Eric Wagaman’s three hits not enough for Angels in loss to Astros
HOUSTON — Kyle Tucker had four hits, including a home run, and Jake Meyers and Alex Bregman hit home runs while combining for six RBIs to help the Houston Astros beat the Angels 9-7 on Friday night.
The victory dropped Houston’s magic number to clinch the AL West to four.
Bregman’s two-run shot put the Astros up 3-1 in the third. Meyers stretched the lead to 6-1 with his three-run home run with two outs in the inning.
The Angels scored three runs in the fifth to get within 8-6 before Tucker’s solo shot to the bullpen in right-center made it 9-6 in the sixth. He went four for five to tie a career high in hits.
The two franchises are mirror images of ineptitude, playing a game where even the winner was still going to be an all-time loser.
Kevin Pillar, who was reinstated from the injured list Friday, hit a solo homer in the seventh inning for the Angels but Houston’s bullpen shut down the Angels the rest of the way.
Justin Verlander gave up eight hits and six runs in 4⅔ innings. It’s the third time in four starts where the three-time Cy Young Award winner has yielded eight hits and at least five runs.
He said postgame that he thinks he rushed back from a neck injury that kept him out almost two months this summer.
“I think I came back from the neck injury a little fast,” he said. “Obviously I know the schedule, I know the calendar and I want to be an asset for this team and to do that I need to be able to pitch and find out where I’m at. Obviously, the results have not been good, but there’s nothing you can do besides trying to pitch.”
Hector Neris (10-5) gave up three hits and a run in 1⅓ innings for the win and Josh Hader pitched a scoreless ninth for his 33rd save.
The Astros jumped on Tyler Anderson (10-14) for eight hits and six runs — three earned — in just 2⅔ innings, his shortest start this season.
Matt Thaiss, who snapped an 0 for 34 skid with a single in the fourth, had two hits and drove in two runs for the Angels and Eric Wagaman added three hits and two RBIs.
Manager Ron Washington was impressed by the contributions from the bottom of his lineup Friday night.
“We needed everything they did and they played hard,” he said. “We just came up short.”
The Astros led 1-0 after a sacrifice fly by Mauricio Dubón with one out in the second.
Angels rookie Gustavo Campero hit his first career triple with one out in the third inning. He scored on a single by Jack López that tied it at 1-1.
Jon Singleton’s two-run double with two outs in the eighth inning lifts the Houston Astros to a 3-1 win over the Angels.
Pillar walked with one out in the fourth and stole second base with two outs. Wagaman’s single to right field scored him to cut the lead to 6-2. Thaiss then singled to get his first hit since Aug. 22. Verlander plunked Campero to load the bases and López singled to make it 6-3.
Bregman and Diaz hit RBI singles in the fourth to push the lead to 8-3.
The Angels had runners on first and third with no outs in the fifth when Bregman saved a run with a leaping catch on a liner hit by Pillar. Wagaman hit an RBI double with two outs in the inning to get the Angels to chase Verlander.
Bryan King took over and Thaiss singled to center field to scored two more and cut the lead to 8-6.
Injury update: Angels infielder Charles Leblanc was optioned to triple-A Salt Lake to make room for Pillar on the roster.
Up next: Houston right-hander Ronel Blanco (11-6, 2.88 ERA) opposes Angels left-hander Reid Detmers (4-7, 6.05) when the series continues Saturday night.
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