April 19, 2017
The Angels took another loss in Houston on Wednesday night, this time by a score of 5-1, and it was their usually stellar defense that let them down.
Dallas Keuchel went 7 strong innings for the Astros, and Josh Reddick had 3 hits including a home run in the victory for Houston. Reddick drove in 2 runs, scored 3, and finished just a single shy of the cycle.
The Halos started an unusual outfield, which included Jefry Marte in right field, and Cameron Maybin in left. Marte did not play a single inning in the outfield during spring training, and Maybin has spent little time in right field. It was evident on Wednesday night.
Reddick was just the second batter of the game, and hit a line drive near Marte, which he missed by a few feet after getting a late break on the ball. That hit turned into a triple. Reddick would score shortly after when Jose Altuve singled to right field, on a play where Maybin also got a late break on the ball and couldn’t corral it after sliding. That gave the Astros a 1-0 lead.
The Angels were fortunate to escape that inning without any further damage. Altuve stole 2nd, and got to 3rd on a single by Brian McCann. A wild pitch by Angel starter JC Ramirez got by Martin Maldonado, but the ball bounced off the backstop and back to the the Angel catcher, who tagged out Altuve.
The Angels would tie things up in the 3rd inning, on what would be their only run of the game. Danny Espinosa doubled, and two batters later, Yunel Escobar singled him in.
Ramirez made his 2nd career start, and was on a roll for the next three innings. He struck out the side in the 4th, and had 5 straight overall. However, he ran into trouble in the 5th inning. Alex Bregman led off with a double and scored on a Yulieski Gurriel single.
In the 6th, Reddick led off with a drive to left field, which gave Marte more trouble. He tracked it back to the wall but could not glove it, giving Reddick a generous double. Ramirez then retired Altuve, but his night was over after that. Jose Alvarez came in to face McCann. Alvarez retired McCann on a flyout. Blake Parker would come in next to face Evan Gattis, who ripped a run-scoring single to right. That made it 3-1.
The Astros delivered the final blow in the bottom of the 7th, when Reddick crushed a 2-run homer to right field off of Mike Morin. Ramirez ultimately took the loss, falling to 2-2 on the season.
The Angels are now 7-9, and are losers of 7 of their last 8 games. They’ll try to find the win column during a matinee showdown with Houston on Thursday. It will be the final game of the four game set. Matt Shoemaker will be on the mound for the Angels. He’ll be looking for his first win of the season against Lance McCullers Jr, who is 1-0 on the year.