Yordan Alvarez Kyle Tucker power Astros past Angels.
Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker each had four hits and a homer to support Ronel Blanco, who recorded his 14th quality start, as the Houston Astros rolled to a 10-4 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Angels on Saturday. Tucker finished 4-for-4 with a walk and two RBIs for his second consecutive four-hit game, and Alvarez went 4-for-5 and scored twice. Yainer Diaz, Jeremy Pena, Victor Caratini, Jake Meyers and Mauricio Dubon each had two hits apiece in the win. The Astros recorded a season-high 20 hits and reduced their magic number to clinch the American League West to three games, pending the result of the Mariners-Rangers game in Arlington, Texas, later Saturday. Blanco (12-6) won his third straight decision. He gave up two runs on seven hits with two walks and nine strikeouts in six innings.
Logan O’Hoppe went 4-for-4 with a solo homer for the Angels, who have lost three in a row. Angels starter Reid Detmers (4-8) allowed seven runs on nine hits and three walks with three strikeouts in two-plus innings.
Alvarez hit a one-out double in the first inning and Tucker followed with another double to give the Astros (85-70) a 1-0 lead. The Angels (62-93) answered in second. Mickey Moniak led off with a walk and O’Hoppe followed with a double to left. Moniak scored on Dubon’s throwing error to tie the score. Houston retook the lead in the bottom of the inning. Jose Altuve singled to drive in Caratini. Alvarez hit into a double play but that allowed Dubon to score to give the Astros a 3-1 lead.
Caratini added to Houston’s lead in the third, hitting a three-run homer to increase the lead to 6-1. Three batters later, Alvarez singled to center and Altuve scored on Moniak’s throwing error. O’Hoppe trimmed the Angels’ deficit to 7-2 in the fourth with a solo shot to center, his 20th of the season. The Astros answered in the bottom of the inning as Dubon drove in Pena with a single to center. In the seventh inning, Alvarez smashed his 35th home run to center field, a 403-foot shot that pushed the Astros to a 9-2 lead. Tucker followed with a 401-foot blast down the line in right for his 22nd homer.
