LATE RALLY KEEPS HALOS UNDEFEATED
Calhoun's 2-Out 9th Inning Blast Is Game-Winner
HOUSTON, Apr. 7 (AP) - Kole Calhoun's two-out, two-run ninth inning homer was
the game-winner as the Los Angeles Angels defeated the Houston Astros 5-4 at
Minute Maid Park. The victory was the seventh straight for the Angels, the
major league's only remaining undefeated team, to open the season. The
Astros fell to 0-7 and remain the only winless big league club. The
collapse--only the latest by the Astros bullpen--wasted a solid start by Jarred
Cosart, who held the Angels to two runs on four hits over seven innings.
Los Angeles took an early 2-0 lead. Calhoun and Mike Trout opened the game
with singles, putting runners on first and second. Albert Pujols rolled to
third for the first out with the runners advancing to second and third.
Josh Hamilton's grounder to short scored Calhoun to make it 1-0 and Raul
Ibanez's base hit plated Trout with the inning's second run.
Houston tied the game off Angels starter C.J. Wilson in the second. Jesus
Guzman led off the frame with a double and back-to-back walks to Chris Carter
and Matt Dominguez loaded the bases with no outs. Carlos Corporan popped
up for the first out but L.J. Hoes dropped a base hit into right field, scoring
Guzman and Carter and leaving men on first and third with one out. But
Jonathan Villar grounded into an inning ending double play to avoid further
damage.
The Astros seized the lead in the fourth. Guzman led off with a single to
right-center and Carter doubled him to third. A passed ball charged to
catcher Chris Iannetta allowed Guzman to score the go-ahead run and advanced
Carter to third. Dominguez followed with a base hit up the middle, scoring
Carter to give Houston a 4-2 advantage.
Cosart, meanwhile, kept the Angels in check, allowing only one hit and one walk
after the first inning. But in the top of the eighth, Los Angeles drew to
within a single run on Colin Cogwill's two-out RBI single off reliever Kevin
Chapman, scoring Trout, who had singled earlier.
The game entered the ninth with the Angles trailing 4-3. Astros closer
Chad Qualls, who had recorded the final out of the eighth, stayed on in an
attempt to nail down the save and appeared poised to do so when he struck out
Ian Stewart and retired Iannetta on a fly to center to open the inning.
But Erick Aybar singled, bringing Calhoun to the plate. On the very first
pitch, the Angels right fielder blasted a Qualls fastball into the right-center
field seats, giving Los Angeles a 5-4 lead.
Ernesto Frieri came on for the Angels in the bottom of the ninth and easily
retired Houston in order, striking out two of the batters he faced, to earn the
save. Qualls was charged with his third defeat of the season.
4/7/2014, LAA14-Hou14, Minute Maid Park 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2014 Angels 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 5 10 0 8 2 2014 Astros 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 9 1 7 0 Angels AB R H BI AVG Astros AB R H BI AVG Calhoun rf 5 2 2 2 .120 Villar ss 5 0 0 0 .167 Trout cf 5 2 3 0 .355 Grossman cf 5 0 2 0 .200 Pujols 1b 4 0 1 0 .419 Altuve 2b 4 0 2 0 .370 Hamilton,J dh 5 0 1 1 .286 Castro,J dh 3 0 0 0 .105 Ibanez lf 2 0 1 1 .238 Guzman lf 4 2 2 0 .294 Cowgill ph 1 0 1 1 .333 Carter 1b 3 2 1 0 .304 Kendrick,H 2b 4 0 0 0 .115 Dominguez,M 3b 3 0 1 1 .269 Stewart,I 3b 4 0 0 0 .000 Corporan c 4 0 0 0 .000 Iannetta c 4 0 0 0 .263 Hoes rf 2 0 1 2 .222 Aybar ss 4 1 1 0 .333 Gonzalez,Ma ph 1 0 0 0 .143 38 5 10 5 34 4 9 3 Angels INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Wilson,C 4.1 8 4 3 3 4 77 47 2.45 Shoemaker 1.2 0 0 0 1 0 26 14 1.93 Jepsen 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 15 9 0.00 Salas W 1-0 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 10 10 3.00 Frieri S 2 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 18 12 0.00 9.0 9 4 3 4 10 146 92 Astros INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Cosart 7.0 4 2 2 1 3 95 55 7.84 Fields H 2 0.2 2 1 1 0 0 14 9 5.40 Chapman,K 0.0 1 0 0 0 0 3 2 3.00 Qualls BS 2, L 0-3 1.1 3 2 2 1 1 30 20 21.60 9.0 10 5 5 2 4 142 86 LAA: Cowgill batted for Ibanez in the 8th Cowgill moved to lf in the 8th Hou: Gonzalez,Ma batted for Hoes in the 9th E-Carter. 2B-Guzman(1), Carter(1). HR-Calhoun(1). RBI-Calhoun 2(3), Hamilton,J(10), Ibanez(1), Cowgill(1), Dominguez,M(1), Hoes 2(2). SB-Altuve(1). K-Hamilton,J, Stewart,I 2, Iannetta, Villar 2, Grossman, Altuve, Castro,J 3, Carter, Corporan, Gonzalez,Ma. BB-Pujols, Ibanez, Castro,J, Carter, Dominguez,M, Hoes. PB-Iannetta. GWRBI: Calhoun Temperature: 70, Wind: none. Attendance: 13,630 Game Time: 2:59