Houston wins third straight
Tucker slams, Greinke deals as Astros take opener over Angels
Aug 13, 2021, 11:35 pm
Kyle Tucker's grand slam provided the Astros the runs they needed to win on Friday. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images
Kyle Tucker's grand slam provided the Astros the runs they needed to win on Friday.
After getting the two-game sweep of the Rockies at home in the middle of the week, the Astros entered Angel Stadium as visitors on Friday after a day off looking to grab their third-straight win. Thanks to one big inning and solid pitching, they would get it.
Final Score: Astros 4, Angels 1
Astros' Record: 69-46, first in the AL West
Winning Pitcher: Zack Greinke (11-3)
Losing Pitcher: Patrick Sandoval (3-6)
Tucker's slam gets Houston on the board in a big way
King Tuck doing what he does best đź‘‘#ForTheH pic.twitter.com/68kWm04e1a
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 14, 2021
After just a handful of hits and no runs by both teams through the first three innings, Houston started the scoring in the top of the fourth. It came in a big way, with two walks and a single to load the bases, bringing Kyle Tucker to the plate, who delivered a 400-foot grand slam to give the Astros a 4-0 lead.
Greinke carves up LA's lineup
That gave Zack Greinke a lead to work with, and he held the Angels off the board. He allowed two baserunners over the first three innings, a ground-rule double in the second and a single in the third. He retired the other 21 batters he faced, carving up the Angels lineup in seven scoreless innings. His final line: 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 94 P.
Astros grab the opener
First out of the Astros' bullpen was Kendall Graveman, who pitched the bottom of the eighth. He got through the frame, but not before allowing LA's first run of the night, a two-out RBI single by Shohei Ohtani to make it 4-1. Ryan Pressly took over in the bottom of the ninth, tossing a 1-2-3 inning to grab the save and wrap up the win for Houston to take the opener.
Up Next: The middle game of this series will be an 8:07 PM Central start on Saturday. Luis Garcia (8-6, 3.29 ERA) will look to get his ninth win of the year for the Astros, going opposite of Jaime Barria (2-0, 4.21 ERA) for the Angels.
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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.