The Houston Astros evened up the series with the Los Angeles Dodgers last night with a 2-1 win. Christian Walker and Braden Shewmake each hit solo home runs in the team’s 15th win of the season.
Wednesday was getaway day for the Stros as they played the rubber match in the early afternoon at Daikin Park. Houston took the lead in the first inning and watched it evaporate as Los Angeles piled up runs throughout the game. The Astros would lose the series in a 12-2 ball game that dropped their record to 15-23 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Lance McCullers was Houston’s starting pitcher and had a good first inning. Los Angeles went three-up-three-down with Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernandez both striking out to begin the game.
Brice Matthews was the leadoff batter for the Astros on Wednesday and put the team up early, hitting a solo home run on Dodgers starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow. Jose Altuve and Isaac Paredes followed that up with strikeouts before Christian Walker ended the opening inning by grounding out to third base. Houston was ahead 1-0.
Former Astro Kyle Tucker led off the second inning with a double into right field, then advanced on an infield single by Dalton Rushing with two out, putting runners on the corners. Tucker scored on a McCullers wild pitch before Hyeseong Kim flew out into right field.
The Dodgers took the lead at the top of the third after Cam Smith, Zach Cole, and Zach Dezenzo all grounded out for a 1-2-3 inning. Alex Freeland began the frame by drawing a walk and got into scoring position on an Ohtani double. Another pair of McCullers’ wild pitches put Los Angeles ahead by two before Freddie Freeman and Tucker walked. With two outs, Andy Pages capitalized with a 393-foot home run into the Crawford Boxes. Jason Alexander was on the mound, in relief of McCullers, after that hit. Houston headed into the bottom of the frame down 6-1.
The margin was further widened when Freeman hit an RBI double into left field. Ohtani was in scoring position after walking and stealing second base.
The Astros continued to struggle on the defensive side in the fifth inning as the Dodgers added another three runs to their score. Max Muncy singled and scored when Pages hit a two-run shot, his second moon ball of the game. After that, LA put two more runners on the base paths, and Ohtani capitalized with an RBI single, putting the Astros behind 10-1.
Kim returned to the plate in the seventh and hit a leadoff triple before Freeland brought him home with a single into right field.
Houston broke the cold streak at the bottom of the seventh with a single run. Nick Allen, who pinch-hit, grounded out to begin the inning, and Walker singled, then advanced to second on a fielder’s indifference. Cole’s two-out single drove in Walker and cut the Astros’ deficit to nine as the team goes into the final two innings.
Pages capped off his dominant day at the plate with another home run in the ninth. That was more than enough for the Astros to walk away from the game with a 12-2 loss. That also secured the series for the Dodgers and dropped Houston’s record to 15-23.
BIG NUMBER: 12
The 12 runs for the Dodgers on Wednesday ties for the most runs allowed in a game in the young season. The only other time Houston gave up 12 runs was when it lost 12-10 in 10 innings to the Athletics on the road back on April 5th.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Andy Pages
Pages had himself a day at the plate. The Dodger centerfielder went 3/5 with three home runs and picked up six RBI in the 12-2 loss for the Astros.
UP NEXT: The Houston Astros will have the day off tomorrow and return on Friday, May 8th, when they travel to take on the Cincinnati Reds. The first pitch from Great America Ball Park is scheduled for 5:10 PM, and the action can be heard on News Talk 98.5.