Yusei Kikuchi continued his outstanding work on the mound for the Houston Astros and Alex Bregman smacked a two-run homer, pacing a 5-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels. Kikuchi went seven innings, keeping Angels hitters off-balance with his off-speed pitches and fastball.
The Friday night victory also was monumental for the Houston MLB franchise. It was their 5,000th win for the team that started out as the Houston Colt .45s before becoming the Astros. Bregman extended a 2-0 Astros lead in the third inning, lining a pitch over the low left-field wall. It put the Astros up 4-0 at the time, but the Angels crept back into the ballgame.
Alex Bregman Has Big Night For Houston Astros
Bregman had two hits on the night for the Houston Astros. He now has 23 homers on the season. In the Angels’ half of the third inning, Kikuchi issued back-to-back walks. Zach Neto’s groundout and Nolan Schanuel’s single plated two runs, putting the Astros up 4-2. Mickey Moniak added a solo home run for the Angels, who lost their fifth in six games.
Angels rookie pitcher Samuel Aldegheri (1-2) ran into trouble in the Astros’ third inning. Aldegheri gave up four runs on six hits and five walks. He only managed to get six outs before being taken out of the game by Angels manager Ron Washington.
Kikuchi upped his overall record this season to 9-9, splitting time between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Astros. He had six strikeouts against Los Angeles hitters, The Associated Press reported. The Astros are 8-0 in games started by Kikuchi, whose record with the Astros is 5-0. Kikuchi is getting into some high-class Astros in-season pickup players via trade. Fans will remember Randy Johnson (1998), Justin Verlander (2017), and Zack Greinke (2019) as some of Houston’s most influential in-season starting pitcher pickups, MLB.com reported.
Yordan Alvarez Hits 33rd Homer
Yordan Alvarez smoked his 33rd home run to straightaway center field. Moniak went back and almost made a circus catch, but he lost the ball and it went over the center-field fence.
Astros reliever Josh Hader shut the door on the Angels in the bottom of the ninth, earning his 30th save this season. It marked the fifth time in Hader’s career to hit 30 saves as he’s played for the Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres in his MLB career. The Astros picked up their second straight win as they started a six-game road trip to Los Angeles and San Diego on Friday night.
Kyle Tucker got a start in the outfield while also picking up a single. Second baseman Jose Altuve, who has missed some time with tightness in his right side, was back out in the starting lineup.
On Saturday, Verlander (3-6, 5.30 ERA) tries to rebound from a bad outing last time out for the Houston Astros. All-Star Tyler Anderson (10-12, 3.50 ERA) will get the start for the Los Angeles Angels.
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