Jason Castro slams home-run as Houston Astros beat Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1 - MLB Update
Catcher Jason Castro lifts the charge late in the innings with a home-run as he takes the Houston Astros to a 4-1 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Minute Maid Park, Houston, Texas on September 22, 2012 in the second game of the three match series.
Astros had a humble beginning in the game. Apart from the first inning, they were scoreless from the second through the end of the sixth. The score of both teams remained tied for most part of the game.
Before the start of the seventh, it was looking as if the game will end up as a tie and the additional innings will be played. However the three-run homer slammed by Castro in the seventh provided the Astros a reasonable lead which remained intact until
the conclusion of the game.
Starter Dallas Keuchel completed seven solid innings for the Astros. He inhibited the opposition from scoring runs and as a result he restricted them to a total which was not enough for winning the game. He leaked one run and yielded just four hits while
striking-out five.
Astros will be going into the next game with momentum on their side. However, they will like their batters to strike hits when the runners are in the scoring position more often.
The fact Keuchel owes his win in the game to a massive home-run by Castro has been rightly acknowledged by him. He is all-praise for Castro and calls his contribution the greatest reason of their victory on Saturday.
"That's probably the best game I've felt, and I have to give Castro all the credit in the world, because he called a great game," Keuchel said.
Astros’ manager Tony DeFrancesco points out the important role Keuchel played in keeping them in control of the game. He did not allow easy hits and thus was successful in stopping home-runs.
"He kept us in the game," Tony DeFrancesco said. "He made some big pitches when he had to. I thought he was in control the whole game.”
Astros will be aiming at earning better run support next time. It will be interesting to see whether their batters can help them post a reasonable number of runs on the scoreboard in the last game of the series.
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