Yanier Diaz has secured his place as the everyday catcher for the Houston Astros. He’s also provided quite a punch at the plate, too. Monday night, he was in the right place at the right time. Diaz slammed the first pitch he saw from Boston Red Sox reliever Kenley Jansen above the train tracks at Minute Maid Park. It secured a wild 5-4 victory for the Astros.
Baseball purists are going to look at this MLB game and turn up their noses. Both the Houston Astros and Red Sox did not play their best ball defensively. In fact, the Astros committed a season-high four errors while the Red Sox committed one.
Houston Astros Put Together Rally
The Astros entered the bottom of the ninth tied 4-4. Jansen (3-2) came on to start the inning, striking out Yordan Alvarez. Diaz wasn’t wasting any time, though. He drilled a Jansen pitch, which was pretty much center-cut over home plate. There was no doubt about it, setting off a home-plate celebration with Diaz’s teammates waiting for him there.
Josh Hader (6-6) picked up the victory after pitching a scoreless ninth inning. Astros starter Yusei Kikuchi wasn’t totally sharp for the Houston Astros. He got rocked on the game’s opening pitch as Boston’s Jarren Duran smacked it out to the Crawford Boxes for a solo home run. Kikuchi went 5 2/3 innings, giving up three runs (one earned), six hits, and seven strikeouts.
Boston took a 4-2 lead in the sixth on Masataka Yoshida’s two-run homer with two outs, also to left field. But the Houston Astros rallied for a run in their half of the sixth. Pinch-hitter Jon Singleton’s sacrifice fly made it 4-3. Mauricio Dubón added an RBI single in the eighth inning, making it 4-4.
In four innings of work, Red Sox starter Tanner Houck gave up three runs (two earned) on eight hits with eight strikeouts.
With the win, the Houston Astros came out on top for the 11th time in 12 games. They’ve been on an incredible streak lately, getting a 4 1/2-game lead over the Seattle Mariners in the American League West Division. Seattle was playing on the West Coast against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night. A Seattle loss can boost the Astros’ lead to five games.
Houston sends Ronel Blanco (9-6, 2.89 ERA) out on Tuesday night against Boston’s Nick Pivetta (5-8, 4.49 ERA). Going back to the Astros’ recent series at Boston, they’ve won four in a row over the Red Sox. Alvarez has been tearing the cover off the baseball against Boston pitchers, too. He went 3-for-4 on Monday night, lashing base hits above the 100-mph level.
Justin Verlander Back on Wednesday
Houston’s starting pitcher rotation received some welcome news. According to MLB.com, Justin Verlander is coming off the disabled list. He’s due to start Wednesday’s series finale against Boston. Will he be on a pitch count for that game? Astros manager Joe Espada addressed that issue before Monday’s game.
“We’ll see how the outing goes and how efficient he is,” Espada said. “I don’t want to put a number because he could surprise us, but we will keep a close eye on his workload.
“Getting JV on the mound is getting one of the best back in there,” Espada said. “Also for the team. We know what he means. He’s part of this winning culture. Getting him back is a big boost for our team, especially down the stretch.” The Astros are in the midst of playing 18 straight games without a day off. Getting a fresh arm like Verlander in the rotation will be a welcome sight to starters like Blanco, Hunter Brown, and Spencer Arrighetti.
Third baseman Alex Bregman remained out of action on Monday night. He’s still dealing with elbow inflammation, but did get out and field some grounders before Monday’s game. A decision on his playing situation will be made prior to Tuesday’s game.
Meanwhile, injured starting pitcher Luis Garcia, coming back from Tommy John surgery. has been shut down for the season. The Astros also recalled Trey Cabbage from Triple-A Sugar Land and optioned Pedro Leon back down. Cabbage saw action in Monday’s win.
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