TA-DA! Altuve does it all
(c) Associated Press
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Since signing with the Astros, Houston-born catcher Chris Snyder has wanted to get a big hit to help his hometown team. On Wednesday, he finally got one. In a 4-4 tie, Snyder punched a two-out single down the first base line to score Brian Bogusevic with the go-ahead run in a 7-5 victory over Milwaukee.
Jose Altuve led the way with four hits and three runs scored as the offense cranked out 14 hits to beat the Brewers for the first time in their past 12 games. The littlest Astro raised his season batting average to .377 and might get consideration for NL Player of the Month if Matt Kemp didn't exist.
J.D. Martinez added three hits while Bogusevic and Snyder had two each as Houston's popgun attack proved mightier than Milwaukee's muscle.
Shaun Marcum and J.A. Happ dueled to a 4-4 draw through the first five innings before the bullpens went to work. Snyder's single broke the tie in the seventh after Bogusevic had doubled and alertly stole third on Jose Veras.
Houston padded their lead against Mike McClendon in the eighth. After Jordan Schafer singled to extend his on-base streak to 19 games and Altuve lashed a double, Martinez brought them both home with a single to center.
The Brewers countered with a solo homer from Corey Hart, the third Milwaukee homer of the day after Ryan Braun and Travis Ishikawa had earlier gone deep against Happ.
In their last three series, the Astros are 3-0 in the finale and 0-7 the rest of the time. They've outscored their opponents, 30-9, in those series finales.
Kyle Weiland will be skipped during the Thursday off-day which means Wandy Rodriguez (1-2) will pitch the Friday opener in Cincinnati against Mike "Security" Leake (0-2). The first pitch will be at 6:10 Central time, weather permitting.
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