Astros use Korey Lee and Jake Odorizzi’s huge game to win series vs A’s

It took four games and two starts for Korey Lee to make an impact with his bat. On Sunday afternoon, the 23-year-old prospect provided three of the Astros’ runs en route to a 6-1 win against the Athletics to take the three-game series. Lee’s effort combined beautifully with Jake Odorizzi’s best outing as an Astro.

Lee, the only hitter that got more than one hit for Houston, went 3-for-4 as the Astros’ ninth batter. In the fifth inning, the young catcher knocked an RBI single to make it 2-0 and get his first career hit and run batted in as a major-leaguer. Later, he added a two-run double and another single.

Besides what Lee did at the plate on Sunday, Alex Bregman stayed hot with an RBI double –his 10th extra-base hit in his last 21 games— and Kyle Tucker homered in the eighth to bring home the Astros’ final run of the afternoon.

On the pitching side, Odorizzi was at his best, firing his longest, most remarkable outing as a member of the Astros. To pick up his fourth win of 2022 (4-2), the veteran right-hander threw seven shutout innings for the first time since May 2019, when he was with the Twins. Odo allowed only four hits, walked one, punched out seven hitters, and pulled off this out-of-nowhere grab.

Odorizzi vindicated himself from an ugly start on Monday against the Royals, who hurt him with nine hits and five earned runs through four innings. Hopefully, the 32-year-old can build from here.

Phil Maton and Bryan Abreu got the final six outs of the contest. The former allowed Vimael Machín’s first career long ball while the latter sealed the win with a scoreless ninth in which he struck out two hitters.

After playing 13 games on consecutive days, the Astros will enjoy a day off this Monday before visiting the Angels for a three-game series at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Noah Syndergaard is expected to start for Anaheim while Houston is yet to announce a starter.

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