The Astros’ 16-2 walloping of the Angels on Friday was a day full of firsts.
One pillar propping up the victory was an impressive big-league debut by lefthander Kent Emanuel, who worked 8 ⅔ innings in relief to earn his first MLB win.
The other pillar was an electrifying performance at the plate in which the Astros set season highs for runs (16), hits (18) and extra-base hits (11). After grappling through bouts of offensive inconsistency over the last couple of weeks, the Astros finally coaxed contributions from throughout the batting order.
Through the first 17 games of the season, before this week’s series against the Angels, the Astros had a team run differential of minus-1. Including the current three-win streak, that number improved to 20.
“I don't worry about feast or famine. You just got to feast on it when you get it,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “You want consistency, but you got to be happy where you are. And I'm just glad we got back to .500. So we're here again and trying to put some distance on it.”
Balance was also a refreshing aspect of Friday’s offensive explosion. Nearly every Astro in the starting lineup got a piece of the action, which included some long-awaited production from the bottom of the order. Eight players connected for multiple hits and five had multi-RBI games. Three — Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker — homered, tying a season high.
“It’s beautiful,” center fielder Myles Straw declared. “I think everybody had fun today. We'd like to do that every day if we could. … We want to keep rolling in with that momentum and bring it tomorrow and the next day and the next day.”
In the top three spots, Correa, Michael Brantley and Bregman continued their run of form. Correa (more on him later) opened the scoring for the Astros. Brantley was particularly consistent with doubles in each of his three at-bats; he now leads all MLB players with nine doubles on the season. Brantley and Bregman led the Astros with four runs apiece.
The meat of the order perhaps packed the biggest punch. Yordan Alvarez, Yuli Gurriel and Tucker together accounted for eight RBIs and six hits. Each slugged an extra-base hit. Gurriel doubled to lead off the eighth inning, and scored after Tucker homered immediately after.
“Everyone knows that we've been kind of struggling here lately, but (I) hope that this is the beginning of some good things,” Gurriel said.
The most exciting moment of the game came when Alvarez, the designated hitter, had a three-RBI triple in the fifth inning that extended the lead to 13-2.
“We talked about that as a team: you don't see a whole lot of triples in that right-center gap, so for that big guy to hit it out there and get there, he was moving,” Straw said, smiling. “So that was fun to watch, especially with those three RBIs. And I feel like that was the swing that kind of put it away for us.”
Even with Robel Garcia’s 0-for-5 day, the bottom half of the order accounted for a quarter of the Astros’ runs and nearly a third of extra-base hits. Straw, in the 8-hole, had two doubles and two runs. Catcher Jason Castro, batting ninth, had two hits (one double), two runs and two RBIs.
Straw said a recent conversation with catcher Martin Maldonado and hitting coach Alex Cintrón helped his approach at the plate. He’s hitting more balls on the ground than in the air, which enables him to capitalize on his speed like he did Friday via a leadoff double in a four-run fourth inning for the Astros.
Also key was how the Astros were able to jump on the Angels early after Correa’s solo shot kicked off a three-run first inning. They probably could have scored even more had Gurriel not grounded into a double play. Nevertheless, the floodgates were open.
“Carlos got it going early and then ever since then, I feel like we were just putting up runs and causing trouble for the Angels,” Straw said. “When you get going like that, I mean, it's contagious a lot of the times.”
In Jose Altuve’s absence, Correa has batted leadoff the last three games — and excelled. Correa is batting an average of .277 with a .328 on-base percentage in the top spot. He had another big day at the plate Friday, going 3 for 6 with three hits, two runs and an RBI.
Baker said Correa won’t play Sunday, so someone else will be at the top of the order for the series finale vs. the Angels.
“He’s kind of running on fumes, so we're going to get him tomorrow off,” Baker said. “I think he needs it. So, you know, hopefully whoever takes his place can come in and have big days too.”
"much" - Google News
April 25, 2021 at 09:50AM
https://ift.tt/3aFITyy
Astros insider: A much-needed offensive explosion - Houston Chronicle
"much" - Google News
https://ift.tt/37eLLij
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Astros insider: A much-needed offensive explosion - Houston Chronicle"
Post a Comment