The Houston Astros defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 8-5 on Tuesday night inside Minute Maid Park. The offense provided a spark and the bullpen covered six innings in the second straight victory for the Stros.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Former Ragin’ Cajun Spencer Arrighetti got the ball for the Astros to start this game. He was greeted by Alec Burleson who homered with one out in the first. After that, he got out of the inning with no further damage, and the Cardinals led 1-0.
Houston would strike back in the bottom of the first against Cardinals starter Andre Pallante. A single, hit by pitch, and wild pitch put runners at second and third with no outs. Then, Yordan Alvarez and Jake Meyers both came through with RBI groundouts to give the Astros a 2-1 lead.
In the second inning, Arrighetti was struck by a line drive off the bat of Ivan Herrera. He would stay in the game, but was visibly shaken. In the inning, he worked around a couple of baserunners to put up a zero.
The Astros offense got to work in the bottom of the third. A walk and a single set the stage for Jeremy Pena, who doubled home a run. Then, Yainer Diaz launched a three-run shot out to right field. That made it 6-1 Houston through three innings.
Despite Arrighetti staying in after being struck, his command looked shaky in the third. He did get out of the inning without any runs allowed, but that would end his day after just 64 pitches. It meant a long day for the Houston bullpen.
Tayler Scott was the first reliever Houston called on. He allowed a run in the fourth, but that run was answered by a Pena sacrifice fly in the bottom half. That made it 7-2 after four innings.
The Cardinals tacked on two more in the sixth when Masyn Winn homered to left field. That made it 7-4. They got one closer in the next inning when Nolan Gorman went deep. With the lead down to 7-5, the Astros went to Bryan Abreu, who got them out of the inning.
Houston added an insurance run on a Victor Caritini sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the seventh, and that was all the runs they would need.
Abreu worked the eighth and Ryan Pressly got a chance for the save, giving Josh Hader the night off as Pressly returned to his former role for a night. He worked a 1-2-3 ninth to close it down for Houston.
BIG NUMBER: 6
The Astros needed six innings of relief in this game after Arrighetti’s short start. The offense helped out, making it an easier task. It combined for a big win over St. Louis.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jeremy Pena
Pena came through at the plate. He went 2-2, driving in two runs while also working a walk. Ther performance got his season batting average back over .300, as he’s now hitting .302.
UP NEXT: The Astros and Cardinals will play an afternoon game tomorrow inside Minute Maid Park to wrap up the series. Pregame is at 12:40 with first pitch at 1:10 PM and you can hear the action on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette 104.1 Lake Charles.