Houston 11, LA Angels 3
When: 8:10 PM ET, Friday, August 11, 2023
Where: Minute Maid Park, Houston, Texas
Temperature:
Indoors
Umpires:
Home -
Alfonso Marquez, 1B -
Ramon De Jesus, 2B -
Lance Barrett, 3B -
Ryan Wills
Attendance:
41152
By Field Level Media
Jon Singleton posted his first career multi-home run game while Justin Verlander won in his 500th career start as the Houston Astros walloped the visiting Los Angeles Angels 11-3 Friday.
Singleton, signed by Houston as a minor league free agent on June 24 and recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land on Tuesday, went 3-for-4 with a walk and a career-high five RBIs in his first appearance at Minute Maid Park for the Astros since Sept. 25, 2015. It was a memorable return.
The Astros erased a 1-0 deficit when Singleton bashed a 2-0 fastball from Angels left-hander Reid Detmers 390 feet down the right-field line and into the upper deck, a three-run homer that plated Yainer Diaz and Mauricio Dubon after both recorded singles to open the second inning.
Singleton homered for the first time since July 29, 2015 -- also against the Angels -- a span of eight years and 13 days, the longest such stretch between homers for a position player since Rafael Belliard went 10 years and 144 days between home runs. But Singleton wasn't finished.
Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez extended the lead to 5-1 with run-scoring, fielder's choice grounders as the Astros batted around in the second. Singleton chased Detmers (2-9) with a two-run shot with one out in the third, plating Dubon while depositing the ball in the same vicinity in right. That 389-foot blast lifted the Astros to a 7-2 lead as Detmers suffered his fourth consecutive losing decision by allowing seven runs on seven hits and three walks in 2 1/3 innings.
It was a rousing performance for the bottom third of the Astros lineup. In addition to the exploits from Singleton, who batted seventh, Houston got multi-hit games from shortstop Jeremy Pena (3-for-4 with two runs) and nine-hole hitter Martin Maldonado, who recorded three hits in his first three at-bats -- including a two-run single in the fourth that plated Singleton and Pena.
Verlander (7-6) made his first start in Houston since being re-acquired by the Astros at the trade deadline. He became the 50th pitcher in history to record 500 career starts, delivering a quality start in the process by allowing three runs on six hits with seven strikeouts over six innings.
Verlander allowed a solo home run to C.J. Cron, his 12th this season, in the second and run-scoring singles to Luis Rengifo and Brandon Drury in the third and sixth, respectively.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
LA Angels
|
7 |
1 |
12 |
.212 |
12 |
11 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Houston
|
15 |
2 |
24 |
.395 |
21 |
5 |
11 |
8 |
0 |
0 |