Correa’s HR in 1st sets tone as good times roll
Feldman excels in spot start in contrast to tough day by Lincecum
ANAHEIM, Calif. — For a four-year span ending in 2011, Tim Lincecum was among baseball’s elite. In the seasons he didn’t win the National League Cy Young Award, he garnered strong consideration.
But the Lincecum the Astros faced in their 7-1 win Tuesday night over the Los Angeles Angels was not that Lincecum. This version of the pitcher, attempting to resurrect his career with a new team, is a far cry from the star righthander who posted a 0.99 ERA in nine starts against the then-NL Central club.
In their first meeting against Lincecum in four seasons, the Astros capitalized on his ineffectiveness. The former San Francisco Giants ace struggled to locate his pitches, issuing four walks and consistently falling behind in counts. By the end of his night, he had exhausted 101 pitches but completed only 41⁄3 innings.
The Astros’ ninth win in 10 games pushed the second-place team to a season-best four games over .500. They have won each of their last five series and 24 of their last 33 games.
Their latest triumph came at the expense of Lincecum, who made his third start for the Angels since signing with the team last month for the pro-rated portion of a one-year, $2.5 million deal. Five runs allowed Tuesday raised his ERA to 6.75. Four of the seven hits he surrendered went for extra bases.
The biggest swing came off the bat of Carlos Correa, a trend of late for the surging Astros. Ahead in the count at 2-0, the young star shortstop walloped a
Lincecum sinker over the left-field wall in the first inning. The three-run blast set the tone for the evening. A four-RBI performance set a new season high for Correa, who went 3-for-4.
On the mound, Scott Feldman delivered a bestcase scenario spot start for the Astros. Pitching in place of Lance McCullers, who was scratched because of a blister on his right index finger, Feldman logged five innings and allowed only an unearned run and three hits to go with two strikeouts.
Considering he hadn’t thrown more than three innings or 40 pitches in any of his 16 relief outings, five innings was realistically the most Feldman could have thrown Tuesday. He did so on 65 pitches despite a Luis Valbuena error in the third costing him 10 pitches and the eventual run.
Michael Feliz, pitch- ing on his 23rd birthday, worked around two hits and a walk over two scoreless frames. Pat Neshek handled the eighth and Chris Devenski the ninth.
For Correa, Tuesday was an extension of his hottest stretch of the season. The homer was his fifth in 11 games, and he followed it with a double in the third inning. His sharp groundout to third base in the seventh scored Jose Altuve. A ninth-inning single capped his night and raised his OPS to .836, his best since May 15.
The Astros, winners of seven straight against the last-place Angels, racked up 12 hits. Altuve’s 31st multi-hit game of the season raised his American League-best batting average to .350. Marwin Gonzalez tripled, doubled and executed a safety squeeze. Carlos Gomez added two hits, including a double.