Astros get the series win against the Cardinals
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 6-2 win
The series finale between the Astros and Cardinals was a rubber game after the teams split the first two games. Here is a quick recap of Sunday's matchup:
Final Score: Astros 6, Cardinals 2.
Record: 68-39, first in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Wade Miley (9-4, 3.06 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Dakota Hudson (10-5, 3.88 ERA).
1) Altuve with a milestone in another strong offensive performance
After a blowout the day before, Houston's offense continued to pummel the Cardinals on Sunday in the series finale. It started with the first at-bat of the afternoon, as George Springer launched the second pitch of the game for a dinger to put the Astros ahead 1-0 immediately.
Yordan Alvarez, making a start in left field after missing the starting lineup the first two games in the DH-less series, doubled Houston's lead with a solo home run in the top of the third. Wade Miley, who put down a successful bunt earlier in the game, led off the fifth inning by working a walk. Springer followed that up with a double, putting runners on second and third.
Jose Altuve dug into the box next, needing just one hit to reach 1,500 on his career. He made it a loud and memorable one, crushing a ball to left field for a three-run home run, making it a 5-0 game.
2) Good, but short start for Miley
After nearly completing a full nine innings in his last start, Wade Miley did not have the same level of dominance against the Cardinals. He had traffic on the bases in nearly every inning, giving up a walk or single in each except for his last, the fifth.
Still, he did well not to allow any runs, working in and out of trouble several times including stranding the bases loaded in the third. Miley's final line: 5 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 0 HR.
3) Houston wins the series
That set up the bullpen to complete the final four innings. Collin McHugh started the afternoon for the bullpen in the bottom of the sixth but would allow St. Louis' first run of the day before getting through the inning, making it a 5-1 game. Hector Rondon had the seventh and worked around an error for a scoreless inning.
Houston pushed the lead back to five runs in the top of the eighth, getting an RBI-double from Michael Brantley to make it 6-1. Chris Devenski took over on the mound in the bottom of the eighth, a 1-2-3 inning to send things on to the ninth.
After a quick top of the ninth, Devenski stayed in to get the last three outs, and despite allowing a leadoff home run to make it 6-2, would do so to secure the series win for Houston.
Up Next: Houston will have a day off tomorrow, but stay on the road to pick up a three-game series with the Indians in Cleveland. The series opener is Tuesday at 6:10 PM and the expected pitching matchup is a good one with Justin Verlander (13-4, 2.86 ERA) on the mound for the Astros going against Shane Bieber (10-3, 3.44 ERA) for the Indians.
The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.
