San Diego, CA (SportsNetwork.com) – George Springer homered and drove in five
runs, Jose Altuve had four hits, and Luis Valbuena scored four runs as the
Houston Astros crushed the San Diego Padres 14-3 on Tuesday.
Evan Gattis and Chris Carter also went deep during a 17-hit attack that
spurred Houston to a fifth straight victory and backed a quality start from
Roberto Hernandez (1-2), who tossed six solid innings to earn his first win in
an Astros uniform.
“We put up really good at-bats,” Houston manager A.J. Hinch said. “It was an
offensive outburst for us.”
Tyson Ross (1-2) only lasted five innings and surrendered four runs on five
hits. He walked two and struck out nine as the Padres fell to 1-4 on a nine-
game homestand.
“We didn’t pitch well at all,” San Diego manager Bud Black said. “A tough
night for a lot of our pitchers.”
Wil Myers hit a solo homer and nearly came down with Gattis’ drive to
straightaway center in the first inning, but he slightly mistimed his jump and
the ball glanced off his glove and over the wall for a two-run homer.
Myers helped get one of the runs back in the bottom half, as he reached on a
bunt, stole second and scored on Yangervis Solarte’s base hit.
Houston countered with a small-ball run of its own in the fourth. Colby Rasmus
worked a walk, swiped second and came around on Carter’s two-out single.
After Myers and Carter traded home runs, the Astros tacked on a run in the
sixth when Odrisamer Despaigne threw consecutive wild pitches following a
Jason Castro double.
Justin Upton lined a solo shot over the left-field wall in the home sixth, but
Springer smacked a two-run blast in the seventh and tacked on a two-run single
in the eighth.
The Astros capped the rout with a four-run ninth inning.
Game Notes
The Astros tied a franchise record by winning nine of their first 11 road
games … Hernandez scattered three runs on six hits … Altuve has recorded
six straight multi-hit games … Houston is 11-0 when scoring first and 12-0
when scoring at least four runs … The Astros have won four straight series
and go for the three-game sweep on Wednesday with Dallas Keuchel pitching
against Andrew Cashner.
