San Diego Padres vs Houston Astros Match Player Stats On Sep 08, 2023

Blake Snell extended his run of quality starts amid his Cy Young Award pursuit and the visiting San Diego Padres parlayed aggressive baserunning into an 11-2 interleague victory over the Houston Astros on Friday.

Snell (13-9) allowed two runs on five hits and three walks with eight strikeouts over six innings while posting his sixth consecutive quality start. The 2018 American League Cy Young Award winner while with the Tampa Bay Rays, Snell has surrendered three earned runs or fewer in 20 consecutive starts, going 12-3 with a 1.40 ERA during that span.

Three batters into his 29th start of this season, Snell found himself trailing 1-0 after Yordan Alvarez singled home Jeremy Pena, who had doubled. But Snell quickly settled in, retiring the next eight batters in order, six via the strikeout.

Snell worked around a pair of walks in the fourth inning and a two-out single from Jose Altuve in the fifth. Alvarez walked and scored on a Jose Abreu double in the sixth, but the Padres (67-75) still led 6-2 thanks to a four-run second inning.

The Padres' strong baserunning helped, starting in the second inning, with Manny Machado breaking early for second base and avoiding a double play when Xander Bogaerts tapped a grounder to third. Machado, who had stroked a leadoff single, scored when Luis Campusano delivered a single to center. Three batters later, Trent Grisham added an RBI single, and his stolen base helped set up Ha-Seong Kim's two-run single, which extended the lead to 4-1.

Kim swiped second base in the fifth and pilfered second and third in the seventh, and scored both times. Juan Soto's double scored Kim in the fifth and also chased Astros right-hander Hunter Brown (10-11). Machado drove home Kim and Soto with a double off Jose Urquidy in the seventh.

Kim, Machado and Grisham, whose launched a three-run homer in the eighth, recorded two hits apiece. The Padres swiped five bases.

Brown allowed six runs on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings. The Astros (80-62), fresh off a three-game dismantling of the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas, fell to 35-35 at Minute Maid Park with their 10th loss in their last 12 games there.

--Field Level Media