|
 McCullers delivered the strongest start of his brief yet promising
career, twirling a dominating complete-game effort in the Houston
Astros' 3-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles at Minute Maid Park.
McCullers (2-0), who increased his strikeout total in each of his
three prior starts, pitched with an efficiency that had been lacking
since he made his major league debut May 18 against the Oakland
Athletics. He allowed just four hits, recorded 11 strikeouts, and
did not issue a walk. His repertoire -- a mid-90s fastball, slider
and changeup -- was stifling, and carried him during several
extended runs of exceptional control.
"Just pounded the zone early," said McCullers, the 41st selection of
the 2012 draft. "They started getting pretty aggressive early and
(Astros catcher Jason) Castro and I talked and tried to use that to
our advantage, and whatever pitch I threw try to throw it for a
strike and let them kind of force the pace of the game."
McCullers worked six innings in his second career start, a win at
Detroit on May 23, but needed 100 pitches to do so. He had thrown
just 92 pitches by the close of the eighth inning against the
Orioles (23-28).
Upon returning for the ninth, McCullers faced the top of the
Baltimore order. He retired third baseman Manny Machado and left
fielder David Lough with haste but surrendered a two-out, two-strike
single to center fielder Adam Jones, who recorded two of the
Orioles' four hits. That lured Astros manager A.J. Hinch out of the
dugout for a mound meeting.
"I went out wanting to leave him in and asked him how much he had
left in his tank and he said he had plenty left," Hinch said. "And I
told him good because he's going to finish it. This (Orioles first
baseman Chris Davis) was his hitter to get, his game to get. He
earned it, and this was going to be a big step for him because I
wanted to shake hands after that at-bat. He looked me dead in the
eye and was good to go."
McCullers recovered to strike out Davis on his 107th pitch.
"I really wanted Jones there because I didn't want to give Skip that
chance to come snag me," McCullers said. "But I was happy he left me
out there."
The Astros (34-20) supported McCullers with a trio of solo home runs
off Orioles right-hander Miguel Gonzalez (5-4).
First baseman Chris Carter, who entered Wednesday riding a 10-game
hitting streak, bashed a homer with two outs in the second inning, a
378-foot shot to left field. When Carter strolled to the plate for
his second at-bat in the fifth, he victimized Gonzalez again, this
time with a 441-foot blast to left-center for his 10th home run.
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"Two really good fastballs to Carter," Gonzalez said. "I thought
they were where I wanted but this team is playing really well right
now. You can't make minimal mistakes."
The Orioles had pulled even against McCullers before Carter smacked
his second homer, stringing together a one-out triple from Jones and
a two-out RBI single from right fielder Delmon Young in the fourth.
Astros right fielder George Springer added a line-drive homer to
left, his eighth of the season, with one out in the sixth for a 3-1
lead.
"The other guy was a little better," Orioles manager Buck Showalter
said of McCullers. "Just not much margin for error. We've said the
same thing quite a few nights. I'm the first one to tip my hat to a
good young pitcher. You can see why they're so excited about him."
NOTES: Astros LHP Dallas Keuchel was selected the American League
Pitcher of the Month for a second consecutive month after finishing
4-1 with a 2.62 ERA in May. Keuchel struck out 38 batters in a
league-leading 44 2/3 innings and allowed a .233 opponents average
while closing the month with consecutive complete games. ... The
Orioles recalled LHP T.J. McFarland from Triple-A Norfolk while
optioning RHP Oliver Drake to Norfolk. McFarland went 0-1 with a
3.60 ERA in five appearances for Baltimore last month. Drake posted
a 3.52 ERA in five appearances after his recall from Norfolk on May
23. ... The Orioles acquired minor league RHP Joe Gunkel from the
Red Sox in exchange for OF Alejandro De Aza and cash considerations.
Gunkel, 23, is 12-7 with a 3.05 ERA in 54 appearances covering three
minor league seasons, with 178 strikeouts in 165 innings.
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