Bregman Goes Boom; Houston Astros Take Series from Los Angeles Angels
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Trailing by three in the third inning, the Houston Astros added all the insurance they needed to down the Los Angeles Angels for a series win. Mauricio Dubón kicked off the parade with his first home run since July 29 on a solo shot into the Crawford Boxes.
Following Dubón, José Altuve and Jeremy Peña notched back-to-back singles before Yordan Álvarez was hit by a pitch. With the bases loaded and no outs, Alex Bregman gave the Astros the lead with the club's eighth grand slam of the season — tied for the lead in Major League Baseball with the New York Yankees.
Houston held the lead for the remainder of the contest as Trey Mancini added three more runs, scoring Kyle Tucker and Yuli Gurriel, in the fifth inning on his 17th home run of the season. A ninth run crossed in the sixth inning on a wild pitch, scoring Altuve from third.
Álvarez clubbed his first home run since Aug. 10 and 32nd on the year with an eighth-inning solo shot, giving the Astros their 10th run on the afternoon. Since July 28, the lefty has only three home runs.
Tucker added two more runs in the inning with his 25th home run of the season. With five home runs on the day, the Astros hit for the home run cycle as a team following Tucker's two-run shot.
Houston Astros Starting Pitcher Luis García
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Off the mound, Luis García ran into trouble early. The righty yielded a two-run home run to Shohei Ohtani in the first inning following a triple from Mickey Moniak. The Angels pieced together a cycle off García through the first three innings with Taylor Ward singling in the first and Ohtani doubling to open the third.
García surrendered a second home run an inning later to Andrew Velazquez, giving the Angels a three-run lead at the time. On the afternoon, the righty allowed eight hits to his four strikeouts.
Will Smith tossed a scoreless eighth inning with one strikeout, marking his ninth consecutive appearance without allowing a run. The lefty has totaled eight innings in that stretch. Off Héctor Neris in the ninth inning, Moniak doubled home a run, cutting the Angels' deficit to eight runs.
The Astros open a three-game set with the Detroit Tigers at 5:40 p.m. Monday on the road. Framber Valdez is scheduled to start.
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