Angels’ comeback falls short in ninth inning of series loss to Astros
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Mauricio Dubón homered twice and Josh Hader stayed perfect in 19 save chances this season by getting Mike Trout to line out to center field with a runner on second as the Houston Astros held off the Angels 8-7 in the rubber game of their series Sunday.
Dubón’s second career multihomer game began with a leadoff shot against starter Kyle Hendricks in the fifth inning for the Astros’ first run. Dubón added a two-run drive off Hunter Strickland for a 6-5 lead in the sixth.
Jeremy Peña had an RBI double and Jake Meyers added a sacrifice fly to make it 8-5.
José Soriano pitches 6⅔ strong innings and Logan O’Hoppe hits a pair of two-run home runs in the Angels’ 9-1 win over the Houston Astros.
Nolan Schanuel hit an RBI single for the Angels in the seventh, and Zach Neto trimmed it to 8-7 with a solo homer off Hader in the ninth. Schanuel finished with three hits and four RBIs.
Peña hit his 11th home run one out after Dubón’s shot in the fifth to tie it 2-2. Meyers singled, stole second and scored on a two-out error by Luis Rengifo at third base. Christian Walker followed with an RBI double for a 4-2 lead.
Taylor Ward had a two-out double off Astros rookie Ryan Gusto, and Logan O’Hoppe hit his third two-run homer in two days to give the Angels a 2-0 lead in the second. O’Hoppe has 17 home runs and is closing in on the team record for a catcher set by Lance Parrish with 22 in 1990.
LaMonte Wade Jr. and Christian Moore singled in the bottom half, and Schanuel gave the Angels a 5-4 lead with his sixth homer.
Gusto (5-3) allowed five runs and six hits in six innings with seven strikeouts.
Hendricks permitted five runs — three earned — in five innings. Strickland (1-2) worked an inning and was tagged with his first three earned runs this season.
Key moment: The Angels had a run in with two on and two outs down 8-6 in the seventh with Trout coming to bat. Bryan Abreu replaced Bryan King and needed just three pitches to strike out Trout swinging on a pitch in the dirt.
Key stat: Trout went one for 11 after entering the series as the active leader against Houston with 30 homers, 30 doubles and 73 RBIs.
Up next: Houston returns home to play the Philadelphia Phillies beginning Tuesday.
The Angels hadn’t announced a starter for Monday’s series opener against RHP Walker Buehler (5-5, 5.95 ERA) and the visiting Boston Red Sox.
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