Angels get quality start, but struggle to hit Astros

ANAHEIM>> Although the Angels are finally getting the kind of starting pitching they need, they are nonetheless slipping in the wild card race.

Despite a fourth consecutive game in which the Angels starter gave up two runs or fewer in at least five innings, the Angels were losing, 5-2, to the Houston Astros in the ninth inning at press time on Thursday night.

The Angels were in jeopardy of falling three games behind the Minnesota Twins in the wild card race, the first time since the morning of Aug. 8 they had been that far out of a playoff spot. The Angels have 16 games remaining.

There was also more bad news for the pitching staff, with Keynan Middleton leaving the game with right ulnar nerve irritation.

On the bright side, the Angels’ rotation suddenly looks slightly more solid. In the last four games, none of their starters has allowed more than two runs.

Ricky Nolasco gave up two runs in six innings, his best outing in more than a month.

Nolasco gave up both runs in the second inning, when he allowed three hits. After that, Nolasco retired 13 of the next 15 batters, to get through the sixth.

When Nolasco left, the Angels trailed 2-1, their only run coming on a Luis Valbuena homer.

It was the second homer in as many games for Valbuena, whose bat flip after Wednesday’s homer prompted a purpose pitch that got Mike Fiers suspended for five games. Valbuena said that he won’t change how he plays, although his flip was much more mild on his Thursday homer.

It was Valbuena’s 10th homer in the last 24 games, and 15th since the All-Star break.

Other than Valbuena’s homer, though, the Angels could not score against Houston starter Brad Peacock. They left the bases loaded in the first inning – on an Andrelton Simmons flyout – and didn’t otherwise put much pressure on the Astros.

The game also included a new obstacle for Albert Pujols.

The Astros, who were at the forefront of the movement of extreme defensive shifts a few years ago, played Pujols in a new way.

Because Pujols has lost so much speed, any ground ball he hits is an easy out. So the Astros pushed both their middle infielders into the outfield, with shortstop Carlos Correa positioned 197 feet from home plate, in shallow left. Second baseman Jose Altuve was 188 feet deep, about 60 feet behind the bag.

This allowed them to keep almost any ground ball from getting by them, and still have time to throw out Pujols. Sure enough, Pujols hit a hard ground ball that Correa fielded in shallow left, throwing out Pujols at first.

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Aside from reducing Pujols’ chances of getting a ground ball by the infielders, it also makes him run harder, because there aren’t routine groundouts to left field.

Of course, the alignment only works when there are no runners on base, because the infielders couldn’t cover on stolen bases on turn double plays.