Just when you thought Cuban first baseman José Abreu would maybe cool off, you were wrong. A three for four night with three RBIs would be crucial in the Houston Astros 5-4 victory against the last place Washington Nationals.
Abreu wasted no time getting it going for the Astros offense, as in the bottom of the first inning, with runners on first and second, El “Pito” smacked an RBI double that left the bat at 85.4 MPH and went 249 feet. Abreu’s RBI double drove in both Jose Altuve and Kyle Tucker to give Houston an early 2-0 lead. That was Abreu’s tenth double of the season for the first baseman.
Although Abreu’s power has diminished throughout the years, he showed some of that former power with his fourth home run of the season. On a 2-1 count, Nationals starter Josiah Gray went with a 86.1 MPH slider which landed in the low corner of the zone, but just where Abreu could get a piece of it and crank it 417 feet into the air at 109.6 MPH which would be the hardest hit ball of the night. Abreu’s homer extended the lead, to 3-0. Abreu’s homer would be his first home run at Minute Maid park this season.
After flying out in the bottom of the sixth, Abreu would get one final chance in the ninth inning, where the game was tied at four apiece with the Nationals comeback. With a runner on first, Abreu’s hit moved the runner to second and eventually was the game winning run that scored to give Houston a 5-4 victory and series win against the Nationals.
Pelota Cubana spoke to Abreu after the game and his comments were just about continuing and even made a joke about how he had to talk to the baseball bats to tell them to get it going. With the absence of fellow Cuban outfielder Yordan Alvarez, Abreu has taken over and been the Astros best hitter thus far in the month of June.
With the win, the Astros move to 39-29 while the Nationals go to 26-40. Washington is the third team in the National League to get to the 40 loss marker. The Nats will attempt to salvage the series as they have MacKenzie Gore on the mound against Christian Javier.