Angels take it to Astros early, win fifth in row
The Angels could have wilted without the presence of their most intimidating hitter in the lineup. But for the second consecutive night playing without Mike Trout as he recovers from a minor calf injury, the Angels rolled to a victory over the rival Houston Astros, 7-2 on Tuesday.
The Angels exacted the bulk of their damage in a first inning that, between the sides, took 37 minutes to complete. David Fletcher led off the Angels’ half poking a double to the warning track in right field; he came back to the plate 20 minutes later to end the inning with a f lyout.
In between, Astros opener Hector Rondon allowed five Angels to reach without recording an out. Andrelton Simmons bopped a single to right. Shohei Ohtani, whose 2018 rookie of the year campaign was celebrated with a giveaway bobblehead of him swinging, tapped a ball to the left side of the
infield that pulled shortstop Alex Bregman toward third base. By the time Bregman rid himself of the ball, Ohtani had crossed first safely for an infield single that drove in Fletcher.
Rondon walked Justin Upton and hit Kole Calhoun with the bases loaded, then Astros nemesis Albert Pujols knocked a double down the first base line to clear the bases. Rookie Luis Rengifo followed Pujols’ hit, which increased the veteran’s career RBI total against the Astros to 163, with a ball that skittered past a diving Jake Marisnick in center to the warning track for an RBI triple and a 6-0 lead.
In his first game facing the Angels since gruesomely colliding with catcher Jonathan Lucroy last week, leaving him with a concussion and broken nose, Marisnick felt the furor of Angel Stadium denizens all night. Boos rained down on him in pregame introductions and with every defensive play and plate appearance.
The fans were rewarded when Angels reliever Noe Ramirez plunked Marisnick between the shoulders to start the sixth inning.
“I was just trying to sneak a fastball by him ... it got away from me,” Ramirez said. Manager Brad Ausmus said it was tough to say there was intent on Ramirez’s part when his first pitch to Marisnick was a called strike.
Marisnick took his base calmly. Tempers spilled over when Lance McCullers Jr., who has spent the season on the injured list recovering from Tommy John surgery, began chirping from his seat in the Astros dugout. A peeved Pujols approached the railing, index finger wagging, and yelled back. Marisnick waved his teammates off to no avail. Both bullpens emptied, then the nearby benches.
The disruption proved inconsequential. Marisnick advanced to third base but never scored.
The same could be said for most of Houston’s runners. Angels pitchers contained the Astros offense for a second consecutive night, stranding 14 of those who reached base. Starter Andrew Heaney and reliever Trevor Cahill induced double-play ground balls to escape jams in the third and eighth innings, respectively.
Heaney was effective but labored. He allowed the leadoff man to reach in every inning he worked and faced multiple baserunners in four of his five innings. But Heaney did not crumble, despite needing 103 pitches to get through 41⁄3 innings. Only two runs scored, on singles from Tyler White.