Jose Suarez extends surge, but Angels' offense stifled again in loss to Astros

HOUSTON — Jose Suarez showed more promising signs in his return to the starting rotation, but the Angels were once again plagued by a lack of run support in Thursday’s 3-1 loss to the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Jon Singleton provided the decisive margin with a two-out, two-run double in the eighth inning off reliever Ryan Miller.

Taylor Ward blasted his fifth leadoff home run of the season (all in the last 19 games), tying him for fifth-most in MLB. However, that proved to be the only offense the Angels could muster against Astros starter Yusei Kikuchi and a trio of veteran relievers in Hector Neris, Bryan Abreu, and Josh Hader. The Angels struck out 11 times while walking only once and went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position.

Since the All-Star break, the Angels rank last in MLB in batting average (.216) and are second-to-last in OPS (.644), and they’ve scored the third-fewest runs in baseball over those 57 games (215).

With Thursday’s loss, the Angels (62-91) had their brief two-game winning streak snapped, while the AL West-leading Astros (83-70) moved closer to clinching another division title.

Even so, for a young team, there was plenty to like on the mound. Making his second start of the year – both against the Astros – Suarez again kept them off-balance with five innings of one-run ball (none earned). The 26-year-old gave up three hits and two walks while striking out five, and an ERA that was at 8.15 when Suarez rejoined the Angels on Sept. 9 is now more than two runs lower at 6.08.

In 12 September innings since being recalled from Triple A Salt Lake, Suarez has allowed just that one unearned run while striking out 14 and allowing only eight hits. But the latter two have still resulted in losses to the Astros, with a lack of run support becoming an all-too-familiar theme.

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