Astros score franchise-record 21 runs as Dallas Keuchel notches 20th win
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The Houston Astros were not about to let their wild card lead or Dallas Keuchel’s bid for a 20th victory slip away on Friday.
Keuchel actually came to bat in the first inning before throwing his first pitch as Houston jumped out to an early three-run lead. It only got better from there, as the Astros absolutely crushed the Arizona Diamondbacks 21-5.
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The 21-run outburst set a new Astros franchise record for a single game. The previous record was 20 overall and 19 for nine-inning games. They were relentless on this night, scoring in seven different innings. That included a seven-run seventh inning, which was highlighted by Carlos Correa’s bases-clearing triple.
Correa finished the night with three hits, including his 22nd home run, which set the Astros rookie record. He added four RBIs and four runs scored. In fact, he was just a double shy of the cycle by the end of the seventh inning. On another night, he would have been given a chance to complete the feat, but with Houston leading by double-digits he was removed from the game.
George Springer, Luis Valbuena and Colby Rasmus also homered for Houston. Like Correa, Springer and Rasmus each scored four runs. Nine different players drove in a run as Houston kept slugging away.
It was a no-contest from the beginning, which made life very easy for Keuchel. He was needed for just six innings. He allowed two runs on six hits to become Houston’s first 20-game winner since Roy Oswalt in 2005.
That’s big. Of greater importance in the big picture though, Houston maintains its lead for the second wild card spot.
NO PARTY IN TEXAS
The Texas Rangers needed a win against the Angels or an Astros loss in Arizona to clinch the AL West on Friday. They got neither, falling in their game 2-1 at Globe Life Park.
Of course, this was also a big game for the Angels, who are desperately trying to keep pace with Houston in the wild card race. When the pressure was on in the ninth inning, Mike Trout not surprisingly rose to the occasion, leading off the decisive inning with a triple. One batter later, future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols poked a single to drive him in with the winning run.
Fill-in closer Joe Smith pitched a perfect ninth to lock up perhaps the biggest save of his career, but a victory wouldn’t have been possible without the excellent outing posted by Jered Weaver. The Angels veteran tossed six innings of one-run ball, allowing just two hits while walking three. Both hits came off the red-hot bat of Shin-Soo Choo, who connected for his 22nd home run.
C.J. Cron drove in the Angels first run with a first-inning single. They only managed six hits on the evening, but made them count.
With the win, Los Angeles will remain one game back in the wild card standings. They also gained a game on Minnesota, which fell 2-1 to the Royals. The Twins are two out with two games to play.
PIRATES MOVE CLOSER TO HOME FIELD
Home-field advantage in the NL wild-card game is still up for grabs this weekend. The Pirates took a major step toward claiming it though, defeating the Cincinnati Reds 6-4 in 12 innings on Starling Marte’s walk-off homer.
The Pirates had to rally from an early 4-0 deficit after Cincinnati got to starter Francisco Liriano. Andrew McCutchen started the climb, launching a solo homer in the fourth. Pittsburgh would even the scored with a three-run sixth. Jordy Mercer provided the big hit, knocking home Aramis Ramirez with a two-out single.
That would be the last of the scoring until Marte’s home run. Six Pirates relievers combined to throw seven scoreless innings. Combined, they allowed just four hits while striking out seven. Arquimedes Caminero picked up the win, his fifth.
With the Cubs also winning behind Jake Arrieta in Milwaukee, Pittsburgh will still need one more win or one more Cubs loss this weekend to secure home field for the wild card. If those teams finish tied, the Cubs own the tiebreaker.
CHRIS SALE SETS WHITE SOX STRIKEOUT RECORD
The Tigers and White Sox had nothing to play for in standings on Friday, but Chicago’s ace Chris Sale had something to pitch for. With his second inning strikeout of James McCann, Sale set a new single-season franchise record with his 270th strikeout.
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The previous was more than 100 years old. Hall of Famer Ed Walsh struck out 269 batters in 1908, though his record was stretched out over 464 innings. Sale topped that in just 202 2/3 innings this year. In fact, he only needed to face 833 batters. That’s pretty incredible.
Sale finished the game with seven strikeouts over seven inning, raising his season total to 274. He also picked up his 13th win allowing just one run over seven innings. The White Sox won the game 2-1 between Adam Eaton’s two-run double in the third.
HURRICANE JOAQUIN WIPES OUT THREE GAMES
The crazy rains on the east coast forced the postponements of three games on Friday. Of note, the Yankees-Orioles game in Baltimore and Nationals-Mets in New York were washed away. Both are notable as the Yankees and Mets both battle for playoff positioning. Marlins-Phillies was postponed as well.
All games will be made up with doubleheaders on Saturday, though if the bad weather continues things could get very interesting in terms of MLB’s scheduling.
Want to see more from Friday’s slate of games? Check out our scoreboard.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
