Castro: Three hits in blowout
(c) Associated Press
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Bud Norris might have pitched his worst game of the young season but he came away with his first win and got the key hit in an 11-4 slapfest over the Washington Nationals on Thursday that prevented a series sweep. The victory closed out a 2-5 road trip and boosted their record to 5-8.
It's usually a good sign for a pitcher when he gets to hit before he's thrown his first pitch and Norris got to enjoy a five-run first before taking the mound. The Astros set a team record with three triples in the first inning (Jose Altuve, Brian Bogusevic and Matt Downs).
But Norris almost couldn't enjoy the prosperity. He gave up a run in the second and then a three-run homer in the third to Ryan Zimmermann. Suddenly, that five-run lead was down to one and Norris struggled through another three innings before getting the hook. Overall, he allowed 10 hits and four runs.
Washington has a lot of Astro-killers (Adam LaRoche, Xavier Nady, Mark DeRosa) but that's off-set by Tom Gorzelanny. The ex-Pirate lefty entered in the sixth and soon found himself with the bases loaded and one out.
Up stepped Norris who drilled a two-run single to left center that gave the pitcher some breathing room. Altuve launched a two-run double off the wall and the rout was on. Gorzelanny allowed two more runs to put the Astros at ease for the rest of the evening.
Everyone in the starting lineup had at least one hit for Houston, including Bogusevic and Jason Castro with three hits each. Four other Astros had multi-hit nights and five different Astros had two RBIs apiece. The 17-hit effort was, by far, the best of the season.
Now with all of that offense out of their system, the Astros return home to open a three-game weekend set against the red-hot Los Angeles Dodgers. Soft-tossing lefties J.A. Happ (1-0) and Ted Lilly (1-0) will face off in the 7:05 Central "Flashback Friday" contest.
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