ANAHEIM, California – Yordan Alvarez continued his hot streak with three more hits, including a two-run homer, Hunter Brown pitched six shutout innings and the Houston Astros defeated the Los Angeles Angels 6-1 on Saturday night.
Nolan Schanuel drove in the Angels’ only run with a solo shot to right center in the seventh, the second time in three games the first baseman had hit a home run.
Alvarez, who also had two doubles, has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games. The left fielder went 19-for-43 with four home runs and 11 RBIs, while also increasing his batting average by 31 points to .296 in that span.
“He’s been hitting the ball hard the last few weeks. He’s putting the ball in the air and starting to drive,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “A lot of the balls he hit a few weeks ago were hard on the ground. Now he’s finding his zone and attacking. And when he does, he’s a scary hitter.”
After Alex Bregman plated an infield single in the fifth, Alvarez hit a sinker from Tyler Anderson (5-6) into the elevated stands in right field to give the Astros a 4-0 lead.
“A swing like that gives me good energy and tells me my swing is in the right place,” Alvarez said through an interpreter.
Brown (2-5) had his fourth consecutive quality start. He allowed two hits, walked four and struck out six.
The only serious traffic the right-hander faced came in the first inning, when the Angels had the bases loaded with two outs in the first. But Brown struck out Matt Thaiss to end the inning.
“He had a hard time making the change, but he found a way,” Espada said. “The fastball was explosive and he threw some good balls.”
Houston took a 2-0 lead in the third when its first four batters reached base. Chas McCormick led off with a triple to right after Jo Adell failed to make a play at the wall and scored when Jose Altuve lined a base hit to left.
The Astros had the bases loaded with no outs, but were unable to convey anything until Jake Meyers’ two-out RBI single. Bregman tried to score from second but was easily thrown out at home by left fielder Taylor Ward.
In the first, Houston had runners on second and third with one out when Altuve was thrown out at home following a big throw by Angels shortstop Zach Neto on a grounder by Jeremy Peña.
Anderson is ninth in the majors with a 2.63 ERA, but has given up four runs for just the second time in 13 starts. The lefty allowed seven hits and struck out three in six innings.
“They put some balls in play that found some holes. He tried to hit the ball at Alvarez and it leaked back to the plate and he hit him,” Angels manager Ron Washington said of Anderson.
Houston added two in the eighth on RBI singles by Yainer Diaz and Mauricio Dubón.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Angels: 3B Anthony Rendon (hamstring) fielded grounders for the second straight day.
NEXT
The series ends with Houston RHP Justin Verlander (3-2, 3.63 ERA) taking over. LHP Patrick Sandoval (2-8, 5:00 ERA) will head to Los Angeles.
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