Astros take series from Royals in a blowout
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 9-0 win
May 8, 2019, 9:55 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
The Astros looked to put the disaster of Tuesday night behind them and get the series win with a victory on Wednesday night against the Royals. Here are some quick facts and three hits from the game:
Final Score: Astros 9, Royals 0
Record: 22-15, first in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Brad Peacock (3-2, 4.30 ERA)
Losing pitcher: Jorge Lopez (0-4, 6.07 ERA)
1) Offense strikes back
The Astros enacted their revenge on the Royals from the night before with a big offensive night of their own. It started with Houston's first batter of the night as George Springer led off the bottom of the first with a solo home run. They struck again in the third, putting together a five-run inning on a couple of sac flies from Alex Bregman and Aledmys Diaz, a solo home run from Carlos Correa, and a two-run home run by Michael Brantley. Brantley made it back-to-back innings and at-bats with a home run, coming up big again in the fourth with a solo home run to extend the lead to 7-0.
They were at it again in the bottom of the fifth, getting an RBI groundout from Max Stassi then sacrifice fly from Springer to extend the lead to 9-0.
2) Filthy Peacock
Peacock had his slider working and in control in this start, allowing just two baserunners through the first four innings. He got into some trouble in the top of the fifth, loading the bases with one out, but would get out of it with back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning. He bounced back from that with two more dominant innings, completing seven shutout frames. Peacock's final line: 7 innings pitched, 0 runs, 3 hits, 1 walk, and a career-high 12 strikeouts.
3) James shuts it down
With Peacock's night done after seven fantastic innings, Josh James took over in the eighth and worked around a leadoff walk to keep the shutout going into the ninth. In the ninth, he hit a batter but still completed the shutout with another scoreless inning, giving him two innings of work with a walk, hit batter, and five strikeouts.
Up Next: The Astros will stay here in Houston with a four-game series against the rival Rangers starting tomorrow night. First pitch is at 7:10 PM and will feature Wade Miley (2-2, 3.20 ERA) for Houston on the mound opposite of Mike Minor (3-2, 2.40 ERA) for the Rangers.
The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.
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Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez is going on the 10-day injured list with inflammation in his right hand.
The issue had caused the three-time All-Star to miss the last two games of the Astros’ weekend series with the Chicago White Sox. The move, announced before the Astros' Monday night game at Milwaukee, is retroactive to Saturday.
Houston recalled catcher César Salazar from Triple-A Sugar Land in a corresponding move.
Alvarez, 27, has batted .210 with a .306 on-base percentage, three homers and 18 RBIs in 29 games this season. That follows a 2024 season in which he batted. 308 with a .392 on-base percentage, 35 homers and 86 RBIs in 147 games while earning a third straight All-Star Game selection and finishing ninth in the AL Most Valuable Player voting.
He has posted an OPS of at least .959 each of the past three seasons and ranked fourth in the AL in that category last year.
Salazar, 26, was hitting .197 with a .305 on-base percentage, two homers and seven RBIs in 21 games for Sugar Land. He hit .320 with a .387 on-base percentage, no homers and eight RBIs in 12 games with Houston last year.