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Former Alief Taylor, Wake Forest star Duke Ejiofor shining for Texans

Former Alief Taylor, Wake Forest star Duke Ejiofor shining for Texans
Ejiofor, who was taken with the 177th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. Photo courtesy of Vype

This article originally appeared on Vype.

Duke Ejiofor is making his presence known.

With only 53 spots available on an NFL active roster, every single time a player can get their name being mentioned amongst that group is a good day - especially when they were a sixth round pick in the last NFL Draft.

The former Alief Taylor High School and Wake Forest star has done just that in his rookie NFL Training Camp.

Against the San Francisco 49ers, Ejiofor made his presence felt on the opening kickoff when he made a crushing open field tackle to stop Richie James Jr. in his tracks at the 22.

Ejiofor finished with two special teams tackles and one tackle and another tackle for loss in the Texans' 16-13 preseason victory.

Continue reading on Vype.

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The Angels beat the Astros, 4-1. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

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.

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