Wilson, Angels Handle Astros In 9-1 Win
HOUSTON (AP) — C.J. Wilson pitched eight solid innings, Howie Kendrick and Raul Ibanez each drove in three runs and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Houston Astros 9-1 Monday.
The Angels took three of four from Houston after starting the season 0-3.
Kendrick drove in two with a single in a three-run first inning. He added an RBI with a single when the Angels tacked on three more in the seventh.
Kole Calhoun homered off Jarred Cosart (1-1), sending a drive to right field for his second shot of the series to push the lead to 4-0 in the fifth inning.
Wilson (1-1) yielded four hits and a run while fanning seven. He looked a lot more like the 17-game winner he was last year than he did in his first start this season when he allowed eight hits and six runs in 5 2-3 innings of a loss to Seattle.
Houston struggled to get anything going off of him. Jesus Guzman doubled with one out in the second before Wilson retired nine in a row. A double by Chris Carter came with one out in the fifth inning, and Wilson sat down 10 straight after that. The Astros finally got on the board when Carlos Corporan launched a 76 mph curveball into the Crawford Boxes in left field for a home run that made it 8-1.
Cosart was done in by a bad first inning where he had to use 32 pitches. He was pulled after allowing three hits, five runs and walking four in six innings.
It was a disappointing second start for the 23-year-old who threw five scoreless frames for the win in his 2014 debut against the Yankees.
A pair of walks and a fielder's choice loaded the bases with one out in the first inning for Cosart. A broken-bat groundout by Ibanez sent one home to make it 1-0. Carter had to navigate around the flying piece of bat that stuck in the dirt right near where he fielded the ball.
Kendrick's single to shallow right field pushed the lead to 3-0 in the first.
Cosart settled down after the first, pitching a perfect second before walking two in a scoreless third and retiring the side in the fourth.
Stewart hit a triple with one out in the sixth and scored on a sacrifice fly by Chris Iannetta that made it 5-0.
Ibanez drove home two with a single to right field off reliever Brad Peacock in the seventh.
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