07/02/22 07:06:00
Printable Page
07/02 19:05 CDT Maldonado hits 2 of 5 Houston homers in 9-1 win over Angels
Maldonado hits 2 of 5 Houston homers in 9-1 win over Angels
By KRISTIE RIEKEN
AP Sports Writer
HOUSTON (AP) --- Martn Maldonado homered twice and Jose Altuve, Kyle Tucker
and Chas McCormick added a home run each as the Houston Astros built a big lead
early and didn't let up in a 9-1 rout of the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday.
Houston was up 5-0 after two innings.
"That's what was eluding us early in the season. We weren't scoring early,"
manager Dusty Baker said. "When you score early it relaxes the pitcher and it
relaxes our offense."
The Astros followed up their 8-1 win in the opener with another lopsided
victory to extend their winning streak to five games.
Houston starter Jos Urquidy (7-3) yielded two hits and a run with eight
strikeouts in six innings to improve the team's starters to 7-0 in the last
nine games. This was the fifth straight game where the Astros allowed no more
than one run.
The Astros were already up 3-0 when Maldonado, who had just one hit in his
previous four games, connected off Patrick Sandoval (3-3) to start the second
inning.
Houston led by four in the sixth when Maldonado hit the first pitch from Andrew
Wantz over the wall in straightaway center field to make it 6-1. It was the
fourth multi-homer game of Maldonado's career and his first since 2019.
While Maldonado was certainly happy with his big day at the plate Saturday, he
takes much more pride in the work he does with the pitching staff as Houston's
everyday catcher.
"I'm doing what I'm supposed to do and taking care of my pitchers and that's my
No. 1 priority," he said. "Do I get excited when I have a day like this? Yeah,
but for me it's even better to go 0 for 4 with a win than 4 for 4 with a loss."
Four pitches later, Altuve gave Houston back-to-back homers when he hit an
opposite field shot to the seats in right field.
Aaron Loup took over for Wantz to start the seventh and was greeted with
Tucker's home run to right field. There were two outs when McCormick homered
for the second consecutive game with his drive that extended the lead to 9-1.
Taylor Ward hit a solo home run in the third for the Angels, who continue to
struggle offensively.
Angels star Mike Trout went 0 for 4 with four strikeouts. He is 0 for 7 with
seven strikeouts in this series.
"Just losing my posture up there," Trout said. "It makes my swing long. Just
grinding through some stuff with the lower half. It'll be all right."
Sandoval allowed eight hits and five runs while tying a season-high with nine
strikeouts in five innings for his second straight loss.
"Sandoval is a really good pitcher, obviously," Altuve said. "That's why we
tried to swing early today. He has good pitches, good changeups especially. And
just to be able to score five runs in two innings and set the tone right there
was good for us."
Yordan Alvarez, named AL player of the month Saturday, returned after missing
two games following a nasty outfield collision with Jeremy Pea Wednesday. He
went 0 for 4 with a walk.
Tucker singled to score Altuve and put Houston up 1-0 in the first. Yuli
Gurriel walked to load the bases before a single by Jake Meyers scored two to
make it 3-0.
Maldonado opened the Houston second with his shot to the train tracks atop the
left field wall.
Altuve, who had three hits, doubled and stole third base with one out in the
inning. He scored on Alex Bregman's two-out single to make it 5-0.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Angels: Los Angeles signed INF Jonathan Villar, who was designated for
assignment by the Cubs earlier this week. C Matt Thaiss was optioned to
Triple-A to make a spot on the active roster for Villar and RHP Archie Bradley
(elbow fracture) was moved to the 60-day injured list to make a spot for Villar
on the 40-man roster.
Astros: Pitching coach Bill Murphy entered health and safety protocols. He
joined bench coach Joe Espada, first base coach Omar Lopez and quality control
coach Dan Firova, who entered the protocols Thursday. Minor league pitching
coordinator Eric Niesen joined the team to fill in for Murphy.
HOME SWEET HOME
Altuve is hitting .346 with nine doubles, eight homers and a 1.066 OPS at home
this season. His home OPS ranks third in the majors and his batting average at
home is 6th in MLB.
UP NEXT
Houston LHP Framber Valdez (8-3, 2.65 ERA) opposes LHP Jos Surez (1-2, 4.36)
when the series concludes Sunday.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
|