MISSED OPPORTUNITY
Astros unable to capitalize on quality start from Hunter Brown, fall to Angels
May 22, 2024, 4:26 pm
MISSED OPPORTUNITY
Rookie Kyren Paris hit a two-run shot for his first major league home run and Tyler Anderson pitched eight strong innings to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 2-1 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday.
The Angels took two of three games from the Astros to give them three straight road series wins in a single season for the first time since 2019.
Anderson (5-4) allowed six hits and one run in his third consecutive win, which came in his longest start of the season. Luis García struck out two in a scoreless ninth for his third save.
Mickey Moniak walked with one out in the fifth inning before Paris launched an off-speed pitch from Hunter Brown (1-5) off the wall in left-center field to make it 2-0.
Jake Meyers opened the bottom of the inning with a walk before scoring on Mauricio Dubón’s double to the corner of left field to cut the lead to 1. But Dubón was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a triple.
Meyers and Dubón hit consecutive singles with two outs in the seventh and Meyers advanced to third on the play after an error by left fielder Taylor Ward. Anderson escaped the jam when Victor Caratini grounded into a force out to end the inning.
Brown gave up two hits and two runs while walking three in six innings.
Paris walked with one out in the third and advanced to third on a single by Nolan Schanuel. Luis Rengifo hit a grounder to Jose Altuve and his throw home was just in time for Caratini to tag a sliding Paris at the plate.
The Angels challenged the call, but it was upheld.
Houston’s Jeremy Peñahit a ball that bounced off the wall in left field with two outs in the fourth that initially was called a homer. But umpires reviewed the call, and it was changed to a double.
Los Angeles shortstop Zach Neto left the game with two outs in the sixth inning with right elbow soreness. Luis Guillorme entered the game to play second base and Paris moved from second to shortstop to replace Neto.
Struggling first baseman José Abreu is scheduled to play two games for Triple-A Sugar Land this weekend before returning to the Astros. The move comes less than a month after the 2020 AL MVP agreed to be optioned to the minors to work on his swing.
Abreu batted .099 with just one extra-base hit and three RBIs in 22 games this season before his demotion.
Manager Joe Espada said the Astros want Abreu to play a full nine innings in the games this weekend to prepare for his return to the majors.
Angels: Los Angeles is off Thursday before hosting Cleveland in the opener of a three-game series Friday night, when LHP Patrick Sandoval (2-6, 4.59 ERA) opposes LHP Logan Allen (5-2, 4.91).
Astros: Houston is also off Thursday before opening a series at Oakland on Friday night with Justin Verlander (2-2, 3.97) on the mound. The Athletics haven’t named their starter.
The Houston Astros square off with the Detroit Tigers in game one of the Wild Card series this Tuesday afternoon, and now we finally have a clear picture of what the Astros roster will look like.
Most importantly, Yordan Alvarez made the roster and will hit third against Tigers fireballer Tarik Skubal.
Astros lineup for Game 1. pic.twitter.com/fmyNoRQNFC
— Julia Morales (@JuliaMorales) October 1, 2024
MLB.com's Brian McTaggart is reporting that manager Joe Espada moved Alvarez to third in the batting order, after originally penciling him in second.
Astros have flipped their lineup, Tucker hitting second and Alvarez third.
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) October 1, 2024
The other big news revealed today was the status of Justin Verlander. He is not on the Wild Card Series roster.
Our ALWC Roster. #Relentless pic.twitter.com/nyfoBsJZFp
— Houston Astros (@astros) October 1, 2024
However, Chas McCormick did make the squad after dealing with a hand/finger injury recently. You can see the full roster above. The Astros are carrying 15 position players and 11 pitchers.
Framber Valdez and Skubal face off at 1:32PM Tuesday afternoon in Houston.