Altuve: Laughs after stumble
(c) Associated Press
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The Astros followed up their nine-run first inning Friday night with a seven-run second inning Saturday night on their way to a 13-5 stampede in Kansas City, knocking off the World Champions for the second straight night in unceremonious fashion. Jose Altuve was the catalyst, going 4-for-5 with his 13th homer and two doubles while plating three. Altuve tripped over second in the sixth while trying to complete the cycle. Mighty Mouse is currently batting .348 with an amazing .994 OPS for the season.
Houston has produced 26 runs and 30 hits over two nights, pulvering Edinson Volquez and The Other Chris Young to a 48.60 ERA in the process.
Luis Valbuena assisted with three hits and three RBIs. Marwin Gonzalez and Carlos Correa each added two hits including a round-tripper while Colby Rasmus and Jason Castro chipped in two hits apiece to the 16-hit blitzkreig.
New call-up A.J. Reed went hitless in his big league debut but that doesn't mean he wasn't part of the offense. Reed walked twice, scored twice and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. That's about as productive and oh-fer as you can have.
It was 9-2 Houston in the bottom of the fifth when Mike Fiers got into trouble and was pulled two outs short of the minimum to get the victory. Michael Feliz got out of the jam but gave up two more runs in the sixth. Nonetheless, Feliz was credited with the win. He's now 5-1 for the season. Pat Neshek, Ken Giles and Chris Devenski mopped up the rest of the way with three shutout frames.
The Astros notched their seventh win in a row and ninth of their past ten. They've managed to make up one whole game on the Rangers through all of this so they are still far back in the AL West but they have rocketed up the AL Wild Card standings, now in a virtual tie with the Royals for third place in the hunt, 1-1/2 games behind Toronto.
Kansas City, losers of four straight, certainly can't wait to see the Astros leave town but they have one more chance to salvage something on Sunday afternoon when righthander Ian Kennedy (5-6) takes on Houston's de facto ace, Doug Fister (8-3) in a 1:15 Central finale. Kennedy is 3-0 with an 0.92 ERA in his career against the Astros but he's also surrendered a league-high ten home runs this month. He will be required to work deep into the game in order to protect his weary bullpen.
In other news, the Astros DFA'd catcher Alfredo Gonzalez off the 40-man roster to make room for Reed. Previously, they had sent outfielder Tony Kemp to AAA Fresno to make room for Reed on the 25-man roster.
- Bob Hulsey
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