Oswald Peraza delivered a tie-breaking, two-run single in the top of the ninth inning as the visiting Los Angeles Angels rallied for a 4-1 victory over the Houston Astros on Saturday.
Peraza, who entered the game to play first base in the bottom of the seventh, struck the biggest blow against Astros closer Bryan Abreu (3-4), who surrendered three consecutive one-out singles to load the bases before Peraza smacked a fastball into the right-field corner that Astros right fielder Cam Smith proved unable to catch.
Luis Rengifo and Logan O’Hoppe scored on the play. Mike Trout later worked a bases-loaded walk to plate Matthew Lugo.
After starting the series opener 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position before rallying in the later innings, the Astros went 1-for-8 on Saturday. Angels starter Kyle Hendricks allowed seven hits in six innings but did not issue a walk and allowed only one run, a Jesus Sanchez RBI single in the third.
Kenley Jansen recorded his 24th save of the season. Jose Fermin (3-2) worked a scoreless eighth for the win.
One night after right-hander Cristian Javier twirled six hitless innings for the Astros, Houston right-hander Spencer Arrighetti allowed only one hit while working into the seventh inning.
Arrighetti retired the first five batters he faced and struck out three in the second to strand Rengifo, who worked a two-out walk.
But with two outs in the third, Angels shortstop Zach Neto crushed a 1-0 fastball 403 feet to left field for his career-high 24th home run. That blast provided the Angels a 1-0 lead, but Arrighetti responded with a strikeout of Yoan Moncada to close the frame.
Arrighetti issued two-out walks in the fifth and sixth innings but recorded inning-ending groundouts in both frames. However, when Arrighetti walked Rengifo and O’Hoppe in succession with one out in the seventh, Astros left-hander Bryan King was summoned from the bullpen. King stranded both inherited runners to preserve a stellar line for Arrighetti, who allowed one hit and issued five walks while recording a season-high eight strikeouts in his fifth start since returning from a four-month stint on the injured list with a fractured right thumb.
