Astros crush Mariners with barrage of homers
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 10-2 win
Aug 2, 2019, 10:08 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
After wrapping up another series win in Cleveland on Thursday night, the Astros were back at home to start a fresh three-game set with the Mariners. Here is a recap of game one against Seattle:
Final Score: Astros 10, Mariners 2.
Record: 71-40, first in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Wade Miley (10-4, 3.05 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Yusei Kikuchi (4-8, 5.49 ERA).
1) Houston puts on a home run parade
Yordan Alvarez was the first to put Houston on the board, crushing a ball to straightaway center to lead off the bottom of the second inning. The 427-foot bomb made it a 1-0 game, but later in the inning, Jake Marisnick extended the lead to 3-0 with a two-run home run of his own.
The home runs didn't stop there; Martin Maldonado made his return to Minute Maid Park memorable with a one-out solo home run in the bottom of the fourth to extend the lead to 4-0. Then, after a two-out triple by George Springer later in the inning, Jose Altuve capitalized with a two-run shot to the Crawford Boxes to make it a 6-0 Houston advantage.
Even after Seattle went to their bullpen in the bottom of the fifth inning, they couldn't avoid Houston's momentum. After Alvarez worked a one-out walk in the inning, Carlos Correa joined in on the home run parade with a two-run blast before Aledmys Diaz made it back-to-back jacks, extending the lead further to 9-0. That made it a season-high six home runs in the game for Houston.
Six homers. Nine runs. Nice. pic.twitter.com/z9m2xD2tN8
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 3, 2019
2) Miley gets win number 10
Meanwhile, Wade Miley was quietly stringing together another solid start on the mound. He allowed a few walks in the early innings but did not allow a hit until the top of the fifth. He would keep the Mariners scoreless until the sixth when he would give up a one-out two-run home run to trim the lead to 9-2.
He went on to finish that inning, but after giving up five walks on the night saw his pitch count prevent him from going further in the game. Still, with the run support, he was able to get his tenth win of the season. Miley's final pitching line: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 6 K, 1 HR.
3) Bullpen sends things home
Collin McHugh was the first reliever to come out of Houston's bullpen, taking over for Miley to pitch the seventh. He worked around back-to-back two-out walks to get through the scoreless inning.
He stayed on the mound for the eighth, another scoreless inning during which allowed just a walk. In the bottom of the inning, the Astros tacked on one more insurance run with an RBI-groundout from Jose Altuve to make it 10-2.
Jose Smith came in with the eight-run lead to close things out in the ninth, and did so, giving Houston a win in the series opener.
Up Next: Game two of this series will start tomorrow at 6:10 PM. The Astros will send newly acquired Aaron Sanchez (3-14, 6.07 ERA) to the mound to try and turn the page on his rough season so far and start fresh with his new team. He will be going up against Marco Gonzalez (12-8, 4.21 ERA) for Seattle. Houston can secure another series win with a victory.
The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.
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Oswald Peraza hit a two-run single in the ninth inning to help the Los Angeles Angels snap a three-game losing skid by beating the Houston Astros 4-1 on Saturday night.
Peraza entered the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning and hit a bases-loaded fly ball to deep right field that eluded the outstretched glove of Cam Smith. It was the fourth straight hit off Astros closer Bryan Abreu (3-4), who had not allowed a run in his previous 12 appearances.
The Angels third run of the ninth inning scored when Mike Trout walked with the bases loaded.
Kyle Hendricks allowed one run while scattering seven hits over six innings. He held the Astros to 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, the one hit coming on Jesús Sánchez’s third-inning infield single that scored Jeremy Peña.
Reid Detmers worked around a leadoff walk to keep the Astros scoreless in the seventh, and José Fermin (3-2) retired the side in order in the eighth before Kenley Jansen worked a scoreless ninth to earn his 24th save.
Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti struck out a season-high eight batters over 6 1/3 innings. The only hit he allowed was Zach Neto’s third-inning solo home run.
Yordan Alvarez had two hits for the Astros, who remained three games ahead of Seattle for first place in the AL West.
Key moment
Peraza’s two-run single to deep right field that broke a 1-1 tie in the ninth.
Key Stat
Opponents were 5 for 44 against Abreu in August before he allowed four straight hits in the ninth.
Up next
Astros RHP Hunter Brown (10-6, 2.37 ERA) faces RHP José Soriano (9-9, 3.85) when the series continues Sunday.