ANGELS DEFEAT ASTROS
Bullpen blunders doom Astros as Angels win finale
Jun 9, 2024, 6:54 pm
Angels defeat Astros, 9-7. Composite Getty Image.
Logan O'Hoppe hit a two-run homer with one out in the ninth to complete a four-hit game, and the Los Angeles Angels rallied for a 9-7 victory over the Houston Astros on Sunday despite Jose Altuve tying a career high with four hits.
After Kevin Pillar got aboard with a one-out single to left, O'Hoppe hit a slider from Josh Hader (3-4) deep to left field. Trey Cabbage tried to make a play on it near the short wall, but appeared to drop it as he went halfway over the wall.
Mickey Moniak and Michael Stefanic also drove in two runs apiece as the Angels avoided a series sweep.
Carlos Estévez (1-3) retired the Astros in the ninth to get the win.
Altuve also homered and drove in three runs. It was his first four-hit game this season and 39th of his career. His two-run homer during the sixth inning gave Houston a 7-4 lead before the Angels rallied.
Alex Bregman extended his hitting streak to 11 games with an RBI double in the third inning. He left the game in the bottom of the sixth after being hit in the left hand by Hunter Strickland's sinker in the top of the inning.
The Angels took a 4-3 lead in the fifth on Willie Calhoun's base hit that drove in Luis Rengifo. The advantage was short lived though as the Astros responded in the sixth.
Jose Abreu and Chas McCormick had RBI doubles before Altuve drove Hunter Strickland's slider into the rockpile in left-center for a two-run shot to give the Astros a three-run lead.
Moniak's base hit in the sixth drove in O'Hoppe to get the Angels within two runs before they tied it in the eighth.
Zach Neto had an RBI double, advanced to third on Ryan Pressley's wild pitch and scored on Stefanic's slow grounder to second to tie it at 7-all.
UP NEXT
Astros: RHP Spencer Arrighetti (3-5, 5.79 ERA) takes the mound on Monday for the start of a three-game set at San Francisco.
Angels: Open a three-game series at Arizona on Tuesday. LHP José Suarez (1-0, 6.54 ERA) will make his first start of the season.
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Jacob deGrom went eight innings to win his fourth consecutive start for the Texas Rangers, who got Jake Burger's solo home run off Hunter Brown in a 1-0 win over the Houston Astros on Thursday night in an anticipated pitchers' duel that certainly lived up to expectations.
Two-time Cy Young Award winner deGrom (4-1) is having quite a comeback after missing most of the last two seasons following Tommy John surgery. The 36-year-old right-hander struck out seven, two of those to end innings with two runners on base, while walking one and giving up five hits.
Brown (6-2), who is 10 years younger that deGrom, struck out nine without a walk while scattering three hits in his first career complete game. The righty was tied for the major league lead in wins and retired the first 12 batters he faced before Adolis García lined a double to left to start the fifth.
Shawn Armstrong worked around a two-out walk in the ninth for his second save.
Burger went deep leading off the sixth, a 394-foot drive into the Texas bullpen in right-center for his fourth homer of the season.
Key moment
Rangers right fielder García made a sliding catch of a sinking liner by Mauricio Dubón for the final out of the seventh when Houston had a runner at second base. García had several nice plays, including a sliding catch near the line after running a long way to open the fourth.
Key stat
Bruce Bochy got his 2,195th career win to break a tie with Sparky Anderson for the sixth-most by an MLB manager. Bochy, who turned 70 last month, is in his 28th season as a manager, his third in Texas.
Up next
Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (4-2, 1.78 ERA) goes into Friday night having allowed only two earned runs over 25 innings in his last four starts (3-0). Right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. (0-1, 15.75) makes only his third start for Houston since the 2022 World Series.