Alfredo Figaro (1-0, 3.47) vs Jordan Lyles (3-1, 3.48)
Ohmigosh offense! The Astros have had a few good offensive games this year, and a lot of great pitching performances, especially of late. But rarely have they put it all together in the same game like they did tonight. Jordan Lyles is still on a roll, Matt Dominguez is a beast, and the Astros kick off their series against Milwaukee with a resounding 10-1 win. Houston improves to 27-45 overall - just one game behind the Brewers in the win column.
On the Mound:
*I'm sure that Jordan Lyles enjoyed the offense in support of him tonight, but truth is he didn't need much. A leadoff triple in the 3rd resulted in the only run that the Brewers would get, as Jordan dominated with a 7 IP / 7 H / 1 R / 1 ER / 0 BB / 5 K line.
*Paul Clemens allowed only a single with two outs in the 9th in two scoreless IP.
At the Plate:
*Matty D! He bookended Houston's offense tonight, driving in their first run on a sac fly in the 2nd, and blasting his first career grand slam in the 7th. It added up to a career night at the plate, going 2 for 3 with 5 RBI.
*Carlos Pena had a big night himself, blasting a 3-run HR in the 5th to go 1 for 3 with 2 R, 3 RBI, and a K.
*Chris Carter hit a double and went 2 for 5 with a RBI, 2 R, and 2 K.
*Jason Castro (1 for 5), J.D. Martinez (1 for 3), and Trevor Crowe (1 for 1) each had a single and a run scored.
*Marwin Gonzalez went 0 for 3, but drove in a run on a squeeze bunt in the 4th.
*Justin Maxwell's Silver Hammer returned from the Meat Wagon tonight and went 0 for 2 with a K, but he also walked twice and scored a pair of runs.
Turning Point:
The score was 1-1 going to the bottom of the 4th, and Carlos Pena led off with a strikeout. Justin Maxwell walked and Matt Dominguez singled to move him over to third, bringing Marwin Gonzalez to the plate. On Alfredo Figaro's first pitch, Gonzalez laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to first, on which Figaro made a great play, but Maxwell's jump was too good and he got in ahead of the tag. That gave the Astros a 2-1 lead, and it only got better from there.
Man of the Match:
Matt Dominguez. In 22 games since May 26, he had been hitting .182/.188/.312, but none of that mattered tonight.
Goat of the Game:
Jose Altuve. Conspicuously absent from the offensive attack tonight, going 0 for 5 with a K.
