Star Player’s Injury Overshadows Angels Win Against Astros
José Soriano took the mound for the Los Angeles Angels for a Sunday matinee matchup against the Houston Astros. Soriano was dominant on the mound, pitching seven innings of one-hit ball, including eight strikeouts, to put up a strong performance and silence the Astros' lineup en route to a 3-0 win over the Astros. Houston wouldn’t get their second hit of the game until the eighth inning after Luis García took over for Soriano, but the focus on the game would be on the outfield. After García gave up a line drive from the bat of Astro Luis Urías, Taylor Ward crashed into the left-field wall, suffering a facial injury, leading him to be carted off the field.
It was the Angels' trade deadline acquisition, Oswald Peraza, who struck first, hitting a solo home run over the right field wall in the fifth inning. Houston’s starter Hunter Brown kept the Angels from continuing to rally, as the Peraza homer was the only run he surrendered in six innings. When Lance McCullers Jr. took over for Brown, the Angels were able to extend their lead. They capitalized on walks by McCullers Jr. with a Mike Trout double to left, bringing in a run, as well as a single from Luis Rengifo, adding another run, putting the Angels up 3-0 in the late innings of the game.
Houston struggled to gain any momentum on offense. The first hit of the game for the Astros came by the way of a single lined to left by Yordan Alvarez, putting runners on first and second as Jeremy Peña got on base with a walk before Alvarez. Houston struggled to get anything else going through the rest of the game, given how much control Soriano had on the mound for the Angels. The only true rally that Houston was able to get close to was in the eighth inning when Urías managed a double off the Angels' reliever García. That was the last time the Astros managed to get a runner in scoring position, but García was able to lock the Astros' bats down with two strikeouts to end the inning.
Ward’s exit in the eighth was a scary one, as the left field wall features a scoreboard that is made out of metal. After the game, the Angels manager, Ray Montgomery, stated that Ward’s eye appeared to be okay following the injury. Still, he had a cut above his eye that required stitches and was undergoing further evaluation. If Ward loses any amount of playing time to heal his injury, it will cause the Angels to lose one of their leading producers this year on both sides of the ball.
The Angels will go for the series win tomorrow in the rubber match against Houston after splitting three games. The Angels are still far from a postseason spot as they are eight and a half games back of a Wild Card spot. Soriano’s strong outing gives both the team and the pitching staff a much-needed boost as the team heads into the final month of the season. Still, the biggest question moving forward will be the severity of Ward’s injury and if the Halos will be losing out on the star player for some time.
