Astros Live Game Feed: Game 51 Preview-Angels

Can the Houston Astros Win Another Series Today?

The Houston Astros got back in the winning column last night as they defeated the Los Angeles Angels 4-2 to create a rubber match for the series today.

Dallas Keuchel turned in a solid performance, allowing only two runs over seven innings, fanning five, and not walking a single batter.  Keuchel made two mistakes, Mike Trout, and Albert Pujols hit them over the fence for solo home runs.  Other than that, Keuchel held the Angels offense in check and can hopefully build off this start to turn his season around.

At the plate, the Astros got on the board early after a leadoff double from George Springer in the first inning.  He was moved over to first by a productive out from Jose Altuve, and then scored on a sac fly by Carlos Correa.   The Astros got another run in the fifth on an RBI single by Altuve, and then Jason Castro delivered the game-deciding blast in the sixth with a two-run homer.  This was Castro’s third career home run against Angels pitcher Jered Weaver.

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Pat Neshek and Tony Sipp combined to pitch a scoreless eighth, and Luke Gregerson closed the game to record his 11th save of the season.  The Houston Astros relievers have been the best bullpen in the AL in the month of May with a 2.22 ERA.

GAME 3: Doug Fister (4-3, 4.12) vs. Nick Tropeano (3-2, 2.86)

Doug Fister has been the Astros best starting pitcher overall this season.  He has only allowed more than 3 three runs in an outing only once this year, and the Astros have won each of last five starts with Fister earning wins in three of them.

He will look to close out a fantastic month of May in the series finale.  Fister has nine career starts against the Angels, good enough for a 2-3 record and a 2.86 ERA, however, he has not faced them since 2013 and has a relatively small sample size against them.  Cliff Pennington has faced Fister the most out of any Angels players and has a .125 average in 26 at-bats. Mike Trout is 4/10, and Yunel Escobar is 3/10 lifetime versus Fister.

Tropeano will face the team that drafted him back in 2011.  Tropeano was traded from Houston to Los Angeles in 2014 along with C Carlos Perez in exchange for C Hank Conger.  He did face the Astros once last September, pitching only 4.1 innings and giving up two unearned runs.

Tropeano has an average fastball that comes in around 90-mph and has minimal movement.  His change-up and slider are both plus pitches and he do a good job keeping hitters off-balance with both, especially his slider which batters are only making contact about half the time they swing.

Next: Astros Minors: Newcomer Arturo Michelena Off To Great Start

In last year’s game Altuve, Springer, and Luis Valbuena were the only Astros to record hits against Tropeano.

***Stats from Baseball-Reference***