The Houston Astros defeated the Los Angeles Angels 3-2 on Wednesday night inside Daikin Park. The victory gets the Astros back over .500 and ensures that they maintain a lead in the AL West.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Astros (64-63) started with Ethan Pecko, a 23-year-old right-hander who was called up for this start, making his Major League debut. Pecko was a sixth-round draft pick in 2023 out of Towson. Pecko worked his way through a scoreless first inning, allowing a single to Mike Trout.
The Angels (50-77) countered with Jose Urena on the bump. Urena has been the Angels best arm all season. He navigated a one-two-three bottom half of the first.
The Astros would jump out in front in the bottom half of the third. Christian Vasquez hit a solo shot into the Crawford Boxes, making it 1-0 in favor of Houston.
The Angels would take their first lead in the fourth. With two runners on, Denzer Guzman hit a ball to the wall in left. There was fan interference, with someone in the first row reaching over to catch it. The umpires awarded Guzman second base, and said that two runs would score on the play. That made it 2-1 Los Angeles, and Pecko would depart a batter later after three and two-thirds innings in his MLB debut.
The back-and-forth nature of this contest continued, as the Astros retook the lead once again. It started with a Jose Altuve RBI double to tie the game 2-2. Then, Cam Smith delivered a sacrifice fly for an RBI to give Houston a 3-2 advantage.
That 3-2 lead would hold into the late stages. The Houston bullpen handled things, with zeroes posted by Bennett Sousa, AJ Blubaugh, Steven Okert, and Bryan Abreu.
With that 3-2 lead going into the ninth, the Astros turned things over to Josh Hader. Hader stayed perfect in save opportunities, closing down an Astros victory.
BIG NUMBER: 5
The Astros used five bullpen arms on Wednesday. None of the five allowed any runs, allowing Houston to pick up a much-needed win.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Ethan Pecko
While it wasn’t a magnificent outing, Pecko helped out the Astros’ thin rotation by making his Major League debut on Wednesday. He kept the Astros in the game, and ultimately they delivered and got a big win.
UP NEXT: The Astros and Angels wrap up their three-game set with another 7:10 PM first pitch tomorrow night. You can listen to the action on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette 104.1 Lake Charles.
