Christian Walker hit a pair of solo home runs on Saturday to help the visiting Houston Astros post a 6-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on a night that saw Houston eliminated from postseason contention.
Despite the win, the Cleveland Guardians’ 3-2 victory over the Texas Rangers and the Detroit Tigers’ 2-1 triumph over the Boston Red Sox confirmed the American League’s wild-card teams, leaving the Astros out of the postseason for the first time since 2016.
Zach Cole and Jesus Sanchez also homered and drove in two for Houston (86-75), which will finish its season Sunday afternoon against the Angels. AJ Blubaugh threw four scoreless innings for the Astros, allowing one hit, while walking four and striking out two. J.P. France (1-0) allowed one run on two hits in three innings of relief, striking out five and walking one.
Caden Dana (0-4) threw seven innings for Los Angeles, surrendering five runs on five hits, striking out five and walking one. Jo Adell’s RBI double in the sixth accounted for the entirety of the Angels’ (72-89) offense. Los Angeles will miss the postseason for the 11th straight year.
After Yainer Diaz singled with one out in the second, Cole clubbed the fourth homer of his rookie campaign to give the Astros a 2-0 edge.
Following their elimination after Cleveland’s win, the Astros tacked on with Walker’s 26th homer of the year with one out in the fourth. Cole then walked and scored on Sanchez’s two-run homer to push Houston’s lead to 5-0.
France entered in the sixth, allowing Mike Trout’s single and Adell’s run-scoring double, slicing Houston’s lead to 5-1. After Logan O’Hoppe walked, France struck out Christian Moore and Oswald Peraza to end the frame.
Walker’s 27th homer of the season off of Los Angeles reliever Jose Urena extended the Astros’ advantage to 6-1 in the top of the ninth.
