<\/p>\n
Christian Walker and the Astros had a frustrating night against the Angels, not scoring a run until the eighth inning Tuesday.<\/p>\n
David J. Phillip\/Associated Press<\/p>\n
No guarantees exist in baseball, but there are golden opportunities. After a day off, the\u00a0Houston Astros<\/a> entered play Tuesday with a two-game lead in the American League West and home series this week against the Angels and the A\u2019s, two clubs that began the day tied for the worst record in the majors.<\/p>\n \u201cDespite the series loss against the Mariners, I think we\u2019re playing well,\u201d manager Joe Espada said Tuesday afternoon. \u201cBut we have to take care of business.\u201d<\/p>\n In their first chance, they did not. Their lineup totaled three hits in a 3-1 loss to the Angels in Tuesday\u2019s opener of a three-game series at Daikin Park. The Astros fell back to .500, at 63-63, and their American League West lead dwindled to one game over the Texas Rangers.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Houston has lost eight of 13 games since a season-long six-game winning streak. Its offense has scored two or fewer runs seven times in that stretch.<\/p>\n \u201cToday was a tough day,\u201d shortstop Jeremy Pe\u00f1a said. \u201cBut overall, I think the team\u2019s in good spirits, hitters are in good spirits. And yeah, show up tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n The Astros did very little right Tuesday. Their offense managed one hit in seven innings against George Klassen, a right-hander making his fifth major-league start. Their starter, Cristian Javier, lasted four innings and allowed two runs. Espada brought in right-hander Enyel De Los Santos with two out in the fifth and a man on base for a matchup with Zach Neto, who hit his first pitch for a run-scoring double.<\/p>\n Not until the eighth inning did their lineup show signs of life. The Angels lifted Klassen for right-hander Jos\u00e9 Fermin. Cam Smith crushed his third pitch over the Crawford Boxes. Yainer Diaz followed with a single, suddenly bringing the tying run to the plate. Pe\u00f1a hit a bouncer to third base but beat the relay, bringing up the majors\u2019 OPS leader.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Angels manager Kurt Suzuki made an intriguing maneuver, calling in right-hander Ryan Watson to face Yordan Alvarez. Watson fell behind 3-0. Alvarez took a curveball for a strike and swung over a sweeper. Watson then spotted a fastball at the bottom of the zone. Alvarez took it for strike three. Isaac Paredes flied out to end the inning.<\/p>\n \u201cOur at-bats just got better towards the end,\u201d Espada said. \u201cI thought that we could have done a better job just trying to get in better hitter\u2019s counts early in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n Fireballer Ben Joyce finished the game for the Angels, blowing a 103.4 mph fastball by Christian Walker for the final out. Houston hitters totaled 10 strikeouts and one at-bat with a man in scoring position.<\/p>\n Los Angeles Totals Meckler lf Siri lf Trout cf Schanuel 1b Neto ss Ballesteros dh Grissom 2b Peraza 2b Lowe rf Guzman 3b Heineman c Houston Totals Pe\u00f1a ss Alvarez dh Paredes 3b Altuve 2b Varsho cf Walker 1b Trammell lf Smith rf Diaz c Los Angeles Houston LOB_Los Angeles 5, Houston 5. 2B_Neto (24). HR_Lowe (10), off Javier; Smith (17), off Fermin. RBIs_Schanuel (48), Lowe (26), Neto (54), Smith (46). SB_Meckler (5).<\/p>\n Runners left in scoring position_Los Angeles 2 (Ballesteros, Neto); Houston 1 (Varsho). RISP_Los Angeles 1 for 3; Houston 0 for 1.<\/p>\n GIDP_Ballesteros.<\/p>\n DP_Houston 1 (Pe\u00f1a, Walker).<\/p>\n IP<\/p>\n H 7<\/p>\n 1 2 0 1<\/p>\n 0 IP<\/p>\n H 4<\/p>\n 5 1 1<\/p>\n 1 2<\/p>\n 1 1<\/p>\n 0 Inherited runners-scored_Watson 1-0, De Los Santos 1-1.<\/p>\n ABS Challenge_Schanuel (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Klassen (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Schanuel (Strike-Confirmed); Grissom (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Klassen (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Smith (Strike-Confirmed).<\/p>\n Umpires_Home, Alfonso Marquez; First, Mike Estabrook; Second, Lance Barrett; Third, Malachi Moore.<\/p>\n T_2:44. A_22,767 (41,000).<\/p>\n George Klassen shuts Astros down<\/p>\n Klassen carried a 5.52 ERA into his fifth major-league start. In a twist, the 24-year-old right-hander was drafted with the 193rd overall pick in the 2023 draft by the Phillies, who later traded him to the Angels. With the next pick, the Astros drafted right-hander Ethan Pecko, who will make his debut Wednesday against the Angels.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n In his last start, Klassen had held the Rangers to two runs over six innings. None of the previous three lasted longer than four innings. Houston made him look formidable.<\/p>\n Klassen displayed a live arm, reaching 99.1 mph and averaging 96.8 mph on his four-seam fastball. He induced a whopping 12 whiffs on 20 swings against his slider. He relied mostly on those pitches while silencing an offense that, for its flaws, entered averaging the third-most runs per game in the American League. It totaled one hit against him.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got to give credit to Klassen,\u201d Espada said. \u201cIt\u2019s good stuff, he threw the ball really well.\u201d<\/p>\n Paredes drew a two-out walk in the first inning. Jose Altuve then flared a single to right field that sent Paredes to third. Daulton Varsho swung at a full-count slider in the dirt to end the inning. Varsho, the Astros\u2019 trade deadline acquisition, went hitless in four at-bats and is 6-for-48 with Houston. He was not alone Tuesday.<\/p>\n Paredes drew two walks. Altuve singled and walked. No other Astro reached base against Klassen, who struck out seven. Five of those strikeouts were against the three left-handed hitters in Houston\u2019s lineup against the right-hander. Taylor Trammell struck out three times against Klassen and Varsho and Alvarez once each.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cHe had a good outing,\u201d Pe\u00f1a said. \u201cI tip my cap.\u201d<\/p>\n The Astros averaged an 87.7 mph exit velocity on 15 balls put into play against Klassen. Altuve worked a leadoff walk in the seventh and did not move 90 feet. Varsho lined out. Klassen got Christian Walker to wave at a slider for strike three and fired a third-strike fastball past Trammell to punctuate his night and his best outing yet in the majors.<\/p>\n Houston Astros starting pitcher Cristian Javier throws against the Los Angeles Angels during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip)<\/p>\n David J. Phillip\/Associated Press Houston Astros’ Taylor Trammell (26) flips his bat after striking out during the seventh inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip)<\/p>\n David J. Phillip\/Associated Press Houston Astros’ Christian Walker reacts after striking out against the Los Angeles Angels during the seventh inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip)<\/p>\n David J. Phillip\/Associated Press Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher George Klassen throws against the Houston Astros during the seventh inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip)<\/p>\n David J. Phillip\/Associated Press Houston Astros’ Jeremy Pe\u00f1a walks back to the dugout after striking out against the Los Angeles Angels during the sixth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip)<\/p>\n David J. Phillip\/Associated Press Houston Astros’ Jeremy Pe\u00f1a (3) flips his bat after striking out as Los Angeles Angels catcher Tyler Heineman throws the ball back to the infield during the sixth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip)<\/p>\n David J. Phillip\/Associated Press Los Angeles Angels’ Nolan Schanuel (18) scores as Houston Astros catcher Yainer Diaz stands in front of home plate during the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip)<\/p>\n David J. Phillip\/Associated Press Los Angeles Angels’ Zach Neto hits a RBI double against the Houston Astros during the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip)<\/p>\n David J. Phillip\/Associated Press Los Angeles Angels’ Wade Meckler, bottom, steals second base as Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve (27) reaches for the ball during the third inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip)<\/p>\n David J. Phillip\/Associated Press Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher George Klassen throws against the Houston Astros during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip)<\/p>\n David J. Phillip\/Associated Press Houston Astros right fielder Cam Smith catches a fly ball by Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip)<\/p>\n David J. Phillip\/Associated Press Houston Astros starting pitcher Cristian Javier throws against the Los Angeles Angels during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip)<\/p>\n David J. Phillip\/Associated Press Houston Astros starting pitcher Cristian Javier throws against the Los Angeles Angels during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip)<\/p>\n David J. Phillip\/Associated Press Houston Astros starting pitcher Cristian Javier throws against the Los Angeles Angels during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip)<\/p>\n David J. Phillip\/Associated Press<\/p>\n How did Cristian Javier pitch?<\/p>\n Pitching on eight days\u2019 rest, Javier got out to a promising start. He retired the top of the Angels order on 10 pitches in the first inning. He struck out three batters in the second, working around a two-out single, and retired his first two hitters in the third. That began a second turn for the Angels\u2019 lineup against Javier, which proved a struggle.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Wade Meckler sent a 3-1 fastball up the middle for a single. Mike Trout, with one hit in 19 career at-bats against Javier, worked a walk. Nolan Schanuel lined a two-strike fastball for a single that scored Meckler. Action arose in Houston\u2019s bullpen before Javier induced a ground out from Zach Neto on his 34th pitch of the third inning.<\/p>\n Javier returned for the fourth and allowed a two-out home run to Josh Lowe, who punched a 2-0 fastball 345 feet into the Crawford Boxes, a home run in one of 30 major-league ballparks per Statcast. He ended the inning at 87 pitches. Javier did generate 16 whiffs on 47 swings, but inefficiency led the Astros to turn to their bullpen by the fifth.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like every day we as players make adjustments and I think they were able to make the adjustment,\u201d Javier said through interpreter Otto Loor. \u201cI feel like their plan today, maybe it was better against me.\u201d<\/p>\n It was hardly a claim by Javier to regain his rotation spot. That he made the start underscores Houston\u2019s dearth of other options, however. Javier owns a 6.44 ERA.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought his fastball was really good early and he got quite a few swing and misses,\u201d Espada said. \u201cPitch count drove up, some foul balls. But I thought for the most part he threw the ball well, got five (strikeouts) in those four innings. It was a step in the right direction. I thought he threw the ball better than what the box score shows.\u201d<\/p>\n How was the Astros\u2019 bullpen?<\/p>\n Javier\u2019s short outing required Houston\u2019s bullpen to cover five innings in the first game of six in a row. The team used four relievers, who were mostly effective. Bryan King allowed a two-out single in the fifth that spurred De Los Santos\u2019 entrance and Neto\u2019s double, which gave the Angels a 3-0 lead.<\/p>\n De Los Santos recorded four outs. AJ Blubaugh worked two scoreless innings. Houston\u2019s bullpen became an interesting scene as the offense threatened in the eighth.<\/p>\n After Smith\u2019s home run trimmed the deficit to two, both Bryan Abreu and Miguel Ullola began to warm. After Diaz\u2019s single, Josh Hader also got up. When the inning ended with the Astros trailing, it was Ullola who entered. Ullola,\u00a0recalled from Triple-A on Sunday<\/a>, struck out two in a scoreless ninth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Christian Walker and the Astros had a frustrating night against the Angels, not scoring a run until the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-410528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nAvg.<\/p>\n
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\n.207<\/p>\n
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\n.228<\/p>\n
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\n.233<\/p>\n
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\nAvg.<\/p>\n
\n30
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\n10<\/p>\n
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\n.232<\/p>\n
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\n.219<\/p>\n
\n3
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\n.223<\/p>\n
\n3
\n0
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\n0
\n.252<\/p>\n
\n001
\n110
\n000_3
\n8
\n0<\/p>\n
\n000
\n000
\n010_1
\n3
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\nERA<\/p>\n
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\n3.74<\/p>\n
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