Astros give Houston a sweep
George Springer had three hits, Josh Reddick and Marwin Gonzalez added RBI singles in a four-run sixth inning, and the Houston Astros beat the New York Mets 4-1 on Saturday night to sweep a day-night doubleheader in their first games at home since the city was devastated by Hurricane Harvey.
The Astros won the first game 12-8 behind Springer’s career-high 30th home run.
A crowd of 30,319 attended the doubleheader opener, and 34,904 came out for the second game. The Astros moved a home series earlier this week against rival Texas to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. The AL West leaders, who lost two of three to the Rangers, then postponed Friday’s game by a day, allowing players time to work in the community.
It was the first doubleheader in Minute Maid Park history and the first in Houston since the Astros won both games against the Marlins on Aug. 27, 1999, at the Astrodome.
The Astros wore patches on the upper left side of their jerseys with the team logo and the word “STRONG” in block letters as a tribute to those affected by the storm. As Springer approached home plate after hitting a two-run homer in the second inning, he pounded the patch three times with his right fist and pointed to the fans.
“They wanted to put a patch on for the rest of the year,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “The guys were excited. We were happy. It just represents the city of Houston and the surrounding areas and what we need to do as a community to stay strong and stay together and start the rebuilding process in a lot of areas in our community.”
Mets manager Terry Collins was glad to be able to help the city take a break from all the problems that have come with the storm.
“If we can bring a distraction to what the town’s going through, certainly we’re up for it. We’ve been through it before obviously in our city,” Collins said, referring to Superstorm Sandy in 2012. “We know what the feeling is like. Tough atmosphere to play in when you’re a visitor.” Scherzer departs: Washington’s Max Scherzer was hit in the left calf by a liner off the bat of Milwaukee’s Travis Shaw in the first inning and was lifted after throwing 75 pitches over five innings Saturday night, but the 2016 NL Cy Young Award winner said he didn’t anticipate missing much time with the injury.
“That’s one of the worst spots to get hit, no matter how hard or soft it is,” Scherzer said after the Nationals’ 3-2 win over the Brewers. “I could pitch on it but I couldn’t run.” Tigers’ bans reduced: Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera and reliever Alex Wilson have started serving suspensions after their penalties were reduced by one game in settlements with Major League Baseball. Cabrera will sit out six games and Wilson will miss three games for their actions on a fight-filled afternoon against the New York Yankees at Comerica Park on Aug. 24.
Briefly: Toronto manager John Gibbons left the team before Saturday night’s game against Baltimore to tend to personal business. The Blue Jays offered no details . ... Former Giants outfielder Nori Aoki agreed to a contract with the Mets and joined the team before its games in Houston. Aoki was released Tuesday by Toronto . ... Mets third baseman Wilmer Flores left Saturday night’s game against the Astros after fouling a ball off his face.