Luis García Tosses Astros' 17th Consecutive Quality Start on the Road

Houston Astros pitcher Luis García picked up the club's 17th-straight quality start on the road this season, adding to the franchise record.

Kenny Van Doren | Jul 13, 2022

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Although tossing six one-run innings, Luis García found trouble early with command against the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday. The righty walked three of the first four runners he faced — matching a season-high — in the first inning, before inducing a one-out groundout to Jared Walsh which scored Michael Stefanic from third.

García limited the damage from there, allowing only one hit — a career-low in his 45 major league starts. The righty retired 17 of the last 18 batters he faced, sitting down 13 in a row en route to the Houston Astros' 57th win of the season.

Finding his sixth quality start in 2022, the 25-year-old added the Astros' 17th consecutive quality start on the road this year. According to AT&T SportsNet broadcast, the 2022 team leads the category in franchise history as the 1972 club sits in second (14).

What looked to be García's eighth win the season was unraveled by the bullpen. Phil Maton entered the seventh with a four-run lead, before Houston closed the inning in a tied contest.

Maton committed a throwing error to second after yielding a one-out walk to Luis Rengifo. With one down and two runners on, Alex Bregman was tacked with a throwing error.

Brandon Marsh was hit two pitches later, bringing home Rengifo from third base. Baker saw enough, handing the ball to Rafael Montero. The righty carved through Stefanic on the three pitches, but allowed a two-RBI single to David MacKinnon.

Marsh would end up scoring from third on a pass ball by catcher Martín Maldonado — his second in the last week. With the game tied, the Angels left the seventh inning with four-unearned runs on one hit and two errors committed by the Astros.

Ryan Pressly followed a scoreless eighth from Héctor Neris with his 19th save of the 2022 season in his 22nd opportunity. The righty punched out two batters on 14 total pitches, nine for strikes, in his sixth-consecutive perfect inning.

Houston Astros Left Fielder Aledmys Díaz / Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The offense pushed the Astros ahead on Tuesday, getting on the board early in the first inning. Aledmys Díaz followed a José Altuve walk with his sixth home run of the season — a two-run shot.

Bregman drove in Díaz in the top of the third inning with a two-out single, building Houston's lead 3-1. Altuve added insurance in the sixth, slashing a two-out single to center field which scored J.J. Matijevic from second and Jake Meyers from first following a fielding error by center fielder Monte Harrison.

Reaching base four times, Díaz slashed a single in the top of the ninth, moving José Altuve from first to third. Kyle Tucker followed with an RBI-double to give Houston the lead while the Astros stranded the bases loaded prior to Pressly's 19th save of the year.

The Astros are back in action at 8:38 p.m. Wednesday, continuing a free-game set in Anaheim. Cristian Javier looks to battle Shohei Ohtani on the hill.

Dan Firova is back with the Astros today, but still haven't seen Bill Murphy. Both have/had been out due to "health and safety protocols."
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) July 13, 2022

Quality control coach Dan Firova returned to the dugout Tuesday, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. Firova was out due to health and safety protocols.

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Published Jul 13, 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.