Bedard and Carter Push Astros To Sweep

It’s just so great to be a Houston Astros fan right now! With a 2-1 win tonight, the Astros have now won six in a row, and completed a four game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim).

Erik Bedard is pitching like the Astros hoped he would when they signed him during the offseason. Bedard pitched seven innings for the first time this season. In his seven innings, Bedard allowed just five hits, one run, and one walk, while striking out two. Bedard threw just 92 pitches tonight, and earned his first victory as a member of the Astros.

The only run Bedard allowed was in the third inning, on a Mike Trout sacrifice fly. J.B. Shuck doubled earlier in the inning, and got to third on an Erik Aybar single. After Trout’s sacrifice fly, Bedard got Albert Pujols to line out to left field.

The Astros scoring started in the fifth inning with a Chris Carter home run into the Astros bullpen. Carter hit his 12th home run of the season, and broke up Joe Blanton‘s no-hitter at the time. Blanton finished the game with eight strong innings of three-hit, two-run ball, and struck out 11 batters.

The Astros would score the “game-winning” run in the sixth inning. After a Matt Dominguez leadoff double, Marwin Gonzalez would sacrifice Dominguez to third. Brandon Barnes hit a flyball to center field that would score Dominguez and give the Astros the lead for good.

The Astros bullpen got the job done again with two scoreless innings. Wesley Wright (0.2 IP) and Josh Fields (0.1 IP) handled the eighth inning. Jose Veras allowed a two-out single, and another walk, before striking out Hank Conger for his 13th save.

The Astros head back home tomorrow to face the Baltimore Orioles. The Astros will send Lucas Harrell to the mound against Chris Tillman at 7:10 PM CT.