Game Recap: Angels Go Rogue. McGuire Ejected after Second Astro Hit by Pitch. 8-3 Houston

OK, there was a game last night. Jose Altuve getting plunked hard on the elbow, then Shohei Ohtani, then Yuli Gurriel, wasn’t all there was to this game.

What there was to this game, mainly, was the Astros continuing to hit. After scoring 10 runs Thursday, nine runs Friday, the Astros on Saturday night scored eight runs on 12 hits. Five Stros had multi-hit games, and Marwin Gonzalez had a two run homer, that after his grand slam last night.

The Astros started early , with a lead off double by Alex Bregman to start the game, who would score on a Jose Altuve single. With two outs Altuve would score on a “Margo” double, and Gonzalez would score on a Yuli Gurriel double.

The Astros would score another run in the third on a Yuli Gurriel double scoring Altuve, who walked to start the inning.

In the eighth the Astros would add four more runs. The first came on a Gonzalez lead off homer. Josh Reddick and Tony Kemp would single with one out, and Alex Bregman would score Gonzalez with his second double, tying him for the league lead in doubles with 40. Two unearned runs would follow on a throwing error by Angels third baseman Taylor Ward after a Jose Altuve grounder. Here’s Marwin’s home run, his eighth this month.

The Angel runs came on a two run Shohei OIhtani shot in the fourth, scoring Mike Trout, and an Andrelton Simmons triple in the sixth scoring, scoring, of course, Mike Trout.

Justin Verlander got his 201st career win last night, fulfilling the requirements for a quality start, allowing three runs in six innings. With his 6 strikeouts he grabbed sole possession of the league lead in strikeouts. Verlander allowed six hits and 2 walks and had a game score of 52. Hitters whiffed on 13 of the 92 pitches Verlander threw tonight, a relatively low number for him. After giving up six home runs in his last three games, Verlander did manage to limit home run production to only one last night.

Oh yeah, the ejection. After Roberto Osuna hit Ohtani with a pitch, seemingly in retaliation for the bruised elbow Altuve received earlier in the game, the umpires warned both teams against any more target practice. But in the ninth Deck, yeah that’s his name, McGuire hit Yuli Gurriel, which led to his ejection from the game.

Last night’s victory give the Astros four in a row on the road. Sunday the Astros go for the sweep, sending Framber Valdez in his first major league start, against Felix Pena. Game time is 3:07 CDT.

Box score and videos here