Astros fall flat as Tigers cap dominant series win
BAD FRAMBER RETURNS
20 August
BAD FRAMBER RETURNS
Dillon Dingler tripled in a six-run first inning and the Detroit Tigers finished a sweep of the Houston Astros with a 7-2 win on Wednesday.
Dingler added a double and scored twice as the Tigers won for the seventh time in eight games. The Astros have lost four straight.
Charlie Morton (9-10) allowed two runs on three hits and three walks in six innings.
Framber Valdez (11-7) gave up seven runs, matching a season high, in five innings. He is 0-3 in his last five starts.
The Tigers scored five runs before Valdez recorded an out. Jahmai Jones and Gleyber Torres started the first with walks, Andy Ibáñez hit an RBI single and Spencer Torkelson made it 2-0 with a double.
Valdez’s first wild pitch allowed Ibáñez to score, and after Riley Greene walked, Valdez threw another wild pitch to let Torkelson score the fourth run.
Dingler then tripled off the wall in center. Taylor Trammell hit the fence while trying to make the play and ended up leaving the game on a cart.
Manager Joe Espada spoke with MLB.com's Brian McTaggart after the game and said Trammell is being evaluated for a concussion, but will head to Baltimore with the club.
Taylor Trammell was being evaluated for a concussion, but will travel with the club to Baltimore. Espada said he's getting looked at for his back and his neck was stiff.
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) August 20, 2025
Valdez finally got an out when Wenceel Pérez grounded out, but Javier Báez hit an RBI single to make it 6-0.
Báez made it a seven-run game in the third with another RBI single. The Astros ended their 31-inning scoreless streak on Mauricio Dubón’s two-run homer in the fourth.
Mauricio Dubón!!!!! pic.twitter.com/xNjo8RNUxt
— Space City Home Network (@SpaceCityHN) August 20, 2025
Houston nearly ended their scoreless streak in the third inning. Jeremy Peña led off with a double and took third on Carlos Correa’s fly ball to right. Morton, though, got Jose Altuve and Christian Walker to pop out to short.
The game was Detroit’s 13th in 13 days.
Houston visits Baltimore for a four-game series. RHP Jason Alexander (3-1, 4.74) is scheduled to start Thursday’s opener against RHP Brandon Young (1-6, 5.68).
Detroit begins a series Friday at Kansas City. RHP Casey Mize (12-4, 3.63) is scheduled to start for the Tigers.
José Soriano and two relievers combined for a two-hitter and Oswald Peraza hit his first home run since a trade from the Yankees to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 3-0 win over the Houston Astros on Sunday.
Soriano (10-9) allowed one hit and struck out eight in seven innings. Luis García allowed one hit in a scoreless eighth and Kenley Jansen threw a perfect ninth for his 25th save.
There were two outs in the fifth when Peraza connected off Hunter Brown (10-7) into the bullpen in right-center field to put the Angels up 1-0. His homer comes after his two-run single in the ninth inning Saturday helped Los Angeles to a 4-1 victory that snapped a three-game skid.
Yoan Moncada walked to start the eighth and scored on Mike Trout’s double that bounced off the wall in center field to make it 2-0. Taylor Ward walked before Luis Rengifo reached and Trout scored on an error by Lance McCullers Jr. when the pitcher overthrew first base.
Yordan Alvarez singled with no outs in the first and Soriano walked a batter in the second and sixth innings. The Astros didn’t get another hit until Ramón Urías doubled with one out in the eighth inning. Los Angeles outfielder Taylor Ward was injured trying to make a catch on that hit when he crashed face-first into the metal scoreboard in left field.
He was carted off the field holding a towel to the right side of his face. He was taken to a hospital by ambulance where interim manager Ray Montgomery said he would receive stitches to close the cut and be evaluated.
Brown allowed three hits and a run with five strikeouts in six innings. McCullers Jr. allowed three hits and two runs in his first relief appearance since 2018.
The home run by Peraza.
It’s the fifth time the Astros have been shut out this month.
LHP Yusei Kikuchi (6-9, 3.68 ERA) will start for Los Angeles in the series finale Monday against RHP Luis Garcia, who’ll make his return after sitting out since May 2023 recovering from Tommy John surgery.