May 5, 2017
The Angels have had some big comebacks in the 1st month of the baseball season. They had another one on Friday night at the Big A, but this one fell short, with the Astros winning 7-6 in 10 innings.
Houston blew a 4-run lead in the 9th inning, but Carlos Correa singled home Jose Altuve in the 10th inning, which was the decisive run in the Astros victory.
The Angels trailed 6-2 heading into the 9th inning. However, three straight singles chased Houston starter Dallas Keuchel. That forced the Astros to bring in Ken Giles to face Mike Trout with the bases loaded and nobody out. Trout singled to make it 6-3. After an Albert Pujols strikeout, pinch-hitter Luis Valbuena had an RBI groundout, pulling the Angels within 2 runs. An Andrelton Simmons infield single, followed by a pinch-hit single to right from Kole Calhoun would tie the score 6-6. The Halos had a chance to win it, but Ben Revere flied out to left, which sent the game to extra innings.
“We’ve been coming from behind all year,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “We put together a great inning in the ninth, great at-bats all the way around. We just couldn’t get that last hit to push us through.”
Giles (1-1) was charged with one of the four runs in the 9th, but still got credit for the win. Chris Devenski retired the Angels in order in the 10th inning to pick up his 2nd save of the season.
Keuchel came into the game with a 5-0 record, and was pitching well until the 9th inning. He ended up getting charged with 7 hits and 5 runs, but the AL Pitcher of the Month of April remained undefeated.
Things looked good for the Angels earlier in the game when Albert Pujols hit his 595th career homer to give the Halos a 1-0 lead in the 4th.
The Astros tied it at 1-1 in the 3rd when Josh Reddick countered with a solo shot of his own, his 3rd long ball of the season.
Martin Maldonado put the Angels back in front with solo home run to center field, but the Angels 2-1 lead wouldn’t last long.
Brian McCann would connect on a 3-run homer in the 7th inning, then Reddick and McCann delivered run-scoring singles in the 8th and 9th inning, which made it 6-2.
Bud Norris (0-1) ended up taking the loss for the Angels, giving up the game-winning RBI single to Correa in the 10th inning. Jesse Chavez started for the Halos, going 6 1/3 innings, yielding 3 runs on 4 hits. He left in the 7th inning with two runners on, before Jose Alvarez surrendered McCann’s homer.
The Astros have the best record in the American League, and matched their best 30-game start in club history with the victory.
Game 2 of the series will be on Saturday night in Anaheim. JC Ramirez (3-2, 4.23 ERA) will make his 5th start of the season for the Angels, while the Astros will go with Lance McCullers Jr. (2-1, 4.08 ERA).