Houston Astros' four-run ninth inning stuns Los Angeles Angels to take series opener

ANAHEIM, Calif. – From a game in which their starter recorded two outs, their lineup mustered two hits across the first seven innings, and they trailed one strike from defeat, the Houston Astros wrested a win Monday night.

A fundamental implosion by the Los Angeles Angels in the ninth inning allowed it, but the Astros are not positioned to argue. They began their final week of play before the Aug. 3 trade deadline with a 6-4 win at Angel Stadium that left them 53-55.

The Astros scored four runs in a ninth inning in which they had one hit, completing a strange comeback made possible by their bullpen. Cristian Javier entered in the fourth and threw five scoreless innings to keep them in striking distance, after AJ Blubaugh averted a potential disaster in the first.  

Houston trailed 4-2 entering the ninth. José Fermin plunked Taylor Trammell. Christian Walker’s single put runners on first and third. Lucas Spence hit a potential double-play ground ball to second baseman Vaughn Grissom, who let it bounce into right field.

Trammell scored. Pinch runner Nick Allen scampered to third, as the potential tying run, with no outs. The Angels came close to an escape.

Christian Vázquez popped up a squeeze bunt. Jeremy Peña pulled a chopper to third baseman Denzer Guzman, who threw out Allen, going on contact. Angels manager Kurt Suzuki did not allow righty Sam Bachman to face Yordan Alvarez, walking him intentionally.

The maneuver loaded the bases, putting the potential tying run on third base. Isaac Paredes fell behind 1-2 then saw six more pitches. The ninth pitch Bachman threw him clipped Paredes on the elbow guard. The Angels challenged, to no avail. The tying run scored.

Two more crossed before the Angels could stem the nightmare. Bachman walked LaMonte Wade Jr. on five pitches, forcing in the go-ahead run. Jose Altuve hit a comebacker to Bachman, who could not field the ball cleanly, permitting an insurance run.

Josh Hader walked two batters in the bottom of the ninth, putting the potential tying run on base, but corralled Grissom’s broken-bat comebacker for the final out. Three relievers combined to cover 8 ⅓ innings for the Astros and allow two runs, one earned, after starter Tatsuya Imai struggled.

Imai faced seven batters, allowing five to reach, before the Astros removed him down 2-0. Blubaugh defused a bases-loaded jam to keep it there, then worked two more innings.

Grissom homered against Blubaugh with two outs in the third. Josh Lowe then sent a routine grounder to Altuve, who sailed his throw, extending the inning. Lowe scored when Jo Adell blooped a double that fell between Wade and Walker in shallow right field, extending the Angels’ lead to 4-0.

Javier, pitching for the first time in eight days, allowed nothing further in an outing that saved a majority of Houston’s bullpen and offered a chance to rally. Trammell hit a solo home run against Angels starter Walbert Ureña, who was excellent across six innings, in the fourth. It remained 4-1 until the eighth.

Peña doubled against Ryan Zeferjahn and scored on a single by Alvarez. Zeferjahn retired the next three batters in order. The Angels could not complete the job.

ASTROS 6, ANGELS 4

Totals3465559Peña ss521002.316Alvarez dh311111.323Paredes 3b-1b400100.257Wade rf400112.1692-Smith pr-rf000000.206Altuve 2b500001.228Trammell lf221121.242Walker 1b301011.2321-Allen pr-3b000000.250Spence cf410101.156Vázquez c401000.215Totals3346469Neto ss311020.235Trout cf410011.244Schanuel 1b401100.280Soler dh300022.2003-Peraza pr000000.239Grissom 2b513201.259Lowe lf410001.202Siri lf000000.270Adell rf301112.243Guzman 3b300001.235Heineman c400001.174Houston000100014_651Los Angeles202000000_462

1-ran for Walker in the 9th. 2-ran for Wade in the 9th. 3-ran for Soler in the 9th.

E_Altuve (4), Grissom (5), Bachman (1). LOB_Houston 9, Los Angeles 10. 2B_Peña (10), Adell (16), Schanuel (18). HR_Trammell (5), off Ureña; Grissom (7), off Blubaugh. RBIs_Trammell (14), Alvarez (78), Spence (2), Paredes (58), Wade (11), Schanuel (37), Grissom 2 (43), Adell (60). SB_Lowe (4). SF_Schanuel.

Runners left in scoring position_Houston 4 (Altuve, Trammell 2, Spence); Los Angeles 5 (Guzman 2, Heineman, Grissom, Lowe). RISP_Houston 2 for 8; Los Angeles 2 for 9.

Runners moved up_Soler.

Imai2-312241335.83Blubaugh21-322101483.74Javier, W, 1-1530007707.17Hader, S, 13-13100020241.29Ureña621125912.70Silseth, H, 9100011202.72Zeferjahn, H, 9121102233.78Fermin, L, 3-2, H, 51-313100123.00Bachman, BS, 1-42-301021244.26

Inherited runners-scored_Blubaugh 3-0, Bachman 2-2. IBB_off Bachman (Alvarez). HBP_Ureña (Alvarez), Blubaugh (Guzman), Fermin (Trammell), Bachman (Paredes). PB_Heineman (0).

ABS Challenge_Imai (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Trammell (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Walker (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Blubaugh (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Hader (Ball-Confirmed).

Pitch timer violations_Bachman (pitcher).

Umpires_Home, Chris Guccione; First, David Rackley; Second, Nestor Ceja; Third, Willie Traynor.

T_3:18. A_30,121 (45,517).

Imai collapses again

A feast-or-famine first MLB season continued for Imai, who had thrown six innings of one-run ball against Miami in his previous outing. Imai has now failed to finish the first inning in three of his 15 starts. He did not finish the second inning in another. Eight of his 15 starts have lasted fewer than five innings. He has a 5.83 ERA in 58 ⅔ innings.

For a team trying to stay afloat in the AL playoff picture, one wonders how sustainable that is. The Astros have received some strong outings from Imai, who is making $18 million this season, but no consistency. They went to the bullpen by the second inning for the second time in four days, after Spencer Arrighetti’s injury-shortened start Friday in Chicago.

Imai’s command was missing from the outset. He walked leadoff man Zach Neto on four pitches, yanking three fastballs and missing inside with another. Mike Trout drew an eight-pitch walk. Pitching coach Josh Miller visited the mound. Imai balked both runners up, then fell behind 3-1 to Nolan Schanuel, who skied a sacrifice fly.

Imai issued another four-pitch walk to Jorge Soler. Grissom punched a first-pitch fastball to right field for a run-scoring single. Blubaugh began to warm. Imai struck out Josh Lowe swinging on a high fastball. But a five-pitch walk to Adell loaded the bases and brought manager Joe Espada from the dugout to relieve him.

Imai threw 33 pitches. Twelve were strikes. The Angels totaled nine swings against him. Blubaugh retired Guzman on a flyout to leave the bases loaded and keep Imai’s line from looking worse.

Ureña quiets Astros

Including a June 9 start in Houston, Ureña has allowed one run over his last 11 innings against the Astros. Houston’s lineup managed two hits Monday against the hard-throwing right-hander, who averaged 99.3 mph on his four-seamer, up 1.8 mph from his season average, and 98.7 mph on his sinker.

Ureña did not allow a hit until the fourth inning. He did walk two batters and hit one across his first three frames. He ended the second already at 40 pitches, a number that did not portend a long outing. Ureña, however, worked efficiently enough from there to complete six frames on 91 pitches.

Trammell lined a 99 mph four-seamer into the seats in right-center field for Houston’s first hit with two outs in the fourth. Vázquez’s single in the fifth was the only other hit allowed by Ureña. He finished with two walks and five strikeouts.

The Astros averaged just an 85.1 mph exit velocity on 15 balls put into play against Ureña. Only four had an exit velocity above 94 mph, the Statcast hard-hit threshold. Ureña recorded seven outs via grounders while lowering his ERA to 2.70 across his 93 1/3 innings this season.

Lineup talk

Houston’s lineup against Ureña featured a wrinkle. Wade started in the cleanup spot, with Altuve fifth. Walker slotted seventh, after Trammell. With four left-handed hitters, the Astros’ lineup maintained a right-left-right alteration throughout.

“Trying to put some lefties in between those righties against this righty today,” manager Joe Espada said pregame. “Some of these lefties, they’re disciplined enough that they can walk against him. So, trying to stretch things out, trying to get into their bullpen.”

Wade entered hitting .182 in his 19 games with the Astros but with a 17.9% walk rate. He was averaging the most pitches per plate appearance among hitters to appear for Houston this season, as well. Espada cited that number in discussing what Wade brings to the lineup.

“If you do that, all those pitches will add up,” Espada said. “Now you’re driving a starter out of the game, now you’re getting into the bullpen, and in a three-game series if you do it properly it can help you win a series.”

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This article originally published at Houston Astros’ four-run ninth inning stuns Los Angeles Angels to take series opener.