Shohei Ohtani’s four-hit game isn’t enough as Angels lose again to Astros
HOUSTON — Alex Bregman hit a grand slam and Chas McCormick homered to help the Houston Astros beat the Angels 9-6 on Saturday.
The Astros — who have won three straight, all to start this four-game series — broke it open with a five-run fourth inning, capped by Bregman’s grand slam. Martín Maldonado, Mauricio Dubón and Jeremy Peña loaded the bases on three straight singles before Yordan Alvarez had an RBI infield hit to end Angels starter Patrick Sandoval’s day.
Bregman, who also walked a career-high-tying four times, greeted Jacob Webb with his fifth career grand slam, which just made it into the first row of the Crawford Boxes to increase the Astros’ lead to 7-1.
“That was like a Barry Bonds day,” Houston manager Dusty Baker said. “That was great. He’s getting on base and setting the table for other guys. Then, he cleaned the table. That one with the slam, I didn’t know how much we were going to need all the runs needed today.”
Shohei Ohtani yielded a season-worst nine hits and tied a season high with five runs given up in six innings as the Angels lost 6-2 to the Houston Astros.
The homer also extended Bregman’s hitting streak to 10 games.
“I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit,” Bregman said. “I was fortunate to get a good swing on it. It felt good.”
Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani finished four for five with two runs scored and two RBIs. He needed a home run in his last at-bat to finish with a cycle, but he instead singled leading off the ninth inning.
Ohtani had an RBI triple in the third inning and an RBI double as part of a four-run seventh. He also scored on a wild pitch in the ninth.
José Abreu had an RBI single in the first for the Astros, and McCormick hit an RBI double in the third and a solo home run in the seventh. Dubón added a sacrifice fly in the seventh to increase Houston’s lead to 9-5.
Cristian Javier (7-1) yielded one run and six hits and struck out five. Javier has won five consecutive starts, giving up two runs or fewer in each of the starts.
Javier said in Spanish through an interpreter that he believed his outing was tremendous.
“I think I was able to stay focused the whole outing,” Javier said. “I tried to attack the strike zone as much as I could. I tried to get the hitters out quickly.”
Hunter Renfroe hit a solo home run, Livan Soto scored on a wild pitch and Mike Trout had an RBI single in the seventh as the Angels cut their deficit to 7-5. They loaded the bases with two outs, but Héctor Neris induced a groundout by Renfroe to end the threat.
The Angels’ Anthony Rendon will not face charges following an incident with a fan at Oakland Coliseum, with police confirming the case is now closed.
“It’s frustrating losing, but good teams, championship teams, they take advantage of mistakes,” Angels manager Phil Nevin said. “They certainly did today. None more glaring than that fourth inning. You end up costing yourself four runs with Bregman’s grand slam after making those mistakes.”
Sandoval (3-5) was tagged for six runs and eight hits in 3 1/3 innings.
“It’s on me for putting us in such a deep hole,” Sandoval said. “I’m proud of the way that they fought back, but we just couldn’t get out of that hole.”
Sandoval dropped to 0-5 and has given 32 runs in 34 1/3 innings over nine career appearances, eight of them starts, against Houston.
Trainer’s room
Angels: Shortstop Zach Neto was out of the lineup Saturday after he was hit by a pitch on his left foot in the third inning Friday night.
Astros: Second baseman Jose Altuve was out of the lineup Saturday after feeling “something in his oblique” after an “awkward swing” Friday night, Baker said. Altuve was feeling OK on Saturday, but he was kept out of the lineup “as a precaution,” Baker said.
Roster move
The Angels recalled right-hander José Soriano from double-A Rocket City and optioned right-hander Chase Silseth to triple-A Salt Lake. Soriano made his major league debut in the eighth inning, throwing a scoreless inning.
Umpire exits
Plate umpire Mark Wegner left the game following the seventh inning after being hit by a foul ball on the mask on the second-to-last pitch of the inning. Second base umpire Stu Scherwater took over at home plate.
Up next
Houston right-hander J.P France (1-1, 4.00 ERA) will start Sunday opposite Angels right-hander Griffin Canning (4-2, 4.89 ERA) in the finale of the four-game series.
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