Yainer Diaz and Jake Meyers had two RBIs each in an eight-run sixth inning for the Houston Astros, who rallied from a six-run hole to beat the visiting Los Angeles Angels 11-9 on Saturday.
The Astros scored all eight runs with two outs.
Isaac Paredes and Carlos Correa also had two RBIs apiece for the Astros, who avoided an 0-3 start for the second time in three seasons.
Meyers, Correa, Yordan Alvarez and Christian Walker each had two hits for Houston.
Houston starter Cristian Javier went 4 2/3 innings, allowing six runs and four hits, striking out one and walking four.
Kai-Wei Teng (1-0) threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief to earn the victory.
Oswald Peraza homered and singled twice, Jorge Soler and Nolan Schanuel also homered and Mike Trout singled, walked twice and scored two runs for the Angels, who were trying to start 3-0 for the first time since winning their first five games in 2006.
Angels starter Reid Detmers brought a 6-0 lead into the fifth, but the left-hander was finished after throwing 95 pitches in 4 2/3 innings. He allowed three runs and six hits with nine strikeouts and no walks in his return to a starting role after serving as a reliever all of last season.
Rookie right-hander Walbert Urena (0-1) relieved Detmers after a two-run double by Paredes cut it to 6-2 with two outs in the fifth. Urena quickly surrendered an RBI single to Correa that cut it to 6-3.
Urena was close to escaping the sixth before a wild pitch brought home the first run. Correa later came up with the bases loaded and and hit a slow roller in front of the plate that catcher Logan O’Hoppe threw away for a two-run error, tying the score.
Walker then lined a single up the middle of Peraza’s glove to give Houston its first lead of the series at 7-6, chasing Urena.
Diaz hit a slow roller into right field off Joey Lucchesi that scored two more, and Meyers followed with a two-run double over the head of leaping right fielder Jo Adell to stretch Houston’s lead to 11-6.
Schanuel blasted a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth off Houston closer Bryan Abreu to cut it to 11-9.
Peraza homered with two outs in the third to give the Angels a 1-0 lead, and Soler blasted a two-run homer in the fourth to make it 3-0.
The Angels scored three more runs in the fifth on an RBI single by Trout, a run-scoring double play and a wild pitch.
–Field Level Media
