Norris and Carter Take Care Of Angels

Another great game by Bud Norris against the Angels, and the Astros were able to get him the win as they defeated the Angels 2-0.

Norris went six strong innings as he continues his dominance of the Cardinals Angels. Norris allowed just four hits and three walks, while shutting out the Angels during his 100-pitch outing. Norris had lots of swag as the game went on, and his heater topped out in the mid 90’s as the game went into the sixth inning. In the sixth, Mike Trout doubled with just one out, but Norris picked him off at second base for the second out. That out proved to be crucial as Norris would walk Albert Pujols and Mark Trumbo. After those two reached base, Josh Hamilton hit an infield single which loaded the bases. Norris would face Howie Kendrick with two outs, and on his 100th pitch, Norris got Kendrick to swing through a slider for the last out of the inning. Norris finished his outing with six strikeouts, his largest amount since May 3rd against the Tigers (7). Norris is now 3-0 in three starts against the Angels, allowing just 1 run and 16 hits in 21 IP.

In the top of the 7th inning the Astros would get all the scoring they would need. J.D. Martinez singled to center with one out, which was followed by a Carlos Pena strikeout. Chris Carter would follow with a long home run to left field, which were the only runs the Astros scored in the game. No Astros batter had more than one hit, though Jason Castro continues to hit the ball really well (1/4, but had some hard outs).

The only other threat to the Astros came in the 9th with Jose Veras pitching. Veras got two quick outs before hitting J.B. Shuck. Erick Aybar followed with a pop fly into the bermuda triangle and the ball dropped as no Astros player was able to get there in time. However, Veras would get Trout to ground out to notch his 10th save of the season.

The Astros have now won 4 in a row and will have a chance to at least come away with another series win (4-game series). It’s Jordan Lyles v.s. C.J. Wilson at 2:35 PM CT tomorrow afternoon.