Astros Hold Off Late Angels Rally to Win Slugfest at Daikin Park

The Houston Astros survived a furious ninth-inning rally from the Los Angeles Angels to secure a 9-7 victory on Sunday at Daikin Park in what amounted to a back-and-forth slugfest that had no business being this competitive. This was supposed to be a spring training tuneup, but somebody forgot to tell these teams they’re not supposed to play like the postseason is on the line in late March.

The Astros looked dominant early, particularly through the work of reliever AJ Blubaugh, who tossed two perfect innings with a pair of strikedowns. Meanwhile, the Angels’ pitching was an absolute tire fire from the jump, with starter Drew Pomeranz lasting just one inning and surrendering three earned runs on two hits and two walks. That’s the kind of disaster that has general managers frantically checking their phones.

Angels Fight Back, But It’s Not Enough

Credit the Angels for refusing to go quietly into the night. Jorge Soler, who finished with an impressive three RBIs on the afternoon, cranked a line drive double in the third that scored three runs and suddenly the Angels were right back in the conversation. The lineup kept pecking away, with Zach Neto launching a two-run homer in the fourth to keep things competitive and put Los Angeles ahead 7-6 at one point. This was baseball played with some actual intensity, even if it was March.

But here’s where the Astros showed their mettle. In the eighth inning, Houston’s lineup exploded for a crucial two-run rally anchored by Isaac Paredes’ doubles and Jose Altuve’s sharp line drive single. Those two runs proved to be the difference, because Bryan King came in and shut the door hard, striking out two in his save situation. The Astros’ eighth-inning execution was crisp and purposeful, exactly what you want to see from a contending team even in spring ball.

Late Drama Doesn’t Change the Outcome

The Angels made things interesting in the ninth with Nolan Schanuel’s ground ball single that scored Adam Frazier and kept Mike Trout in scoring position, but it was too little too late. King simply had his stuff working and didn’t allow the Angels to get the equalizer they desperately sought. This is the kind of game that haunts teams in the long season ahead, the type of loss that separates pretenders from contenders because the Angels had every opportunity to win this thing.

What stands out here is that neither team did anything particularly graceful offensively. The scoring plays tell the story of an afternoon where line drives found grass and mistakes were punished immediately. Soler and Neto carried the offensive load for Los Angeles, but it simply wasn’t enough to overcome a pitching staff that couldn’t get out of its own way early. Pomeranz’s performance was particularly egregious, a complete lack of command that set the tone for everything that followed.

The Astros will take the victory and move forward with confidence that their bullpen can execute in tight situations. The Angels will wonder what might have been with better starting pitching and coaching. That’s spring training baseball, folks. Even when it matters least, it still matters.