Astros hammer Angels 14-2 in Mexico

Published 2:10 am Sunday, May 5, 2019

MONTERREY, Mexico — Alex Bregman hit two of Houston’s five home runs and the Astros broke out the bats in a big way, routing the Los Angeles Angels 14-2 Saturday night.

Michael Brantley, Yuli Gurriel and George Springer also homered for Houston in the opener of a two-game series in Mexico.

After totaling just four runs in losing their previous two games to Minnesota, the Astros teed off at the raucous Estadio de Beisbol de Monterrey. Houston scored in each of the first six innings in building a 10-2 lead.

Albert Pujols hit a solo homer for the Angels, who had won four in a row. He now has 1,999 career RBIs.

Wade Miley (2-2) allowed two runs in six innings. Trevor Cahill (1-3) was tagged for six runs in 3 1/3 innings.

Bregman hit a solo homer in the first inning and added a three-run shot in the eight. Springer hit his 10th homer and Brantley drove in four runs.

The Angels and Astros both played a regular-season game in Mexico for the first time. Both teams had played exhibition games in the country.

Major League Baseball has committed to bring games south of the border until 2021.

Cahill and Miley became the first major league pitchers to make regular-season starts in four different countries. Cahill and Miley started games when Arizona played the Los Angeles Dodgers in Australia in 2014 and they also have starts in the United States and Canada.