Houston takes two of three from LA

Tucker's homer lifts Astros to series win over Angels

Astros' Kyle Tucker
Kyle Tucker's fifth inning homer ended up being the difference in Sunday's series finale against the Angels. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images

Kyle Tucker's fifth-inning homer ended up being the difference in Sunday's series finale against the Angels.

After splitting the first two games of the series, the Astros hoped to have an outing more like their performance in Friday's opener than Saturday's middle game. Although it would be as strong of an offensive performance as that, they would get enough runs and have solid pitching to win the series.

Final Score: Astros 3, Angels 1

Astros' Record: 83-59, first in the AL West

Winning Pitcher: Lance McCullers Jr. (12-4)

Losing Pitcher: Jose Quijada (0-1)

Houston strikes first, Angels tie it up against McCullers Jr.

After Lance McCullers Jr. would erase a leadoff single and walk for a scoreless top of the first, Houston would get the scoring started in the bottom half. A leadoff single by Jose Altuve would get him in position, after a one-out walk, to score later in the inning on an RBI single by Yuli Gurriel, putting them in front 1-0.

McCullers Jr. held that lead well through four innings, hitting a batter in the second, allowing a single in the fourth, but retiring the other batters he faced along the way over that span. Los Angeles tied the game up against him in the fifth, though, with a one-out solo homer, the only run he'd give up on the day, as he'd go on to finish six quality innings. His final line: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 1 HR, 102 P.

Tucker homers, bullpen holds down the lead to win the series

McCullers Jr. would end up getting the win, as before his last inning of work, his offense would give him a lead. Yuli Gurriel reached base on a one-out single, setting up Kyle Tucker in the next at-bat, who launched a 406-foot go-ahead homer to make it a 3-1 Houston lead. That gave their bullpen three innings to cover and hang on to the two-run advantage.

They'd do it well, using arguably their strongest trio of relievers, starting with Ryne Stanek in the top of the seventh, who sat down the Angels 1-2-3. Kendall Graveman had the eighth and was able to work around a leadoff walk and one-out single to maintain the lead. That presented Ryan Pressly with a save opportunity in the ninth. He would notch his 24th of the season to wrap up the win, giving Houston the series win and continuing to dwindle their magic number to win the division in 2021.

Up Next: With this homestand over, the Astros will take back to the road, traveling up to Arlington to take on the Rangers for the final four games of the year in a series starting Monday at 7:05 PM Central. The opener's pitching matchup sets up to be Jake Odorizzi (6-7, 4.28 ERA) for Houston and Spencer Howard (0-3, 6.21 ERA) for Texas.

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Which team should concern the Astros the most? Composite Getty Image.

With only a dozen games left in the regular season, the playoff matchups the Astros could find themselves in are becoming clear.

It's looking more likely that Houston will be hosting either the Tigers, Twins, or Mariners.

Out of these three teams, which club gives the Astros the best chance to move on to the next round?

The Twins may have a winning record (4-2) against the 'Stros this season, but over the last 30 days, they haven't been playing well.

They are 28th in team ERA (4.96), and 21st in team OPS (.676). The Mariners and Tigers are much better than Minnesota in both categories. It's important to pay attention to how teams are playing as the regular season comes to an end.

But there are other factors to consider. Carlos Correa is back from injury, and the Twins have some big arms that have given the Astros trouble in the past.

This is one video you don't want to miss as we examine the Astros potential playoff matchups and try to determine which team would give Houston the best shot to advance to the divisional series.

*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

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