Houston takes two of three from LA
Tucker's homer lifts Astros to series win over Angels
Sep 12, 2021, 4:50 pm
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
.@KTuck30 is RED HOT. 🥵#ForTheH pic.twitter.com/EJMCSPxJP9
— Houston Astros (@astros) September 12, 2021
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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Heading into Wednesday's Grapefruit League game, reports indicate that Astros first baseman Christian Walker has been scratched with left oblique soreness.
Worth noting that Christian Walker had a left oblique injury last season that kept him on the IL for more than a month https://t.co/13IZ7P6Dtd
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) March 5, 2025
As Chandler Rome mentions in the post above, Walker missed the entire month of August in 2024 with a left oblique injury. He only hit .231 for the remainder of the season after recovering from the injury.
Walker was off to a hot start this spring, hitting .500 with 3 doubles in 8 at-bats. Hopefully this is just a precautionary move, and he'll be back in the lineup shortly.
However, these are the types of risks owner Jim Crane likes to take. Only willing to commit big money on short-term deals to aging players. Walker will be 34 years old at the end of March. He signed a 3-year, $60 million contract with Houston this offseason.
The reality is, sometimes these moves work, and sometimes they don't. Older players are more likely to have their production falloff and deal with injuries. Michael Brantley is a prime example of getting good value from an older player on a short contract. His 2-year deal for $32 million with the Astros for the 2019 and 2020 seasons turned out to be a solid move. He played the 2019 and 2020 seasons at 32 and 33 years old, respectively. His contracts with the 'Stros following that original deal did not work out nearly as well, with injuries keeping him out of the lineup regularly.
Justin Verlander is another example of Crane's willingness to roll the dice on aging players. Verlander joined the Astros during his age 34 season. Houston saw a wide range of results with Verlander. He won two Cy Young awards and two championships with the club, but also missed significant time due to injury, and struggled to get batter outs when healthy in 2024. Verlander was left off the postseason roster in his final year in Houston.
And we can't help but mention the Jose Abreu contract as a cautionary tale. Especially since the terms of his deal and his age are similar to Walker's.
But clearly, Crane was more comfortable making the cheaper 3-year deal with Walker over extending Kyle Tucker or paying Alex Bregman market value. Had the Astros kept one of those two players, they likely would have felt better about keeping Jon Singleton at first base and passing on Walker.
Only time will tell if the Astros made the right decisions. The trade haul for Kyle Tucker looks terrific so far, but we all know it's not wise to put too much stock in spring training games.
It's also worth noting, both Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez missed time in 2023 dealing with oblique injuries.