McHugh combined with four relievers on a two-hitter, rookie Alex Bregman homered and the Astros beat the Chicago Cubs 2-1 Saturday as they tried to gain ground in the AL wild-card race.
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Musgrove allowed three hits and two runs with five strikeouts in six innings for his fourth loss in five starts. “I feel as confident as anyone giving them the ball with the lead”. Astros right-hander Collin McHugh (10-10) departed with a lead after five innings of one-run ball, leaving four Astros relievers to hold the line.After rookie right-hander Chris Devenski worked a flawless sixth inning, veteran right-handers Will Harris and Luke Gregerson each worked around a walk in their respective innings of work.
Lester (16-4) allowed seven hits and struck out seven for his seventh straight win.
For proper perspective of how dominant the Cubs now are: following Friday’s win, they find themselves 40 games over.500, 90-50.
Jose Altuve, in an 0-for-12 slide, followed Bregman’s homer by reaching on his second bunt single of the season, beating third baseman Kris Bryant’s throw.
“I know we remember the times in which he (Giles) allows a run or allows a runner because these are volatile times; he wouldn’t be in the game if it wasn’t an important stretch of outs”, Hinch said.
NATIONALS 3, PHILLIES 0: Bryce Harper hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Washington Nationals to a 3-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night. But he was thrown out trying to swipe third, too, and the Astros lost a scoring opportunity.
BRAVES 4, METS 3: Adonis Garcia’s tiebreaking single in the 10th inning scored Dansby Swanson from third base and the Atlanta Braves snapped the New York Mets’ six-game winning streak with a 4-3 victory on Saturday night.
Play was stopped for a couple of minutes in the bottom of the sixth inning when home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor got hit on hit on his right shoulder with a foul ball from Teoscar Hernandez. Astros SS Carlos Correa missed a fourth consecutive game because of left shoulder inflammation. Altuve vomited several times before and during the game, Hinch said. Keuchel was shut down on Monday because of the problem and said on Friday that he is feeling better, but is still struggling with the injury. We can all predict what we think is going to happen based on schedules and things like that but we need as many wins as we can get.
HOUSTON (AP) – John Lackey’s solid start wasn’t enough for a win. The 30-year-old has just two quality starts in his last five outings and has issued 17 walks in 31 2/3 innings over that span. Arrieta has never faced the Astros.
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Astros: Collin McHugh (9-10, 4.96) has won two straight decisions and the Astros have won the last four games that he started.
