Astros stay hot at home
Just ask Trout if McCullers magnificent
Mike Trout, the best baseball player on the planet, has cut down his strikeouts and increased his walks during yet another MVPcaliber campaign. In the season’s first 95 games, the Los Angeles Angels superstar never struck out more than twice.
But three times in the Astros’ 2-1 victory Friday night, Lance McCullers had Trout shaking his head en route back to the visitors’ dugout at Minute Maid Park. Three punchouts of the 24-yearold phenom highlighted McCullers’ gem, which propelled the Astros to within 2½ games of the first-place Texas Rangers.
Armed with his best fastball command of the season, McCullers dominated over eight-plus innings in arguably the best outing by an Astros starter this year. The 22-year-old righthander allowed only four singles and struck out 10 before exiting to a standing ovation in the ninth after putting the inning’s first two batters on base. One came around to score.
All but one of McCullers strikeouts came on his power curveball, among the most effective breaking balls in the sport. Trout whiffed on the pitch to end his first three plate appearances.
“(Trout is) one of the best hitters in the game,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “You don’t get him uncomfortable very easily. It shows how electrifying Lance can be when he’s inside the strike zone and makes these guys have to account for more than one pitch.”
McCullers became the first pitcher to strike out Trout three times in a game since Tampa Bay’s Chris Archer on June 2, 2015.
“I hadn’t gotten Albert Pujols yet, so I got him for the first time,”
McCullers said, smiling. “He already has a home run off me, so I’m glad I got at least one strikeout against him.”
McCullers (5-4) outdueled Matt Shoemaker, the Angels’ splitter-happy righthander who has been one of baseball’s best over his last 12 starts. The Astros extended their winning streak against the Angels to nine games. Friday’s was Los Angeles’ first loss in seven games since the AllStar break.
Shoemaker was charged with two runs on five hits over 62⁄3 innings. Preston Tucker was responsible for the first run in the fifth. The Astros’ designated hitter, in his first game back from Class AAA, ripped his first major league triple and scored on a Jason Castro single.
Carlos Gomez bunted for a one-out single off Shoemaker in the seventh, stole second base and later scored when George Springer singled off sidearming righthander Joe Smith.
McCullers’ double-digit strikeout performance was his third of the season and second in four starts. He lowered his ERA to 3.33, best among Astros starters. Entering the ninth, he had retired 10 consecutive batters, striking out all three in the eighth.
The beginning of McCullers’ outing did not portend a chance at a complete-game shutout, as the Angels put runners on second and third bases with no outs only to squander three chances at opening the scoring. It proved their biggest threat until the ninth.
McCullers opened the final frame having already exhausted 105 pitches, three shy of his season high. Even with the heart of the Angels’ order due up, Hinch did not phone the bullpen to warm up a pitcher in the bottom of the eighth.
As McCullers took the mound for the ninth, closer Will Harris began to warm. McCullers opened the inning by walking Kole Calhoun and Trout, ending his evening. Harris allowed a run-scoring single to Andrelton Simmons but preserved the victory.
“In that part of the order, I was very comfortable with him against Calhoun and Trout and Pujols. Obviously, the leadoff walk makes me sit up straight. The big debate was whether to give him Trout or whether to go right to Harris with Trout,” Hinch said.
“When I went out to talk to him on the mound, I told him it’s going to be a sour taste in his mouth walking off the mound, but as soon as Harris gets these outs, he’s going to feel really proud about his effort.”