The Houston Astros had a complete game shutout by Lucas Harrell to defeat the San Diego Padres 1-0 in a pitches dual. Harrell wasn't perfect along the way as he allowed six hits and walked four batters, but he did strike out seven batters.
The Padres had a near equally good performance from starter Clayton Richard who went seven innings allowed just two hits but the one run he allowed made the difference. That one run that made the difference came in the third inning when second baseman Matt Downs hit a solo home run off of Richard.
The Padres nearly got the best of Harrell in the ninth inning when Chase Headley singled to start the inning, and that gave the Padres had runners at first and second with one out. The second hit of the inning came on a Logan Forsythe single, and Alexi Amarista who came into pinch run headed for home on the Forsythe single. Astros left fielder J.D. Martinez was able to get the throw in time to catcher Chris Snyder who tagged out Amarista at home plate.
Harrell was not out of the woods yet as he walked Mark Kotsay to load the bases with two outs, but Harrell was able to strike out Nick Hundley to preserve the win.
Read more about the Astros at The Crawfish Boxes and head over to Gaslamp Ball for the Padres fans' perspective. Baseball Nation is your source for news and analysis around Major League Baseball.
