ANAHEIM -- The Angels exploded for an eight-run seventh inning to complete a three-run comeback and beat the Astros, 11-5, on Saturday night at Angel Stadium.The Angels hit three home runs in the frame and went through three Houston pitchers (who threw 74 pitches) as they sent 14 batters to the plate.The win marked the ninth in a row at home for the Angels (50-36) and their 15th in their last 16 games in Anaheim. 
They kept pace with the A's, who lead the Angels by 3 1/2 games in the American League West and beat Toronto on Saturday. The loss was the sixth in a row for Houston (36-53).The Angels tagged Houston pitching for six hits and four walks in the marathon half-inning, which lasted just over 50 minutes.David Freese, Albert Pujols and C.J. Cron all homered in the inning, with Freese's two-run shot trimming the deficit to one, Pujols' two-run dinger putting the Angels up by one and Cron's three-run blast supplying insurance runs.For the Angels, the eight runs were a season high in one inning.Houston carried a 5-2 lead into the seventh inning thanks to a Chris Carter grand slam.Tied at 1 in the third, Carter smacked a Hector Santiago fastball to center for his second grand slam of the season, this one giving the Astros a four-run cushion. In was the second grand slam against the Angels in the last eight days, following Omar Infante's slam on June 27.Earlier in the third inning, Jason Castro drove in L.J. Hoes with an RBI double.Reliever Michael Roth, who was called up Saturday, picked up the win by throwing two perfect innings in his season debut.Santiago is still winless this season after a five-inning performance Saturday. Four of the six hits Santiago allowed came in the five-run third.The Angels cut the lead to three with Howie Kendrick's RBI single to right that plated Aybar in the fourth. Aybar singled and then stole second for his ninth stolen base.Pujols, who finished a triple shy of the cycle, put the Angels up early with an opposite-field RBI single, scoring Kole Calhoun, who reached on an infield single and advanced to second on a wild pitch.Scott Feldman pitched six innings of solid ball, scattering six hits and allowing just two runs. The Angels mustered only one extra-base hit against Feldman and both runs came on RBI singles.Matthew DeFranks / MLB.com
They kept pace with the A's, who lead the Angels by 3 1/2 games in the American League West and beat Toronto on Saturday. The loss was the sixth in a row for Houston (36-53).The Angels tagged Houston pitching for six hits and four walks in the marathon half-inning, which lasted just over 50 minutes.David Freese, Albert Pujols and C.J. Cron all homered in the inning, with Freese's two-run shot trimming the deficit to one, Pujols' two-run dinger putting the Angels up by one and Cron's three-run blast supplying insurance runs.For the Angels, the eight runs were a season high in one inning.Houston carried a 5-2 lead into the seventh inning thanks to a Chris Carter grand slam.Tied at 1 in the third, Carter smacked a Hector Santiago fastball to center for his second grand slam of the season, this one giving the Astros a four-run cushion. In was the second grand slam against the Angels in the last eight days, following Omar Infante's slam on June 27.Earlier in the third inning, Jason Castro drove in L.J. Hoes with an RBI double.Reliever Michael Roth, who was called up Saturday, picked up the win by throwing two perfect innings in his season debut.Santiago is still winless this season after a five-inning performance Saturday. Four of the six hits Santiago allowed came in the five-run third.The Angels cut the lead to three with Howie Kendrick's RBI single to right that plated Aybar in the fourth. Aybar singled and then stole second for his ninth stolen base.Pujols, who finished a triple shy of the cycle, put the Angels up early with an opposite-field RBI single, scoring Kole Calhoun, who reached on an infield single and advanced to second on a wild pitch.Scott Feldman pitched six innings of solid ball, scattering six hits and allowing just two runs. The Angels mustered only one extra-base hit against Feldman and both runs came on RBI singles.Matthew DeFranks / MLB.com
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
