|
 McHugh (17-7) bounced back from a pair of sub-par outings against
the Athletics and Rangers, limiting Oakland to one run on four hits
and two walks while notching eight strikeouts.
He surrendered a two-out RBI double to Athletics shortstop Marcus
Semien in the second inning but recovered to retire 14 of 15
batters.
"It's a lot better than the last couple of outings, that's for
sure," McHugh said. "Commanded well, made some big pitches in big
situations when I needed to.
"At this point in the season you're running on adrenaline. So it
doesn't really matter, your pitch count is kind of irrelevant at
this point.
"So when you're rolling and you feel good and you want to execute
pitches, you've just got to go out there and do it, no matter what
inning it is, no matter how deep in the game it is. Was able to do
that and it felt good."
The Astros (79-71) extended their lead for the second wild card in
the American League to 2-1/2 games over the Los Angeles Angels and
Minnesota Twins.
Rasmus erased the Athletics' 1-0 lead with his solo home run off
Aaron Brooks (2-4) in the second inning, then added his 21st home
run of the season in the eighth off Athletics left-hander Barry
Zito, a two-run shot.
[to top of second column] |
"It felt great," said Rasmus, who finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
"Any time you can help your team in a situation like that where
we're getting down to the nitty-gritty trying to put some wins on
the board to get back at the Rangers it's a great feeling, and I
feel blessed to be able to do that."
(Compiled by Greg Stutchbury)
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