ASTROS BLOW A HUGE OPPORTUNITY

Framber Valdez collapses in fifth as Angels rally past Astros

Astros Framber Valdez
Angels defeat Astros, 9-7. Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images.

Nolan Schanuel and Logan O’Hoppe both hit three-run homers and Jo Adell added a solo shot as the Los Angeles Angels jumped on Framber Valdez for seven runs in the fifth inning to power them to a 9-7 win over the Houston Astros on Monday night.

Zach Neto homered in the sixth inning to give the Angels a season-high four home runs as they won for the fourth time in five games.

It's the first time in franchise history the Angels have had four players age 25 or younger homer in the same game.

“They're growing up,” manager Ron Washington said. “They’re starting to figure things out. They really didn’t try to do too much and they ended up doing a lot. And that’s what it’s about.”

They trailed by five with two on and one out in the fifth when Schanuel homered to right field to cut the lead to 6-4. There were two on again with two outs when O’Hoppe connected to put Los Angeles up 7-6.

Adell sent the next pitch by Valdez (3-2) into the seats in right field to push it to 8-6.

Valdez was tagged for a season-high 10 hits and tied a career high by giving up eight runs in five innings.

“He just kind of was lost, started leaving some pitches in the heart of the plate and they put some really good swings on them,” manager Joe Espada said. “His stuff was really good... just that fifth inning he kind of lost the feel for the zone.”

Rafael Montero took over to start the sixth and was greeted with a homer by Neto to leave the Angels up 9-6.

Houston led 6-1 early after a three-run homer by Jose Altuve and a two-run shot from Mauricio Dubón before the big inning by Los Angeles.

Reid Detmers allowed eight hits and six runs in four innings. José Suarez (1-0) struck out one in two scoreless innings for the win.

Along with his home run, Adell wowed on defense, too when he robbed Yainer Diaz of a home run for the first out of the ninth inning. Adell jumped to grab the ball just before crashing into the padded wall in right field, causing reliever Carlos Estévez to raise both of his arms and cheer.

“He’s growing in front of your face,” Washington said. “That was a big-time play and that play right there may have saved the game.”

Estévez allowed an RBI single to Kyle Tucker to cut the lead to 9-7 with two outs before walking Yordan Alvarez. But he retired Alex Bregman on a fly out to end it and get his seventh save.

Schanuel and Luis Rengifo both singled to open the first before Schanuel scored on a sacrifice fly by Taylor Ward.

Jeremy Peña singled with no outs in the bottom of the inning and stole second base with one out. The Astros tied it when he scored on a two-out single by Diaz before a single by Dubón.

Altuve sent a high fastball from Detmers into the seats in left field to put Houston on top 4-1.

Diaz doubled with one out in the fourth before the Astros pushed the lead to 6-1 on the homer by Dubón.

ABREU’S RETURN

Struggling first baseman José Abreu could rejoin the Astros as soon as this weekend, less than a month after agreeing to be optioned to the minors to work on his swing.

The 2020 AL MVP batted .099 with just one extra-base hit and three RBIs in 22 games this season before his demotion.

“He looks like he’s in a much better offensive position, but also mentally,” Espada said. “That’s another area we wanted him to clear his mind and reset and we feel he’s getting closer.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Astros: OF Chas McCormick (right hamstring discomfort) is nearing a return after playing six minor league rehabilitation games. Espada wouldn’t say exactly when he’d be activated but indicated that it would be soon.

UP NEXT

Houston RHP Cristian Javier (3-1, 3.23 ERA) opposes RHP Griffin Canning (2-4, 5.21) when the series continues Tuesday night.

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Jake Meyers is the latest Astro to be rushed back from injury too soon. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.

Houston center fielder Jake Meyers was removed from Wednesday night’s game against Cleveland during pregame warmups because of right calf tightness.

Meyers, who had missed the last two games with a right calf injury, jogged onto the field before the game but soon summoned the training staff, who joined him on the field to tend to him. He remained on the field on one knee as manager Joe Espada joined the group. After a couple minutes, Meyers got up and was helped off the field and to the tunnel in right field by a trainer.

Mauricio Dubón moved from shortstop to center field and Zack Short entered the game to replace Dubón at shortstop.

Meyers is batting .308 with three homers and 21 RBIs this season.

After the game, Meyers met with the media and spoke about the injury. Meyers declined to answer when asked if the latest injury feels worse than the one he sustained Sunday. Wow, that is not a good sign.

 

Lack of imaging strikes again!

The Athletic's Chandler Rome reported on Thursday that the Astros didn't do any imaging on Meyers after the initial injury. You can't make this stuff up. This is exactly the kind of thing that has the Astros return-to-play policy under constant scrutiny.

The All-Star break is right around the corner, why take the risk in playing Meyers after missing just two games with calf discomfort? The guy literally fell to the ground running out to his position before the game started. The people that make these risk vs. reward assessments clearly are making some serious mistakes.

The question remains: will the Astros finally do something about it?


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