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Publish Date: 07/15/2022
Fact checked by: Mike Goodpaster
Houston Astros defeat Los Angeles Angels 3-2
The Houston Astros (39-51) defeated the Los Angeles Angels (58-30) at Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Thursday night. For the Astros, it had been a tough win. Check out the best bookmakers for betting on baseball!
The game started with the first pitch of the game, thrown by Angels lefty Reid Detmers, hitting Jose Altuve and causing him to suffer a left knee contusion. The injury forced Altuve to only stay in the game for a half-inning before being replaced at second base by Mauricio Dubón in the bottom of the frame.
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The Astros’ tightly sealed defense has become shaky due to Altuve’s early exit, adding to the team’s devastation caused by injuries. The absences of Yordan Alvarez (right-hand injury) and Michael Brantley (shoulder discomfort) were especially noticeable during their match last night.
After scoring two runs in the first, the Astros bats went silent until Jeremy Peña’s 10th-inning tie-breaking single sealed a series victory over the Angels. Houston bounced back from a loss to Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday, improving their record to 58-30 and keeping their AL West lead at a whopping 11 games, despite Seattle winning 11 in a row.
Peña delivers again
According to Peña, Astro had to give everything they had last night to win the game.
“Every player had to step up,” Peña stated. “We just have a bunch of guys that are ready for every situation, and that’s what makes it so good,” he said.
The Houston Astros’ manager, Dusty Baker, praised Pena’s performance, saying he went “above and beyond” what’s expected of him.
“He’s playing far beyond his experience and his age,” Baker said. “The situation didn’t bother him or get too big for him.”
It wasn’t the first time Peña had made a significant contribution to the team. Last April, he closed out a game against the Blue Jays at Minute Maid Park with a game-winning home run. His home runs sparked a lot of excitement among Astros fans.
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Ryan Pressly (3-2) pitched two scoreless innings to preserve the 3-2 victory, which was aided greatly by Dubón’s diving catch on a Max Stassi soft liner for the 10th out. Despite a recent series of injuries, Houston has won 22 of its last 29 games and is 4-2 on the road.
Dusty Baker explained that the victory was difficult to achieve. As a result, the Astros had no choice but to accept it.
“That was hard-fought,” Baker said. “We’ll take it.”
Astros multiple errors
The Astros made similar mistakes again on Thursday. Houston, as usual, allowed three runs to score on passed balls during this six-game road trip. During the same time period, the team made six mistakes, five of which occurred during the three games in Anaheim.
Since finishing their series against both New York teams, the Astros have made 11 errors in 13 games. Despite this, they are 11-2, a record that is said to be impressive due to their poor performance
“I think maybe it’s just one of those times,” said third baseman Alex Bregman, who booted a routine ground ball on Thursday after fumbling a potential double-play ball on Tuesday.
Bregman explained that the teams have ups and downs, but he remains grateful that his team could deliver decent defense.
“Throughout the season, you have your peaks and your valleys throughout the course of the season, but something we take a lot of pride in is our defense and playing clean baseball,“ Bregman said.
That said, the reasons behind their poor performance vary, as Baker also mentioned exhaustion both before and after the game.
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