The beat goes on
Evan Gattis’ twohomer game secures 10th win in a row over the Angels.
In a few weeks, when the Astros’ roster is likely to include Yulieski Gurriel and Alex Bregman, opportunities will dwindle for lineup fixtures.
The leftover at-bats will be distributed to those producing, which makes this stretch of games important for those who stand to lose playing time.
Evan Gattis, the Astros’ primary designated hitter and backup catcher, is among those players. But his output in Saturday night’s 7-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels served as a reminder of his value when locked in at the plate.
Gattis blasted two of the Astros’ three home runs and caught nine effective innings in his team’s 10th consecutive win over the Angels. The multi-homer performance was his first of the season and the sixth of his four-year major league career. His four RBIs matched a career high.
“Today was Gatty Day,” starting pitcher Collin McHugh said. Nine games over .500
Behind their 36th win in their last 52 games, the Astros (53-44) moved to a season-high nine games above .500. They remain 2½ games behind the firstplace Texas Rangers in the American League West standings entering Sunday afternoon’s series finale against the Angels (43-54).
Both of Gattis’ home runs came against Jered Weaver, the Angels’ softtossing righthander who surrendered six runs and lasted only four innings. Gattis opened the scoring with a three-run shot into the Crawford Boxes in the second inning. The burly 29-year-old launched one 420 feet to left-center field to lead off the fourth.
The pair of home runs increased his season total to 15, tied with Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa for second-most on the team.
Correa tagged Jhoulys Chacin for an oppositefield long ball in Saturday’s fifth inning. The homer was the 36th of his budding career while in the lineup at shortstop, surpassing Adam Everett’s mark for the most at the position in team history.
“I want to be able to get a lot more and help the team win games,” Correa said. “It’s a great accomplishment, I guess, but the focus is to win ballgames every single day. So if I can get homers to help my team win the game, I’ll take it.” Ready in a pinch
Originally scheduled to serve as designated hitter Saturday, Gattis caught because Jason Castro was scratched with a bruised right hand stemming from a foul tip in Friday’s ninth inning. It was Gattis’ first game since Wednesday, when he also suffered a bruised right hand, and coincided with the team’s promotional giveaway of a gnome bearing his likeness.
Gattis’ performance continued what his statistics prove is a trend. His plate production when he catches far exceeds that when he doesn’t. He entered the day with a .947 OPS in 81 at-bats when catching opposed to a .578 OPS in 160 at-bats when serving as DH.
“I just want to pretend like I’m catching when I’m not,” Gattis said.
Astros manager A.J. Hinch attributed the lopsided splits to the fact Gattis is more occupied — mentally and physically — when catching.
“He’s got a lot of responsibility as a catcher,” Hinch said. “He takes it very seriously. In essence, (catching) lifts his mind a little bit from some of the mental grind of being a hitter. The DH position is difficult. … In some ways, it’s four pinch hits.”
Ontop of his home runs, Gattis guided McHugh threw six solid innings and the relief trio of Pat Neshek, Ken Giles and Michael Feliz tossed three near-perfect innings. Gattis eliminated a would-be base stealer in Yunel Escobar in the first inning, his eighth victim in 18 chances this year. Gnome in demand
McHugh (7-6) allowed only two runs over six innings, his seventh straight start in which he yielded three or fewer runs.
Since Gattis resumed catching in mid-May after not doing so last year, he has caught McHugh six times.
“My hat’s off to (Gattis),” said McHugh, who snagged two Gattis gnomes for his garden back home in Georgia. “He’s done a great job of preparing really well for games, preparing for the guys that he’s got to face hitting and the guys that he’s got to catch when we’re pitching.
“It all came together for him today.”