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 "There was something special today about Keuchel," said Corporan,
who caught the left-hander. "He did everything right, from his
bullpen, with his body language. It was amazing."
Keuchel pitched no-hit ball for 6 1/3 innings as the Astros earned a
6-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday in front of 35,354
at Angel Stadium.
"This is the best team in baseball," Keuchel said about the Angels.
"I knew I had to be on my 'A' game. I didn't try to do too much. I
just tried to get them to hit it on the ground. That's really all I
needed."
Keuchel (11-9) had a perfect game for five innings before walking
catcher Chris Iannetta to begin the bottom of the sixth inning.
Center fielder Mike Trout ended the no-hitter with one out in the
seventh by dumping a sinking line drive into center field for a
single.
"I didn't know I had one," Keuchel said when asked if he realized he
was pitching a no-hitter. "The defense had my back all day and what
can you say about Corporan? We were on the same page the whole
game."
Despite allowing one walk and one hit in his first seven innings,
Keuchel faced the minimum by inducing 15 groundouts, including two
double plays. The left-hander finished with four strikeouts and
conceded the walk, one run and three hits in seven-plus innings.
"His sinker is so good," Houston interim manager Tom Lawless said.
"When he's got his sinker going, he could be behind in counts and
still throw his sinker and get the ground ball."
Complementing Keuchel's repertoire is a pervasive intensity.
"He's not going to give in," Lawless said. "He's such a battler out
there. If I go out and try to pull the ball out of his hand, we
might go toe-to-toe."
The loss ended the Angels' 10-game winning streak, the team's
longest since 2002 and one shy of the club record.
The Astros took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second when shortstop
Gregorio Petit hit a three-run home run off left-hander Hector
Santiago. On a 3-1 pitch, Petit propelled a fastball into the
Angels' left field bullpen for his second homer of the season.
Santiago (5-8) was relieved in the third inning after failing to
retire the three batters he faced. In two-plus innings, Santiago
allowed five walks (one intentional), five hits and three runs while
striking out four and throwing 82 pitches.
"He's been pitching fairly consistently for us," Los Angeles manager
Mike Scioscia said. "It's just one of those games."
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Houston added two runs in the fifth to build a 5-0 lead. Left
fielder Robbie Grossman lined a single over second baseman Howie
Kendrick's glove to bring Corporan and Petit home.
The Astros added their final run in the sixth. Center fielder Dexter
Fowler hit a double down the right-field line and scored on right
fielder Jake Marisnick's single up the middle.
The Angels broke the shutout and forced Keuchel from the game in the
eighth. Kendrick hit a lead-off double to right field and scored on
third baseman David Freese's single. That hit brought right-hander
Jose Veras in from the bullpen to replace Keuchel.
"We've been swinging the bat great," Trout said. "But you're going
to have times when you run into a guy who's throwing strikes and
keeping you off balance."
Houston second baseman Jose Altuve went 2-for-5 and now has 206 hits
to lead the major leagues. Altuve needs four hits to tie the Astros'
single-season record, set by Craig Biggio in 1998.
NOTES: Houston 2B Jose Altuve is the first major leaguer to amass
206 hits, 42 doubles and 52 steals in 97 years. Hall of Famer Ty
Cobb finished the 1917 season with 225 hits, 44 doubles and 55
steals. Altuve added two singles Sunday to bring his hit total to
206 ... Astros DH Chris Carter has hit 23 home runs and driven in 55
runs since July 1. ... The Astros have 15 more victories than they
did at this time last year. ... Los Angeles has made the greatest
improvement in victories from last year. The Angels have won 23 more
than they did last year at this time. ... Angels DH Albert Pujols
needs three RBIs to tie Mike Schmidt for 35th place in career RBIs
with 1,595 and four to equal George Brett's career total of 1,596.
... Angels SS Erick Aybar has hit safely in 25 of his last 29 games
and leads major league shortstops with 159 hits.
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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