Díaz Goes Boom; Houston Astros Plate Seven Runs Off All-Star Pérez

José Urquidy was taxed early, but his offense jumped all over Martín Pérez for a seven runs in a Houston Astros win.

Kenny Van Doren | Aug 10, 2022

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

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Houston Astros

Martín Pérez cruised through three innings against the Houston Astros on 23 pitches Tuesday, then the All-Star lefty was tasked to face the order for a second time. Despite recent success against Houston and the rest of the league, Pérez didn't carry his dominance into his next two frames. The Astros then went on to slug seven runs.

Trailing by four, José Altuve kickstarted the fourth inning with a single to end the no-hit bid. After a Yuli Gurriel walk, Yordan Álvarez advanced Altuve to third at the cost of a double play.

With two outs and a runner on third, Alex Bregman fell to a full count after seeing three straight balls. The righty took his seventh pitch for ball four as Kyle Tucker followed Bregman with a four-pitch walk of his own.

Aledmys Díaz entered the box with the bases loaded. And as he has done since Michael Brantley's injured list placement, the righty brought offensive heroics in an everyday role.

Díaz smashed his second grand slam of the season, tying the ballgame up at four. Following a go-ahead home run for the Rangers in the top of the fifth, Altuve knotted it up again in the bottom half with a double, scoring Jake Meyers from first.

With all facets of the offense were clicking, Gurriel got under a high sinker in the next at-bat, to score Altuve on a sac fly. Tucker then drove in the Astros' seventh run of the contest in the sixth inning with his first knock of the night.

Houston Astros Starting Pitcher José Urquidy / Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Amidst their offensive explosion for five runs, the Rangers snapped José Urquidy's quality start streak at nine. Texas jumped on the right-hander in the first inning as Marcus Semien homered on a 3-0 count after seeing a fourth-straight four-seam fastball.

The offense timed up Urquidy into the third inning. Corey Seager drove home his middle-infield mate Semien on a two-run shot into the Astros' bullpen, and Bubba Thompson singled home a run in the next frame.

And after his offense tied it up in the fourth inning, Urquidy lost that gift only moments later on a solo home run from Adolis García in the fifth.

Nevertheless, Houston secured the lead in the bottom half of the frame, and Urquidy was credited for his 11th win of the season.

Will Smith relieved the Astros' starter in the sixth inning for his highest leverage outing since his acquisition earlier this month. The lefty worked a scoreless inning on 14 pitches without throwing one curveball — that pitch had granted a 2.000 slugging percentage to opposing hitters before he joined the club.

Ryan Pressly made his first appearance since July 31 in the ninth inning. The righty surrendered a leadoff double to the rookie Thompson but closed the door with three straight outs for his 22nd save of the season.

With Tuesday's win, the Astros tied the Yankees for the best record in the American League. Houston owns the tie breaker, making them No. 1 seed for the playoffs if the season ended Wednesday morning.

The Astros look for a series win and the Silver Boot trophy starting at 7:10 p.m. Wednesday. Justin Verlander will take the hill with Rangers right-hander Glenn Otto.

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Published Aug 10, 2022

KENNY VAN DOREN

Kenny Van Doren is a writer for FanNation's 'Inside the Astros,' part of Sports Illustrated. Kenny formerly covered the Astros for Climbing Tal's Hill of FanSided. Kenny also attends the University of Missouri where he studies journalism.