MLB

Los Angeles Angels at Houston Astros

· Major League Baseball
Los Angeles Angels
62-92, 30-46 Away
Final
7 - 9
Houston Astros
84-70, 44-32 Home

Tucker, Bregman and Meyers homer to help Astros to 9-7 win over Angels

The victory dropped Houston’s magic number to clinch the AL West to four.

Bregman’s two-run shot put the Astros up 3-1 in the third. Meyers stretched the lead to 6-1 with his three-run home run with two outs in the inning.

The Angels scored three runs in the fifth to get within 8-6 before Tucker’s solo shot to the bullpen in right-center made it 9-6 in the sixth. He went 4 for 5 to tie a career high in hits.

It was Tucker's 12th game back after missing more than three months with a small fracture in his right shin.

“He had some really good at-bats,” manager Joe Espada said. “He’s on the ball. Just the quality of at-bats looks like his timing is coming.”

Kevin Pillar, who was reinstated from the injured list Friday, hit a solo homer in the seventh inning for the Angels but Houston's bullpen shut Los Angeles down the rest of the way.

Justin Verlander gave up eight hits and six runs in 4 2/3 innings. It’s the third time in four starts where the three-time Cy Young Award winner has allowed eight hits and at least five runs.

He said postgame that he thinks he rushed back from a neck injury that kept him out almost two months this summer.

“I think I came back from the neck injury a little fast,” he said. “Obviously I know the schedule, I know the calendar and I want to be an asset for this team and to do that I need to be able to pitch and find out where I’m at. Obviously, the results have not been good, but there’s nothing you can do besides trying to pitch.”

Hector Neris (10-5) allowed three hits and a run in 1 1/3 innings for the win and Josh Hader pitched a scoreless ninth for his 33rd save.

The Astros jumped on Tyler Anderson (10-14) for eight hits and six runs — three earned — in just 2 2/3 innings, his shortest start this season.

Matt Thaiss, who snapped an 0 for 34 skid with a single in the fourth, had two hits and drove in two runs for Los Angeles and Eric Wagaman added three hits and two RBI.

Manager Ron Washington was impressed by the contributions from the bottom of his lineup Friday night.

“We needed everything they did and they played hard,” he said. “We just came up short.”

The Astros led 1-0 after a sacrifice fly by Mauricio Dubón with one out in the second.

Angels rookie Gustavo Campero hit his first career triple with one out in the third inning. He scored on a single by Jack López that tied it at 1-1.

Pillar walked with one out in the fourth and stole second base with two outs. Wagaman’s single to right field scored him to cut the lead to 6-2. Thaiss then singled to get his first hit since Aug. 22. Verlander plunked Campero to load the bases and López singled to make it 6-3.

Bregman and Diaz hit RBI singles in the fourth to push the lead to 8-3.

The Angels had runners on first and third with no outs in the fifth when Bregman saved a run with a leaping catch on a liner hit by Pillar. Wagaman hit an RBI double with two outs in the inning to get Los Angeles within 8-4 and chase Verlander.

Bryan King took over and Thaiss singled to center field to scored two more and cut the lead to 8-6.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Angels: INF Charles Leblanc was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake to make room for Pillar on the roster.

UP NEXT

Houston RHP Ronel Blanco (11-6, 2.88 ERA) opposes LHP Reid Detmers (4-7, 6.05) when the series continues Saturday night.

How can I watch Los Angeles Angels vs. Houston Astros?
  • TV Channel: Angels at Astros 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Astros: 59.9%
Angels: 40.1%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Wagaman fouled out to right.
9th Inning O'Hoppe struck out swinging.
9th Inning O'Hoppe hit for Kavadas
9th Inning Pillar struck out swinging.
9th Inning Hader relieved Pressly
8th Inning Bregman grounded out to second.

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/laa.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originLAA https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/hou.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originHOU
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
1 Hit By Pitch 1
9 Ground Balls 11
12 Strikeouts 6
7 Runs Batted In 9
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
13 Hits 14
1 Stolen Bases 1
1 Walks 1
0 Catcher Interference 0
7 Runs 9
0 Ground Into Double Play 1
0 Sacrifice Flies 1
40 At Bats 37
1 Home Runs 3
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
19 Runners Left On Base 17
1 Triples 0
0 Game Winning RBIs 1
0 Intentional Walks 0
1 Doubles 0
19 Fly Balls 21
0 Caught Stealing 0
155 Pitches 154
0 Games Started 0
2 Pinch At Bats 0
0 Pinch Hits 0
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
1 Is Qualified In Steals 1
19 Total Bases 23
42 Plate Appearances 40
162.0 Projected Home Runs 486.0
3 Extra Base Hits 3
6.9 Runs Created 8.6
.325 Batting Average .378
.000 Pinch Hit Average .000
.475 Slugging Percentage .622
.200 Secondary Average .297
.357 On Base Percentage .400
.832 OBP Pct + SLG Pct 1.022
0.5 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 0.5
6.9 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 9.2
49.5 Batter Rating 60.0
40.0 At Bats Per Home Run 12.3
1.00 Stolen Base Percentage 1.00
3.69 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 3.85
.150 Isolated Power .243
0.08 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.17
.024 Walks Per Plate Appearance .025
-.125 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average -.081
14.0 Runs Produced 18.0
1.0 Runs Ratio 1.0
0.5 Patience Ratio 0.6
0.4 Balls In Play Average 0.4
96.0 MLB Rating 107.8
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Minute Maid Park

Location: Houston, Texas
Attendance: 39,666 | Capacity:

2024 American League West Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Houston 88 73 .547 - W2
Seattle 85 77 .525 3.5 W4
Texas 78 84 .481 10.5 W3
Oakland 69 93 .426 19.5 L3
Los Angeles 63 99 .389 25.5 L6
Full Standings