a benevolent official scorer might los angeles angels adding to his major-league-worst mark of 31 unearned runs on Saturday, but regardless of any decision, Houston Astros were willing to take advantage of angels‘ Defense
host Astros won 9–6, buoyed by a five-run fourth inning that turned into a pair of misplays angelsThe first of these was an errant grounder by shortstop Livan Soto, with one out.
Soto lofted a sharp ground ball off the bat of Jeremy Pena, a rookie who got hit and assisted on the goal. Astros to load the bases. Yordan Alvarez followed with a grounder to the right side of the infield that lifted off first baseman Jared Walsh and was fielded by second baseman Brandon Drury. Problem? Pitcher Patrick Sandoval failed to cover first.
That series of events led to Martin Maldonado scoring the third run of the game. Astros and Alex Bregman coming to the plate again with the bases loaded. Bregman hit a grand slam, and Houston took a 7–1 lead and won the four-game series, which ends Sunday afternoon.
“You have to,” Astros Manager Dusty Baker made it a point to capitalize on the opponent’s misadventures. “That’s the name of the game: Seizing opportunities and doing something with them.”
“He helped us a bit at the start of the game, and we’ll take him because runs and wins are hard to come by. We’ll take whatever help we can get.”
Rookie right-hander JP France (1-1, 4.00 ERA) will start the series finale. Astros chase a sweep
France pitched six innings but was not a factor in Monday’s 7-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins, allowing four runs on seven hits and striking out three while completing his career high of eight strikeouts. Did the trick.
Since joining the rotation, France has fanned eight batters in consecutive starts and has 26 strikeouts in 27 innings.
Will make his first career appearance against France angels
Right-handed Griffin is the scheduled starter for Canning (4-2, 4.89) angels on Sunday
Canning earned the 6-4 win in his last start on Monday against the Chicago White Sox after working six innings and allowing three earned runs on six hits with nine strikeouts. He has won his last two starts after tossing seven scoreless innings on May 23 at the Boston Red Sox, and has been credited with the win in four of his last six starts.
Canning is 0-2 with a 9.87 ERA in five career starts against Astros, He was the pitcher of record in a 5–4 loss to Houston on May 10, allowing five runs on five hits and one walk with three strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings.
After two breathtaking relief appearances, during which 21 of his 22 pitches reached over 100 mph, angels Rookie Ben Joyce gave up two runs on three hits in the seventh inning, including an opposite field home run to Chas McCormick and a double to Jake Meyers.
Joyce, who made his major league debut on Monday against the White Sox, averaged 101.9 mph on 29 four-seam fastballs against Houston.
“I don’t care how hard you throw, you have to outrun people,” angels said manager Phil Nevin. “And you have to mix in some secondary pitches
“I like the way he’s throwing and the way he’s going after some guys. He’s not going to be perfect. He’s going to drop a few at a time.”
– Field Level Media