Jake Odorizzi finds himself, hitters come through to blank Rockies 5-0

Jake Odorizzi was good again and the Astros beat the Rockies with a 5-0 score. After heavy struggles in his most recent outings, Odo was dealing on Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park to begin the two-game series with a victory. Clutch hitting backed him up in the names of Taylor Jones, Chas McCormick, José Altuve, and Michael Brantley.

Making his 16th start of the year, Odorizzi was excellent through five scoreless innings to get his fifth win as an Astro (5-6). He allowed three hits (two singles, one double), gave up two walks, and struck out three hitters.

For him, it was his first scoreless performance since June 27. Jake got in trouble in the bottom second after a single by Charlie Blackmon and a free pass to CJ Cron with no outs, but he struck out Elías Díaz and dominated Sam Hilliard and Taylor Motter. Also, he was helped by a beautiful diving play by Altuve to end the fifth inning and Odorizzi’s night on the mound.

Offensively, there were zeroes on the board until the bottom fourth, when McCormick singled home the first run of the game and, a bit later, Taylor Jones hit a two-run double to cap a three-run rally that would’ve been enough for the Astros.

An inning later, Brantley got his 28th double of the season to drive in Altuve, who also drove in a run (the final one) with a single in the sixth inning.

After Odorizzi, the bullpen combined for four scoreless episodes to complete the five-hit shutout. Cristian Javier put two zeroes with one hit, two bases on balls, and two punchouts. Blake Taylor and Yimi García teamed up to go through the eighth and Pedro Báez finally made his Astros debut with a 16-pitch ninth inning that ended with a double play.

This was the Astros’ 67th win of the season (67-46). On Wednesday, they’ll go with Framber Valdez on the hill to try to sweep the Rockies, who will have starter Antonio Senzatela. Game starts at 1:10 pm CT.

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