April 17, 2015
Astros 5, Tigers 4
W – Fiers (1-1)
L – Sanchez (2-1)
S – Gregerson (4)
Houston heads into Monday’s off day on a high note, topping the Tigers 5-4 on Sunday afternoon and notching their first series win of the year.
The top of the batting order is showing serious signs of returning to form following some early struggles. Altuve belted an opposite field homer to lead off the game, tying him with Tyler White for the team lead in home runs. George Springer then singled, advanced to second on a Colby Rasmus walk, moved to third on an Evan Gattis fly ball to right field, and scored on a wild pitch by Anibal Sanchez. In the 3rd Springer crushed the first pitch he saw onto the concourse behind the Conoco pump in left-center, staking a 3-0 lead for the team. The lead grew to 5-0 in the 4th when the Astros got some more traffic on the bases against Sanchez, culminating with Altuve lining a two-run single to left.
Mike Fiers didn’t have too much trouble early in the game, allowing three baserunners and throwing only 50 pitches through the first four innings. However, a common theme with Astros starters not named Dallas Keuchel lately has been difficulty in the middle innings, and Fiers was not immune to it. The Tigers tagged Figers for three home runs, one of which was a two-run shot, in the 5th and 6th innings. AJ Hinch gave Fiers the hook with two outs in the 6th, and Tony Sipp, Pat Neshek, Ken Giles, and Luke Gregerson combined for 3.1 innings of shutout ball to close out the game. The bullpen has bowed up big time in recent days, allowing just one run in their last 12.1 innings since Giles took the loss in last Wednesday’s game against the Royals.
The team gets Monday off before heading to Arlington for a three-game set against the first-place Rangers.