Los Angeles Angels 6, Houston Astros 1

The Astros and the Angels played the second game of a three-game set at Minute Maid Park with 38,533 in the house on Saturday night.

Taylor Ward got to Houston starter José Urquidy quickly, driving in Mike Trout with a one-out single in the first inning for a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the first, Jose Altuve scored the tying run after singling, taking second on a wild pitch, and coming home on a Yuli Gurriel single.

Anaheim made quick work of the newly retied contest, scoring four in the top half of the second for starter Shohei Ohtani. (note: Ohtani didn’t need very much help) Andrew Velazquez brought home Mike Ford with an RBI-groundout, then Trout hit a three-run homer to make it 5-1, Angels.

In the fifth inning, Ward drove in Ford for the final run off Urquidy, who retired after completing the frame. This was the third time this season that Urquidy gave up six runs with a resultant GameScore of 26, which was correspondingly his third worst mark of the season. He struck out four and allowed 10 hits and a walk, putting 61-of-88 offerings over the plate and leaving as the losing pitcher of record.

The score remained 6-1 in favor of Anaheim for the rest of the contest.

• Altuve singled in the first inning and scored Houston’s run, but didn’t have a lot of luck through the rest of the game. He finished one-for-four with two strikeouts.
• Gurriel led Houston’s offense by going three-for-four, raising his average to .242. It was his eighth three-hit game of the season.
• Yordan Alvarez went one-for-three with an eighth-inning two-out double and a walk.
• Kyle Tucker finished 0-for-four with two strikeouts and five runners left stranded.
• Trout’s homer was his 34th of the season, and the sixth game in a row in which he has gone deep. He finished two-for-three with a double, a walk, two runs, and a strikeout.
• Seth Martinez pitched two innings of relief for Houston, putting 22-of-33 pitches over the plate, striking out three, and allowing no hits and one walk.
• Will Smith whiffed two in a perfect inning of work, getting 9-of-14 pitches between the wickets.
• Phil Maton walked a batter, but also struck out two in a hitless inning. He plated 11-of-17 offerings.
• Ohtani got 48-of-79 pitches in the black, striking out seven and giving up one run on six hits and two walks to finish with a 56 GameScore. While warming up for the sixth inning, he removed himself due to a developing blister. Due to the major league rule that was created specifically for him, he was able to remain in the contest as the designated hitter.

Check back tomorrow for the rubber game between these two, and the final matchup of the season. Houston is 12-6 against the Angels so far this year, and hope to get to 90 victories with their second attempt. They’ll turn to Luis Garcia (11-8, 3.99) against Tucker Davidson (2-5, 6.42).