Houston Astros’ Taylor Trammell (26) cannot reach a home run hit by Los Angeles Angels’ Vaughn Grissom during the third inning of a baseball game Monday, July 27, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Strazzante)
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Houston Astros’ starting pitcher Tatsuya Imai puts rosin on his hand after walking Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout during the first inning of a baseball game, Monday, July 27, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Strazzante)
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Houston Astros’ Jeremy Pena pours water on his face before a baseball game against Los Angeles Angels, Monday, July 27, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Strazzante)
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Houston Astros’ Miguel Ullola (66) tries on a pink cowboy hat before a baseball game against Los Angeles Angels Monday, July 27, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Strazzante)
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Houston Astros starting pitcher Tatsuya Imai (45) is removed by manager Joe Espada, left, during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Monday, July 27, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Strazzante)
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Houston Astros’ Taylor Trammell high-fives a teammate in the dugout after hitting a home run against the Los Angeles Angels during the fourth inning of a baseball game Monday, July 27, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Strazzante)
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Houston Astros’ Taylor Trammell, right, tosses his bat after hitting a home run against the Los Angeles Angels during the fourth inning of a baseball game Monday, July 27, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Strazzante)
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Houston Astros’ Cristian Javier pitches against the Los Angeles Angels during the eighth inning of a baseball game Monday, July 27, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Strazzante)
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Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve (27) watches the action during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels Monday, July 27, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Strazzante)
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Houston Astros’ Josh Hader (71) smiles after earning the save during their win over the Los Angeles Angels during a baseball game Monday, July 27, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Strazzante)
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Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve (27) and Isaac Paredes (15) celebrate their win over the Los Angeles Angels during a baseball game Monday, July 27, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Strazzante)
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Houston Astros’ LaMonte Wade, Jr. (31) reacts to walking to force in the go-ahead run against the Los Angeles Angels during the ninth inning of a baseball game Monday, July 27, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Strazzante)
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Houston Astros’ Isaac Paredes (15) heads to first base after being hit by a pitch from Los Angeles Angels’ Sam Bachman forcing in the tying run during the ninth inning of a baseball game Monday, July 27, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Strazzante)
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ANAHEIM, Calif. — From a game in which their starter recorded two outs, their lineup mustered two hits across the first seven innings, and they were one strike from defeat, the Houston Astros wrested a win Monday night.
A fundamental implosion by the Los Angeles Angels in the ninth inning allowed it, but the Astros are not positioned to argue. They began their final week of play before the Aug. 3 trade deadline with a 6-4 win at Angel Stadium that left them 53-55. The Astros remained two games back of first place in the AL West behind the Rangers and 1½ games out of a wild-card spot.
The Astros scored four runs in a ninth inning in which they sent 10 batters to the plate and had one hit, authoring a strange comeback made possible by their bullpen. Cristian Javier threw five scoreless relief innings to keep them in striking distance, after AJ Blubaugh averted a potential disaster in the first.
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“Just proud of our effort, man,” manager Joe Espada said. “We’re grinding through this. And I tip my hat to those guys in there.”
Prior to Monday, the Astros were 2-48 this season when trailing after eight innings. They trailed 4-2 going into the ninth. José Fermin plunked Taylor Trammell, who reached base four times in the game, to open it.
Cam Smith and Jose Altuve celebrate a four-run ninth inning that gave the Astros a 6-4 win over the Angels.
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The Astros’ LaMonte Wade, Jr. draws a walk in the ninth inning to force in the go-ahead run in Monday’s victory over the Angels.
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“Just being a tough out at the plate, making sure we’re seeing pitches, pass the baton,” Trammell said of how the inning unfolded.
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Christian Walker’s single put men on first and third. Lucas Spence hit a potential double-play ground ball to second baseman Vaughn Grissom, who saw it bounce between his legs, a garish error from which the inning spiraled. Trammell scored. Pinch runner Nick Allen scampered to third with no outs.
The Astros nearly blew their opportunity. Christian Vázquez popped up a squeeze bunt. Jeremy Peña hit a chopper to third baseman Denzer Guzman, who threw out Allen, going on contact, at home. Angels manager Kurt Suzuki did not allow right-hander Sam Bachman to face Yordan Alvarez, walking him intentionally.
The maneuver loaded the bases and moved the potential tying run to third, but Alvarez is Alvarez. Isaac Paredes fell behind 1-2, then saw six more pitches. The ninth pitch Bachman threw him clipped Paredes on the elbow guard. The Angels challenged, to no avail. The tying run scored.
“We saw a lot of pitches, some big walks,” Espada said. “There’s Paredes, just again grinding at-bats. That’s what good teams do, we find ways just to stay in the game.”
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Houston
AB
R
H
BI
BB
SO
Avg.
Totals
34
6
5
5
5
9
Peña ss
5
2
1
0
0
2
.316
Alvarez dh
3
1
1
1
1
1
.323
Paredes 3b-1b
4
0
0
1
0
0
.257
Wade rf
4
0
0
1
1
2
.169
2-Smith pr-rf
0
0
0
0
0
0
.206
Altuve 2b
5
0
0
0
0
1
.228
Trammell lf
2
2
1
1
2
1
.242
Walker 1b
3
0
1
0
1
1
.232
1-Allen pr-3b
0
0
0
0
0
0
.250
Spence cf
4
1
0
1
0
1
.156
Vázquez c
4
0
1
0
0
0
.215
Los Angeles
AB
R
H
BI
BB
SO
Avg.
Totals
33
4
6
4
6
9
Neto ss
3
1
1
0
2
0
.235
Trout cf
4
1
0
0
1
1
.244
Schanuel 1b
4
0
1
1
0
0
.280
Soler dh
3
0
0
0
2
2
.200
3-Peraza pr
0
0
0
0
0
0
.239
Grissom 2b
5
1
3
2
0
1
.259
Lowe lf
4
1
0
0
0
1
.202
Siri lf
0
0
0
0
0
0
.270
Adell rf
3
0
1
1
1
2
.243
Guzman 3b
3
0
0
0
0
1
.235
Heineman c
4
0
0
0
0
1
.174
Houston
000
100
014_6
5
1
Los Angeles
202
000
000_4
6
2
1-ran for Walker in the 9th. 2-ran for Wade in the 9th. 3-ran for Soler in the 9th.
E_Altuve (4), Grissom (5), Bachman (1). LOB_Houston 9, Los Angeles 10. 2B_Peña (10), Adell (16), Schanuel (18). HR_Trammell (5), off Ureña; Grissom (7), off Blubaugh. RBIs_Trammell (14), Alvarez (78), Spence (2), Paredes (58), Wade (11), Schanuel (37), Grissom 2 (43), Adell (60). SB_Lowe (4). SF_Schanuel.
Runners left in scoring position_Houston 4 (Altuve, Trammell 2, Spence); Los Angeles 5 (Guzman 2, Heineman, Grissom, Lowe). RISP_Houston 2 for 8; Los Angeles 2 for 9.
Runners moved up_Soler.
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
NP
ERA
1
2
2
4
1
33
5.83
2
2
2
1
0
1
48
3.74
5
3
0
0
0
7
70
7.17
1
0
0
0
2
0
24
1.29
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
NP
ERA
6
2
1
1
2
5
91
2.70
1
0
0
0
1
1
20
2.72
1
2
1
1
0
2
23
3.78
1
3
1
0
0
12
3.00
0
1
0
2
1
24
4.26
Inherited runners-scored_Blubaugh 3-0, Bachman 2-2. IBB_off Bachman (Alvarez). HBP_Ureña (Alvarez), Blubaugh (Guzman), Fermin (Trammell), Bachman (Paredes). PB_Heineman (0).
ABS Challenge_Imai (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Trammell (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Walker (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Blubaugh (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Hader (Ball-Confirmed).
Pitch timer violations_Bachman (pitcher).
Umpires_Home, Chris Guccione; First, David Rackley; Second, Nestor Ceja; Third, Willie Traynor.
T_3:18. A_30,121 (45,517).
Two more runs crossed before the Angels ended the nightmare. Bachman walked LaMonte Wade Jr. on five pitches, forcing in the go-ahead run. Jose Altuve hit a comebacker to Bachman, who could not field the ball cleanly, permitting an insurance run.
Josh Hader walked two batters in the bottom of the ninth, putting the potential tying run on base, but corralled Grissom’s broken-bat comebacker for the final out. Three relievers combined to cover 8⅓ innings for the Astros and allow two runs, one earned, after starter Tatsuya Imai struggled.
Imai faced seven batters, allowing five to reach, before the Astros removed him trailing 2-0. Blubaugh defused a bases-loaded jam to keep it there, then worked two more innings. Grissom homered in the third. An error on Altuve paved the way for another run, on a bloop double by Jo Adell, making it 4-0.
Javier, pitching for the first time in eight days, allowed nothing further in an outing that saved a majority of Houston’s bullpen and offered a chance to rally. Trammell hit a solo home run against Angels starter Walbert Ureña, who was excellent across six innings, in the fourth. It remained 4-1 until the eighth.
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Peña doubled against Ryan Zeferjahn and scored on a single by Alvarez. Zeferjahn retired the next three batters in order. The Angels could not complete the job.
Cristian Javier is key
The Astros had not used Javier in a game since July 19. Three of his four outings since his return from a shoulder strain had comprised two or fewer innings. None had exceeded 60 pitches, leaving a question about how long the right-hander could go Monday.
Javier worked his five innings on 70 pitches. He scattered three hits, did not walk a batter and struck out seven. He induced nine whiffs on 19 swings against his fastball, finishing five strikeouts with the pitch. It became his longest outing since last September.
“Velo was good, he was getting swing and misses, he was being honest with us how he felt,” Espada said. “We really needed that as a team. He needed that. And just proud of him, because he’s been keeping his head up, he’s been grinding through this with us, and we really needed him to step up and he did.”
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Javier permitted just one runner past first base. Nolan Schanuel led off the seventh with a double. Jorge Soler’s flyout moved him to third. Javier struck out Grissom and induced a pop-out from Lowe to strand him and preserve a three-run deficit. He then struck out the side in the eighth, his final inning.
“My main objective every time I come to the ballpark is to help out the team in any way possible,” Javier said through an interpreter. “It doesn’t matter if it’s in the bullpen or in the rotation, I try to get ready for any situation.”
Tatsuya Imai collapses again
A wildly inconsistent first MLB season continued for Imai, who’d thrown six innings of one-run ball in his previous start. Imai has failed to finish the first inning in three of 15 starts. He did not finish the second in another. Eight of his 15 starts have lasted fewer than five innings. He has a 5.83 ERA in 58⅔ innings.
For a team trying to stay afloat in the AL playoff picture, one wonders how sustainable that is. The Astros have received some strong outings from Imai, who is making $18 million this season, but no consistency. They went to the bullpen by the second inning for the second time in four days, after Spencer Arrighetti’s injury-shortened start Friday in Chicago.
Imai’s command was missing from the outset. He walked leadoff man Zach Neto on four pitches, yanking a series of fastballs. Mike Trout drew an eight-pitch walk. Pitching coach Josh Miller visited the mound two batters in. Imai balked both runners up, then fell behind 3-1 to Schanuel, who skied a sacrifice fly.
Imai issued another four-pitch walk to Jorge Soler. Grissom punched a first-pitch fastball to right field for an RBI single. Blubaugh began to warm. Imai struck out Josh Lowe swinging on a high fastball. But a five-pitch walk to Adell loaded the bases and brought Espada from the dugout to relieve him.
“It’s just simply, I wasn’t able to put it in the zone,” Imai said, through an interpreter.
Imai threw 33 pitches. Twelve were strikes. The Angels totaled nine swings against him. Blubaugh retired Guzman on a flyout to leave the bases loaded and keep Imai’s line from looking worse.
Walbert Ureña quiets Astros
Including a June 9 start in Houston, Ureña has allowed one run over his last 11 innings against the Astros. Houston’s lineup managed two hits Monday against the hard-throwing right-hander, who averaged 99.3 mph on his four-seamer, up 1.8 mph from his season average, and 98.7 mph on his sinker.
Ureña did not allow a hit until the fourth inning. He did walk two batters and hit one across his first three frames. He ended the second already at 40 pitches, a number that did not portend a long outing. Ureña, however, worked efficiently enough from there to complete six frames on 91 pitches.
Trammell lined a 99 mph four-seamer into the seats in right-center field for Houston’s first hit with two outs in the fourth. Vázquez’s single in the fifth was the only other hit allowed by Ureña. He finished with two walks and five strikeouts.
“He throws hard,” Trammell said. “Guys like him, you’ve got to shrink them. All strikes aren’t created equal so shrink him in the zone. He’s a good pitcher, he has really good stuff. Be ready for his hardest pitch and react to everything else.”
The Astros averaged just an 85.1 mph exit velocity on 15 balls put into play against Ureña. Only four had an exit velocity above 94 mph, the Statcast hard-hit threshold. Ureña recorded seven outs via grounders while lowering his ERA to 2.70 across his 93 1/3 innings this season.
Lineup talk
Houston’s lineup against Ureña featured a wrinkle. Wade started in the cleanup spot, with Altuve fifth. Walker slotted seventh, after Trammell. With four left-handed hitters, the Astros’ lineup maintained a right-left-right alteration throughout.
“Trying to put some lefties in between those righties against this righty today,” Espada said pre-game. “Some of these lefties, they’re disciplined enough that they can walk against him. So, trying to stretch things out, trying to get into their bullpen.”
Wade entered hitting .182 in his 19 games with the Astros but with a 17.9% walk rate. He was averaging the most pitches per plate appearance among hitters to appear for Houston this season, as well. Espada cited that number in discussing what Wade brings to the lineup.
“If you do that, all those pitches will add up,” Espada said. “Now you’re driving a starter out of the game, now you’re getting into the bullpen, and in a three-game series if you do it properly it can help you win a series.”