Altuve, Gonzalez help Astros past Angels 3-2
HOUSTON (AP) - Jose Altuve homered and Marwin Gonzalez's tiebreaking RBI triple in the eighth inning helped the Houston Astros to their fifth straight win, a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday.
George Springer singled with one out before Gonzalez hit a towering fly ball just to the right of straightaway center field off Matt Shoemaker (3-8).
Shane Robinson sprinted up Tal's Hill to grab it, but it sailed just out of his reach before Robinson crashed into the padded wall, allowing Springer to score and make it 2-1.
Houston added an insurance run on a groundout by Carlos Correa in the eighth.
Will Harris allowed a run-scoring single by Kole Calhoun with one out in the ninth, but Yunel Escobar was out at second on the play. Harris then retired Mike Trout for his sixth save. Luke Gregerson (2-1) struck out one in a scoreless eighth for the win.
Escobar's RBI single gave the Angels a 1-0 lead in the third and Altuve's homer tied it in the sixth.
Shoemaker allowed eight hits and three runs in 7 1/3 innings for his third straight loss.
The Astros are beginning to heat up after a poor start, and have won seven of the past eight games and 20 of their past 28.
Houston starter Lance McCullers allowed six hits and one run with six strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.
The Astros tied it at 1-all when Altuve hit one high on the wall in left-center with one out in the sixth inning.
Correa doubled after that, but Shoemaker got out of that inning thanks to a nifty play by C.J. Cron. He stretched out to snag a liner hit by Colby Rasmus and tossed it to second for the double play.
Jett Bandy, who finished with three hits, singled to start the third before Robinson drew a walk. Bandy slid to beat the throw home and scored on the single by Escobar to put Los Angeles up 1-0. Trout walked with one out to load the bases, but McCullers worked out of the jam by striking out Cron and Johnny Giavotella.
Shoemaker hit Springer to start Houston's first and walked Altuve with one out. He settled down after that, retiring the next 10 straight until Rasmus got Houston's first hit with a two-out double in the fourth inning.
The Astros got another double with one out in the fifth inning when Jason Castro knocked one into the corner of left field. Tony Kemp singled, but Shoemaker kept Houston scoreless when Springer grounded into an inning-ending double play.
A two-out single by Bandy chased McCullers in the sixth. Pat Neshek took over and struck out Robinson.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Angels: 1B Albert Pujols missed his second straight game on Wednesday with an injured left hamstring. Manager Mike Scioscia said it's too soon to be thinking about placing him on the disabled list and that he's day to day with the injury. "When I'm good, I'm good and I'm going to play," Pujols said. "Right now I'm not going to take my chances."
FIRST-ROUNDER SIGNED
The Astros signed Forrest Whitley, their first-round pick in this year's draft on Wednesday. Whitley, who was the 17th overall pick, was 9-1 with a 0.31 ERA this season for Alamo Heights high school in San Antonio.
UP NEXT
Angels: Tim Lincecum (1-0, 1.50) will start for Los Angeles when they open a four-game series at Oakland on Thursday. Lincecum won his debut with the team by allowing four hits and one earned run in six innings of a 7-1 victory at Oakland on Saturday.
Astros: The Astros are off on Thursday before Dallas Keuchel (3-9, 5.32) starts on Friday in the opener of a three-game series at Kansas City. Last year's AL Cy Young Award winner is trying to get back on track after dropping his past three decisions and eight of his past nine.