans sat under an open roof.
Though there were some tough moments to navigate, Yankees starter Sonny Gray reversed a disturbing early-season trend by going six innings and yielding two runs.
And though the Yankees _ who arrived from Los Angeles at 4 a.m. on Monday morning _ had some gripes with plate umpire John Tumpane's generous strike zone, Morton baffled them with an arsenal that featured a sharp breaking pitch.
Austin Romine's one-out, opposite field ground single to right ended Morton's no-hit bid with one out in the sixth, but the Yankees (18-10) could not push a runner into scoring position against the right-hander until the eighth.
Rookie Gleyber Torres lashed a double to left with two out, ending Morton's night. He exited to a standing ovation.
Hitting safely in seven of his first career nine games, Torres' double not only knocked out Morton, but it gave the Yankees their first rally opportunity.
Pinch-hitting for Romine, Aaron Judge drew a walk on a full-count against reliever Brad Peacock, who was quickly replaced by Chris Devenski.
Brett Gardner greeted the right-handed Devenski with a sharp, RBI single to right, cutting Houston's lead to 2-1 and pushing the tying run to second base.
But Devenski got Didi Gregorius _ the newly named AL Player of the Week _ to strike out on a pitch out of the zone, ending the inning.
Morton (4-0) was charged with one run on two hits, with two walks and 10 strikeouts in his 7 2/3 innings.
Ken Giles saved it, giving the AL-West leading Astros (20-10) their third straight win.
Overall, Aaron Boone's first month as an MLB rookie manager was a positive one for his team, after a shaky and injury-plagued start.
"I think we've done a really nice job of weathering some storms early," Boone said before the opener of this four-game series. "We got kind of hit with the injury bug early, and all the weather issues that everyone's had to deal with.
"We've had our ups and downs certainly in that first couple of weeks, but one thing that has really come together for us, our at-bat quality has been really strong and why we've had a good offense to this point."
And after some inconsistency from his starters, "they've really stepped up and given us some quality outings and allowed our bullpen to step in and show how talented they are," Boone said. "We need to get better on the defensive side, and I feel like we have gotten better.
"But that's something that needs to continue to improve."
Paired again with backup catcher Romine, the right-handed Gray completed six inning for the first time since April 7, his second start of the year, against Baltimore.
A leadoff single by George Springer and a balk contributed to Houston's first-inning run, but Gray retired nine straight batters before running into trouble in the fourth _ beginning with Jose Altuve's base hit.
But after Yuri Gurriel lashed an RBI double, Gray pitched out of further trouble _ stranding the bases loaded with one out.
In all, Gray (1-2) yielded four hits and three walks, with four strikeouts.
