Astros get to Heaney, Angels early, take rubber match

Photo courtesy of Bob Levey/Getty Images

After an intense pitchers' duel the previous night, the Astros apparently decided to win a ballgame in a more conventional way.

Houston finished off their three-game series with the Los Angeles style in explosive fashion, blasting a season-high five home runs en route to a 9-1 win on Wednesday night.

The Astros wasted no time putting runs on the board -- literally. José Altuve got the party started by clubbing the first pitch of the game into right field for a solo shot.

Not to be outdone, Yuli Gurriel followed Altuve's lead by slugging his own home run in the same inning -- his was an opposite-field two-run homer that put Houston up 3-0 after the first inning.

José Urquidy, facing an Angels lineup without either of Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon or David Fletcher, was impeccable to start. The Mexican right-hander allowed only two baserunners through three innings of work to begin his outing.

After collecting two outs in the third, Urquidy was visited by the trainer and Dusty Baker, and minutes later was taken out of the game. Later, it was revealed that he left due to posterior shoulder discomfort on his throwing arm, and was listed as day-to-day.

In his stead, Brandon Bielak came on and continued mowing down Angels batters. After a rough outing on Monday that saw him allow the first four hitters to reach, Bielak went for 3.1 innings and allowed only three hitters to reach, along with one run.

The Astros, meanwhile, just kept clubbing home runs. Prior to tonight, the most home runs they had hit in a game was four, which had happened six days ago at Yankee Stadium. After Altuve and Gurriel's home run, Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez both launched moonshots into right field, Both home runs were over 400 feet.

It was Chas McCormick, filling in for Myles Straw, who capped off an explosive night for the Astros at the plate with a three-run blast in the eighth inning.

Brandon Bielak, in relief of Urquidy, earned his second win of the season. The Astros moved to 20-17 with the victory.

Houston will welcome their in-state rivals, the Texas Rangers, into Minute Maid Park on Thursday for a four-game series, the first series between Houston and Arlington this season. Cristian Javier will take on the Rangers' Mike Foltynewicz. First pitch is scheduled for 7 PM CT.