Valdez, González, Maldonado Send Astros Past Angels 10-0
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Framber Valdez pitched seven innings of six-hit ball, Marwin González hit a grand slam and the Houston Astros moved closer to the AL West title with a 10-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night.
Martin Maldonado launched a three-run homer in the eighth, José Siri hit a leadoff homer and Carlos Correa had an early RBI single among his four hits as the Astros (89-61) opened their final road trip of the regular season by getting 17 hits in their fifth win in six games.
González, filling in for a resting Jose Altuve, drove in five runs and connected in the ninth inning for his third homer since joining the Astros two weeks ago.
Houston continued to close in on its fourth AL West championship in five seasons by moving seven games ahead of second-place Oakland, which lost at Seattle. The Astros' magic number dropped to six.
Valdez (11-5) came back strong after missing his previous turn in the rotation with a small cut on his hand. The left-hander struck out six and pitched around three walks, and he escaped a bases-loaded jam with his 98th and final pitch in the seventh.
Jaime Barría (2-4) gave up 10 hits while pitching into the sixth inning for the Angels, who dropped six games under .500 for the first time since late June with their fourth consecutive loss and 13th shutout defeat.
Los Angeles (72-78) is fading down the stretch, going 6-11 in September and moving closer to its sixth straight losing season and seventh straight non-playoff season.
Siri hit his fourth career homer on Barría's third pitch. Correa drove in Yordan Álvarez later in the first, but Houston didn't score again until its four-run eighth.
Los Angeles loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, but Valdez induced a grounder from David Fletcher to Correa, whose bouncing throw from shortstop beat the Angels speedster to first.