Kyle Tucker’s ninth-inning double drove home Jose Altuve and lifted the Houston Astros to a 6-5 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night in Anaheim, Calif.
The Angels also lost center fielder Mike Trout, as the recently named All-Star left the game in the fifth inning because of muscle spasms in his upper back. Manager Phil Nevin said postgame that tests on Trout found no serious issues, and the three-time MVP is day-to-day.
Los Angeles tied the game at 5-5 with four unearned runs in the seventh inning, and the contest remained tied heading to the ninth.
Angels reliever Raisel Iglesias (2-6) began the final frame by walking Altuve, who went to third on a single by Aledmys Diaz.
Tucker followed with a double to right field on a 1-1 fastball from Iglesias, sending the Angels to their fifth loss in a row and ninth in 10 games.
Ryan Pressly pitched a perfect ninth inning for Houston to record his 19th save. Hector Neris (2-3) got the win after tossing a scoreless eighth inning.
The Astros took the lead quickly against Angels starter Noah Syndergaard, going up 2-0 two batters into the game. Altuve led off the first inning with a walk and scored on Diaz’s two-run homer.
The Angels answered with a run in the bottom of the first against Astros starter Luis Garcia, who walked the bases loaded with one out. Jared Walsh drove in a run with a groundout, but Garcia was able to avoid further damage.
Alex Bregman’s RBI single in the third inning off Syndergaard increased Houston’s lead to 3-1. Syndergaard pitched into the fifth inning, but when the first two batters reached on an error and a walk, he was removed from the game.
The Astros added a couple runs against the Angels’ bullpen in the sixth, scoring two on a single by Altuve. One of the runs was unearned because of an error by Monte Harrison, who replaced Trout in center field, with Houston taking a 5-1 lead.
The Angels tied the game in the seventh, scoring four runs on just one hit. They had two walks and a hit batter, and the Astros defense helped out with two errors and a passed ball.
The lone hit in the inning was a two-run, two-out pinch single by David MacKinnon.
–Field Level Media
