MCHUGH LOSES NO-HITTER BUT 'STROS WIN GAME
Singleton Homers in 1st Career AB
HOUSTON, June 3 (AP) - Colin McHugh took a no-hitter two outs into the eighth inning before surrendering a single to Kole Calhoun, and the Houston Astros went on to defeat the Los Angeles Angels 4-2 at Minute Maid Park. McHugh is just the fifth big league pitcher this year to make it this deep into a game with a no-hitter intact. Only Jon Niese of the Mets has completed a no-hitter thus far this season, turning the trick on May 11 against the Phillies at Citi Field.
The Astros jumped on Angels starter C.J. Wilson early and often, removing some of the pressure from McHugh's shoulders. Jon Singleton, making his major league debut, launched a Wilson offering into the lower seats down the right field line in his very first big league plate appearance. The second inning solo homer gave Houston a 1-0 advantage.
The Astros added to their lead in the third. Dexter Fowler drew a lead-off walk and, one out later, advanced to second on George Springer's base hit. Jason Castro then lined a double to left-center, scoring both baserunners, making the score 3-0.
And in the fourth, Chris Carter led off with a single and advanced to third on Jonathan Villar's one-out two-bagger. Fowler drew a walk, filling the bases, ending Wilson's day. He was replaced on the mound by Cam Bedrosian who, shakily, walked Jose Altuve on five pitches to force in a run. Bedrosian was able to recover and avoid further trouble by striking out Springer and Castro, but the Astros now led 4-0.
McHugh had some control issues, walking five, and that nearly led to a run in the top of the fifth when a free pass to Raul Ibanez started things off for the Angels. A wild pitch advanced Ibanez to second and David Freese's grounder to first moved the runner to third, but McHugh struck out Chris Iannetta and got Erik Aybar on a fly ball to center to keep the shutout intact.
In the top of the eighth, McHugh walked Freese to open the frame, but consecutive fielder's choice grounders off the bats of Iannetta and Aybar left a runner on first with two outs and the no-hitter still alive. But Calhoun grounded a single through the five hole into left field, advancing Aybar to second. Houston manager Bo Porter removed McHugh, who had thrown more than 100 pitches, and the right-hander left to a loud ovation from the modest Minute Maid crowd. Josh Fields replaced McHugh and immediately ran into trouble, yielding a double to right-center off the bat of Mike Trout, which scored both runners, cutting the Astros lead in half. Albert Pujols followed with a base hit to left, with Trout stopping at third. But with the potential lead run at the plate Fields rose to the occasion, striking out Josh Hamilton for the final out of the inning.
The Astros loaded the bases with two outs against Joe Smith in the bottom of the eighth, but Springer fanned to end the inning.
Houston brought Chad Qualls into the game to try and close it out and he got Howie Kendrick on a grounder to short for the first out, but Ibanez singled, and was replaced by pinch runner John McDonald. Freese fanned for the second out, but pinch hitter C.J. Cron rolled a single through the box, putting the tying runs on first and second. That brought Aybar to the plate, and he grounded into a fielder's choice, forcing Cron at second, to end the game.
6/3/2014, LAA14-Hou14, Minute Maid Park
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2014 Angels 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 5 0 7 0
2014 Astros 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 x 4 10 0 11 1
Angels AB R H BI AVG Astros AB R H BI AVG
Calhoun rf 4 1 1 0 .133 Fowler cf 2 1 1 0 .262
Trout cf 3 0 1 2 .336 Altuve 2b 4 0 1 1 .389
Pujols 1b 4 0 1 0 .259 Springer rf 5 1 1 0 .200
Hamilton,J lf 3 0 0 0 .242 Castro,J c 4 0 1 2 .165
Kendrick,H 2b 4 0 0 0 .268 Dominguez,M 3b 4 0 1 0 .248
Ibanez dh 3 0 1 0 .197 Singleton 1b 4 1 1 1 .250
McDonald pr 0 0 0 0 .154 Carter dh 4 1 1 0 .219
Freese 3b 3 0 0 0 .250 Grossman lf 3 0 1 0 .227
Iannetta c 2 0 0 0 .183 Villar ss 4 0 2 0 .202
Cron ph 1 0 1 0 .276 34 4 10 4
Aybar ss 4 1 0 0 .309
31 2 5 2
Angels INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Wilson,C L 4-3 3.1 6 4 4 3 4 64 40 4.33
Bedrosian 1.1 2 0 0 2 3 37 19 0.00
Morin 2.1 0 0 0 0 3 31 19 3.24
Smith,J 1.0 2 0 0 0 2 18 15 3.55
8.0 10 4 4 5 12 150 93
Astros INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
McHugh W 5-2 7.2 1 2 2 5 8 102 55 2.06
Fields H 5 0.1 2 0 0 0 1 11 7 0.90
Qualls S 6 1.0 2 0 0 0 1 20 13 4.19
9.0 5 2 2 5 10 133 75
LAA: Cron batted for Iannetta in the 9th
McDonald ran for Ibanez in the 9th
2B-Trout(17), Castro,J(4), Villar(12). HR-Singleton(1). RBI-Trout 2(40),
Altuve(20), Castro,J 2(18), Singleton(1). SB-Iannetta(1), Grossman(1).
K-Pujols, Hamilton,J 3, Kendrick,H, Ibanez, Freese 2, Iannetta, Aybar,
Altuve, Springer 3, Castro,J 2, Singleton 3, Carter, Grossman, Villar.
BB-Trout, Hamilton,J, Ibanez, Freese, Iannetta, Fowler 3, Altuve, Grossman.
WP-McHugh.
GWRBI: Singleton
Temperature: 88, Sky: cloudy, Wind: in from center at 6 MPH.
Attendance: 18,020
Game Time: 2:54