Astros complete sweep of Angels on Jason Castro’s walk-off home run
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The Carlos Gomez trade wasn’t the biggest thing to happen to the Houston Astros on Thursday. The club also celebrated a 3-0 win over the division-rival Los Angeles Angels.
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The win was significant for a number of reasons. Not only did the Astros complete the sweep of Los Angeles, but they did so on a walk-off home run.
With the game tied in the bottom of the ninth, Jose Alvarez was brought on to take things into extras. It didn’t work out for him. Alvarez sandwiched a walk between two outs before he was lifted from the game for Fernando Salas.
Salas promptly gave up a single, putting men on first and second for Jason Castro. On the fourth pitch of the at-bat, Castro belted a three-run walk-off home run out to right center field.
After the game, Castro said the dinger was probably the biggest hit of his career.
With the win, Houston improved to 58-45 on the year. The team holds a two-game lead over the Angels in the American League West.
SOX STOP SOX’S STREAK
The Chicago White Sox win streak has come to an end. The club couldn’t make it eight in a row, losing 8-2 against the Boston Red Sox on Thursday.
Surprisingly, it was ace Chris Sale who struggled during the contest. Sale allowed seven runs on 12 hits over five innings. He struck out seven and walked one.
Following the game, Sale put the loss on his shoulders.
Sale was hit in the ankle with a line drive early in the game, but he didn’t blame that incident for his struggles. He admitted that it hurt to get hit, but said he didn’t think it was enough to alter his mechanics during the start.
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With the loss, the White Sox fall to 49-51 on the year. Though the winning streak is over, the club is still expected to buy at the trade deadline.
HAMILTON WALKS IT OFF
The New York Yankees had a tough time stopping Josh Hamilton on Thursday. Hamilton picked up the walk-off hit during the Texas Rangers’ 7-6 win over New York.
The Yankees did all they could to neutralize Hamilton, making sure he faced lefties during the contest. That didn’t really matter. Hamilton managed to strike in the first inning, smacking a three-run homer against CC Sabathia.
He was held in check until the ninth, when Andrew Miller attempted to take on the slugger. With the game tied, and the bases loaded, all Hamilton needed to do was smack a single to pick up the victory. He was able to come through.
On the third pitch of the at-bat, Hamilton sent a single to right field, ending the game. Hamilton was so excited after his big hit that he decided to celebrate with the Rangers’ mascot.
With the win, the Rangers improved to 49-52 on the season.
PAPELBON GETS THE SAVE
The Washington Nationals new closer might be OK. Jonathan Papelbon was tested his first time out, but still managed to preserve a 1-0 victory over the Miami Marlins on Thursday.
He was tested, of course. The one run lead didn’t leave Papelbon with a huge margin for error. In the end, it didn’t matter.
Papelbon tossed a perfect inning of work against the division rival Marlins. He got Ichiro Suzuki on a weak groundout, Christian Yelich on a lineout to second and struck out Michael Morse to end the game.
Though Drew Storen is no longer the closer, Papelbon came away impressed with Storen’s scoreless eighth inning performance.
It appears the two are going to be good friends.
With the win, Washington improved to 54-46 on the season.
Want to see more from Thursday’s slate of games? Check out our scoreboard.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
