It was a Happy Father’s Day for all the Astros dads today, as a Yordan Alvarez blast and slick pitching gave the Astros their second straight series win with a 2-1 victory over the Cleveland Guardians.
The Astros scored first when (who else) Alvarez blasted his AL-leading 25th home run in the first inning. They added their second run in the fourth on an Isaac Paredes RBI single, scoring Alvarez, who led off with a walk. Paredes was 3-4 and accounted for half the Astos’ hit total.
The real stars for the Astros on this Father’s Day were the pitchers. Starter Kai-Wei Teng had a big bounce-back game, giving the Astros six innings, allowing only one run on four hits, a walk, with four Ks.
After Teng came the lefties against a lefty-heavy Guardian lineup. Steven Okert, Bryan King, and closer Josh Hader mowed down the Cleveland Nine, striking out six between them with no hits and only one walk.
What a turnaround in the Astros bullpen! Okert and King’s ERAs hover around 2.50. Okert has been scoreless in his last 12 appearances. A.J. Blubaugh has gone his last nine relief innings without allowing a run. Since June 4th, Bryan Abreu has a 1.50 ERA. And, of course, HADER is baaaack.
And more arms are on the way with Cristian Javier and Ronel Blanco soon to return from IL.
The Astros travel to Canada to take on the Blue Jays of Toronto tomorrow. Game time 6:07.
Good win today for the series. It’s almost like if you put your best roster in on the li up card you can actually win on Sunday day ganmes.