Astros: how one lucky bounce put the Angels ahead

As the curtains fall on the four game series with the Los Angeles Angels, the Houston Astros were run support and a bounce away from completing their second sweep of April. While Carlos Correa took his first rest day of the season, so did the Houston bats, as they only slashed four hits over nine innings.

While the three-game win streak comes to end, the Astros now sit 10-11 in a tight AL West; other than the Oakland A’s reigning at the top, they snapped their win streak on Sunday that dated back to their last series with the Astros on April 9-10. The Astros might’ve dropped this one, but after the first three games of the series, it is evident they are trending in the right direction and are blessed with the return of Jose Altuve fairly soon.

While the Astros kept it close, a one in a million bounce benefitted the Angels.

As David Fletcher entered the batter’s box with two runners on in the top of the fifth inning, a softly hit ground ball down the first base line put the Angels in their best situation of the game.

The Astros’ bats used up all their juice in the previous three games, as they only rallied two runs off a home run from Yuli Gurriel that struck a memory from the 2017 World Series. Fletcher’s single had an exit velocity of 48.5 MPH, which was the the slowest ball hit in play all game. With an expected batting average of .130, it seemed like an easy out waiting to happen.

You can’t beat anyone up for this loss, as Lance McCullers Jr. also didn’t see it as an amazing outing. The offense wasn’t there, but Michael Brantley is continuing his double streak with four consecutive at bats touching two.

The Astros are back on the field on Monday against the Seattle Mariners at 7:10 pm. While starting the second series of the homestand, this four game series holds these expected matchups:

The TBA should be Kent Emanuel.