Left-hander Patrick Sandoval pitched three zeroes in a row with 42 pitches tonight against the Houston Astros at Angel Stadium.
However, at the start of the fourth inning, the Astros stopped chasing his change of pace and Sandoval slipped slightly in command.
He walked a pair of third and fourth bats, Carlos Correa and Yordan Álvarez, spending 15 pitches, and then Aledmys Diaz hit a centerfield hit that filled the Astros’ pads.
Kyle Tucker, who was averaging .847 OPS with a home run and 3 RBIs in his last 33 home plate appearances before the game, entered the plate with bases loaded.
Sandoval had already dominated him with an inconsequential fly to third during the second inning. What happened then?… When the Angels left-hander tried to attack the far corner, Tucker’s swing reminded why he has produced the second-best average exit speed (91.5 mph) in the Astros lineup this season: Haló with fury. and it devoured the slider of just 81 mph, producing a 102.2 mph blast that landed 400-ft from home plate on the rightfield of Angel Stadium.
King Tuck doing what he does best 👑#ForTheH pic.twitter.com/68kWm04e1a
– Houston Astros (@astros) August 14, 2021
Grand Slam! Grand Slam! The Astros took the lead, 4-0!
One swing from Kyle was enough to give one of the rotation aces, 37-year-old right-hander Zack Greinke an advantage.
That was the first Grand Slam of Kyle Tucker’s career, but the most interesting story follows. Only three Astros had hit a bases loaded homer against the Angels on a visit to Angel Stadium:
According to Baseball-Reference.com, they all hit home runs at Angel Stadium. However, none of them made it in a fourth inning! So Tucker’s bombshell detonated to open his own place in franchise history!
Marwin Gonzalez’s homer came in the fifth inning, Springer hit it in the sixth, Carter in the third, and now Tucker completed the run with his Grand Slam tonight opening the fourth inning!
(Photo: Kyle Tucker / Houston Astros)