Detroit Tigers vs Houston Astros Match Player Stats On May 24, 2017

The Sports Xchange
May 24, 2017

HOUSTON -- After reaching base and scoring in succession in the third inning, Jose Iglesias and Ian Kinsler pulled the trick again in the eighth, allowing the Detroit Tigers to claim a 6-3 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday night at Minute Maid Park.

Iglesias and Kinsler sparked the eighth-inning rally against Astros right-hander Chris Devenski (3-3), with Iglesias reaching via a leadoff double and Kinsler following with a single to center field, where Jake Marisnick added an errant throw home that enabled Kinsler to take second base with no outs and the score deadlocked at 2-2.

Alex Avila and Victor Martinez followed with sharply hit balls to the right side of the infield, grounders that Jose Altuve and Yuli Gurriel failed to field cleanly. Iglesias and then Kinsler scored as Detroit (22-23) snapped a three-game skid.

Iglesias added a two-run home run with two outs in the ninth off right-hander Jordan Jankowski, who was making his major league debut.

Tigers right-hander Shane Greene (1-0) earned the win in relief of southpaw Daniel Norris by retiring all five batters he faced. Norris was stellar before leaving with one out in the seventh inning, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts. He retired the last 10 batters he faced.

Astros right-hander Charlie Morton produced his best outing of the season, surrendering two runs on four hits and three walks with six strikeouts over seven innings.

The Astros (31-16) mustered a pair of sacrifice flies in support of Morton, with Evan Gattis plating George Springer in the third inning and Nori Aoki driving home Gurriel in the fourth.

It took a while for Morton to settle in. He needed a double-play grounder off the bat of Martinez to escape a mess of two baserunners with one out in the first inning, and when Kinsler followed an Iglesias leadoff single with a double to left field in the third, Morton fell victim to a brief bout of wildness.

With two runners in scoring position, Morton uncorked a wild pitch to Avila, enabling Iglesias to score the first run and Kinsler to advance to third base. And while Morton rebounded with another double-play grounder, this one from Miguel Cabrera, Kinsler scored as the Tigers grabbed a 2-0 lead.

Morton finished with a flourish, retiring the Tigers in order in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings. Only Martinez, who singled with two outs in the sixth, reached base after the Tigers broke the scoreless tie.

NOTES: Astros LHP Dallas Keuchel said that he will start against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday when he is eligible to return from the 10-day disabled list. Keuchel landed on the DL on May 20 (retroactive to May 17) with a pinched nerve in his neck and missed his turn in the rotation on Monday. Astros manager A.J. Hinch was non-committal, and plans to wait until Friday before rendering a decision. ... Tigers 3B Nicholas Castellanos was absent from the starting lineup for the first time this season, one night after committing his ninth error, the most in the majors among third basemen. Castellanos committed nine errors total in 2016. He is mired in an 0-for-12 skid and is slashing .187/.271/.280 in May. Castellanos will not play on Thursday, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. ... The Astros traded OF Andrew Aplin to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for cash considerations or a player to be named later. Aplin, designated for assignment on Monday, was a fifth-round pick of the Astros in 2012 out of Arizona State.