Bregman’s late-season surge goes on
Grand slam keys club’s comeback for 90th victory
The waning late-summer months that represent the dog days of baseball’s regular season have not hindered Alex Bregman. The American League’s Player of the Month for August entered Sunday’s series finale against the Angels on a tear unrivaled by many in the sport over the last 34 games.
Since Aug. 1, Bregman was slashing .339/.444/ .609 with a 1.053 OPS and 10 doubles, seven home runs, 23 RBIs and 23 walks.
With his team languishing toward a series loss amid a dearth of clutch hitting, Bregman unleashed further havoc.
For the second game in a row, the Angels pounced early on the Astros’ starting pitcher. Bregman’s third-inning grand slam wrenched the lead back, catalyzed a home run derby and propelled Houston to a 12-4 comeback win at Minute Maid Park, as well as a 2-1 series victory.
The Astros (90-50) need six more wins/Orioles losses to clinch a playoff spot and 11 more wins/Mariners losses to clinch the AL West. On Sunday, they became the first American League team to win 90 games this season, the 12th time that manager Dusty Baker has reached 90 or more wins in his managerial career.
“That’s the benchmark that I have for myself and the team every year,” Baker said. “I always say that if we can get 15 (wins) per month and then you add on from there, there’s a good chance that you’ll be somewhere in the playoff hunt. And we’re there in the middle of, not even the middle of, September. So that’s a good sign for us. It’s a model of consistency for your team.”
The Astros’ offense had not had as explosive a game as Sunday’s for quite a while. They mashed five home runs against the Angels, one shy of a season high. Four had exit velocities of at least 100 mph. The Astros are tied with the Yankees for most grand slams this season (eight), but Bregman’s was his first since May 5, 2019.
“It felt like it’s been three years,” Bregman said. “It’s great to be able to put us in the lead there, and then let Luis (Garcia) come out, pound the zone, attack and give us a great start. … And then the guys added on.”
His fourth career slam and Mauricio Dubón’s earlier solo shot erased a three-run deficit enabled by Garcia, who allowed two home runs in two innings Sunday after allowing three home runs over his previous six starts.
The Astros helped Garcia avoid a loss with some slugging of their own. Trey Mancini put the game away with a threerun blast in the fifth inning. Yordan Alvarez added an eighth-inning solo moonshot to center field, his first in 88 plate appearances, before Kyle Tucker popped a two-run homer.
Only one of Houston’s dozen runs was not driven in by an out-of-thepark hit. Jose Altuve scored on a wild pitch in what ended up as his 12th three-hit game of the season. He went 3-for-5 with three infield singles, two runs and a stolen base.
The Astros’ impressive offensive display helped offset an Angels run allowed in the ninth inning by reliever Héctor Neris.
The Angels took the lead after just 11 pitches from Garcia. Three batters into the game, they were a double shy of hitting for the cycle.
Mickey Moniak blasted a leadoff triple with an exit velocity of 107.8 mph to center field. Four pitches later, Shohei Ohtani sent a 1-2 curveball into the stands for a two-run homer, his 34th long ball of the season. Taylor Ward hit a single and went to second base on a wild pitch before Garcia quelled the danger by retiring the next three batters. Garcia required 32 pitches to finish the frame.
With two outs in the second inning, Andrew Velazquez tore into Garcia’s 3-1 pitch for a solo home run to right field. Ohtani completed the cycle with a double to lead off the third inning, though he was left stranded.
“I was trying to throw strikes, but they were taking everything,” Garcia said of his rocky start. “So I tried to get out of that (first) inning and keep working, getting through innings.”
Trailing 3-0 in the third, the Astros batted around in a monstrous half-inning that opened with Dubón’s solo home run and ended with his flying out after his team had upended the score. The Angels pulled starter Tucker Davidson after he issued a homer to Dubón, allowed back-to-back singles to Altuve and Jeremy Peña, and nailed Alvarez in the hip to load the bases with no outs.
Reliever Mike Mayers’ first pitch hit dirt. Bregman deposited the second into the Astros’ bullpen, where it was snatched delightedly by bullpen catcher Javier Bracamonte as Angels right fielder Ward peered through the fence.
“Consistency of at-bats is extremely important,” Bregman said. “That’s something that we want to have going down the stretch and going into the postseason, and the guys in here know how to put together really good atbat after really good atbat. So I think when we do that, we’re a really good offense.”
Garcia allowed three more hits over the next couple innings but no more runs. He finished five innings on 88 pitches with four strikeouts while allowing three runs, eight hits, and no walks.
After he exited, the Astros added a heaping helping of insurance. With Tucker and Yuli Gurriel on base in the fifth via a walk and single, Mancini launched a fly ball 107.6 mph off the bat into the Crawford Boxes, extending the lead to 8-3.
Mancini credited Astros hitting coach Troy Snitker with helping him make a midgame adjustment to his swing before the home run, which he said was a bonus after Bregman’s swing turned the tide of the game.
“It felt good to contribute there,” Mancini said. “Especially with an unideal start to the game, Luis did such a good job of bouncing back, throwing four great innings after the first, and he kept us in the game. And luckily, our offense had a great day.”
In the sixth inning, Altuve made a full trip around the bases, reaching on a single, stealing second, taking third on a fly out and coming home on a wild pitch. Altuve was already on third when Angels reliever Zack Weiss entered, intentionally walked Alvarez and unintentionally walked Bregman.
With two outs, another mistake was all Altuve needed to scamper in for the score. That run was the least dramatic of the day (and two more home runs were still to follow), but it seemed to underscore the Astros’ dominant performance.