The blast was Pujols’ 36 homer of the season, and the 556 of his career.
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Bracing for the start of a key three-game series with a fellow wild-card contender, the Houston Astros knew what to expect from ace Dallas Keuchel on Monday night. It’s about those battles. “I thought we did a better job today than any time we faced him this year”.
“It’s obviously special to reach 40”, said Trout, who joined Troy Glaus (47 in 2000 and 41 in 2001) as the only players in club history to record 40 home runs in a single season.
“When they put it together, it’s pretty fun, isn’t it?” He experienced moderate soreness after his previous start against the Twins on Sunday, his first appearance in 19 days after dealing with a strained right forearm.
The competition is tough in the AL west, between the Rangers and the Astros.
But Houston closer Luke Gregerson retired Erick Aybar to end the game for his 28th save. Samardzija allowed only a leadoff single to Victor Martinez in the fifth inning as the White Sox won the opener 2-0. Sanchez went 3-for-3, including a solo home run. Altuve has 185 hits on the season and stands 15 shy of recording his second consecutive 200-hit campaign.
Johnson (3-0) won for the third time in four starts since his September 1 call-up. Their last two playoff runs, including the 2005 World Series, came via a wild-card berth. The Nationals’ game against the Baltimore Orioles was rained out.
Trout lofted a two-run shot off the corporate signs in left-center field with one out in the first before Pujols ripped one 448 feet onto the train tracks above the Crawford Boxes. Gonzalez, a switch hitter, is limited to batting right-handed and played the outfield to avoid aggravating the injury by potentially diving for grounders in the infield….
David Price pitched seven scoreless innings as the Toronto Blue Jays (86-64) defeated the New York Yankees (82-67) and increased their lead in the American League East to 3-1/2 games. If there’s any knock on the 21-year-old’s recent form, it’s that he’s walked 4.13 batters per nine innings after entering that span with a 3.01 mark.
Red Sox 8, Rays 7: Xander Bogaerts hit a grand slam in the eighth inning to lift Boston to a victory over Tampa Bay, moving the Red Sox out of the AL East’s basement and ahead of the Rays. But from the first inning, Houston appeared better prepared to match his guile, rocketing a pair of balls to left fielder Shane Victorino, whose defense might have preserved the early shutout.
First baseman Anthony Rizzo went 3-for-3 and scored three runs while pinch hitter Jorge Soler smacked a three-run homer in the seventh as the Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers.
Santiago allowed two runs on four hits and five walks in five-plus innings.
The Pittsburgh Pirates crept closer to clinching a spot in the National League playoffs with a 9-3 win over the Colorado Rockies.
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As for the Angels offense, they were quieted until the sixth when Albert Pujols forced in a run when he grounded out to short in the sixth inning.
