April 29: Angels Soar, A's Continue Slide vs. Astros, Maybe The Mariners Just Needed Tough Games On The Road

The Mariners, after winning a series in Detroit, took the first of a three-game set against the Indians in Cleveland - all of those words together in that order seemed impossible four days ago.

The Angels won their fifth in a row, taking the first game in a weekend series against the Rangers behind a three-run shot by Albert Pujols and a good bullpen effort over the last three innings.

The Astros mashed against a struggling A's pitching staff and starter Charlie Morton struck out a career-high 12 batters.

The Rangers look for answers today with Yu Darvish on the mound.

Things change fast: This time last weekend, the A's were in the midst of taking three-out-of-four from the Mariners.

Astros (15-8)

Starter Charlie Morton hit a batter, gave up a single, then gave up a home run and was down three in the first inning. But from there onward, he looked like the third starter the Astros desperately need, mowing down the A's, giving up just one more run and striking out 12. On the offensive side, the Astros knocked around struggling A's starter Jharel Cotton. 

 That's the Astros 10th straight victory over the Athletics.


The box.


Angels (13-12)

The bats have officially warmed up. Pujols hit the go-ahead three-run homer in the 8th inning. Mike Trout (of course) added one of his own and Yunel Escobar started the game with a solo shot. Starter Tyler Skaggs left the game after five innings with tightness in his shoulder, and then Yusmeiro Petit came in and promptly gave up two runs. But the rest of the bullpen put out the fire, with Deolis Guerra, David Hernandez and Jose Alvarez combining to pitch a shutout over the last three innings.

Angels fans are digging the long ball. 


The box.

Mariners (11-13)

The Mariners spent most of April in last place, but they are ending the month on an upswing, and they are doing it on the road against two good AL Central teams. Ben Gamel hit his first home run and Robinson Cano added a two-run shot in the 3-1 victory. On the pitching side, Ariel Miranda got them through five innings and James Pazos and Edwin Diaz combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings.

Look who is back for the Mariners.

The box. 

Athletics (10-13)

The surprise team of April is becoming not-so-surprising. It all went sideways last night (you could maybe blame having to fly to Houston from Los Angeles after a night game). Cotton dropped the ball for a balk. He couldn't locate his breaking stuff. He wasn't helped by a catcher's interference call on Stephen Vogt. Jed Lowrie commited an error, Khris Davis homered twice, accounting for all the A's scoring in the 9-4 loss.

The A's losing streak has now hit five games.

The box.

Rangers (10-13)

They looked kind of meh on offense. They got an OK pitching performance from a starter (Nick Martinez, this time). Someone in the bullpen threw gas on the fire (Jeremy Jeffress, this time). We've seen this movie. It doesn't have a happy ending. But hey, Sam Dyson came back and pitched a scoreless 9th inning.

Here's someone else who thinks this game kind of summed up the Rangers season so far.

The box.

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