The Houston Astros were dominant on all fronts on Saturday afternoon, rolling to a 16-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
How It Happened:
The Astros wasted very little time getting on the board with Carlos Correa leading off the inning with a solo shot out to left field to take an early lead. Later in the inning, Yordan Alvarez scratched another run across with an RBI single to center field. Alex Bregman made it 3-0 before the first inning was completed, scoring off of a double play grounder from Yuli Gurriel.
The Angels responded with a pair of solo shots from Albert Pujols and Shohei Ohtani in the second and third innings, respectively. Bregman responded in kind with a three-run bomb in the bottom of the third to left-center field to take a commanding 6-2 lead.
The Astros continued to assert dominance in the bottom of the fourth with a four-run inning that was jumpstarted by an RBI single. Yordan Alvarez pushed three more runs across in the fifth with a bases-clearing triple to give Houston a 13-2 lead.
Kyle Tucker helped put the finishing touches on the blowout victory with a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth that was followed up by an RBI double from Jason Castro later in the inning.
Big Number: 18
The Astros offense for a while looked like they lost their way. After some of their top performers being out due to health and safety protocols, it looks like they’re back to business as usual with 16 runs off of 18 hits.
Player of the Game: Kent Emanuel
After Jake Odorizzi was pulled after five pitches due to forearm tightness, the Astros needed some help from the bullpen. No one expected the rookie Kent Emanuel to go eight and two-thirds. Emanuel, fresh off of his 80-game suspension, kept things under control and struck out five. Heck of a way to get your first Major League win.