Javier Exactly the Jolt Houston Astros Need After Suffering Numerous Injury Blows

Cristian Javier allowed a two-run home run to Hunter Renfroe.

Other than that, Javier was brilliant.

In six innings, Javier gave up three hits, two runs and struck out 11 with one walk in six strong innings.

The Houston Astros defeated the Los Angeles Angels 5-4 on Wednesday.

It was Javier who buoyed the Astros with his second double-digit strikeout performance this season.

Great starting pitching can solve a lot of problems.

“Javi was good,” manager Dusty Baker said. “He had his high fastball working and he only made one mistake. The homer was a hanging slider, but other than that, he was good. He was excellent.”

The top three hitters in the Angels’ lineup went 0-for-9 against Javier with seven strikeouts. He had command of all his pitches and kept the Angels completely off balance with the exception of the home run.

“When I see the ball get to good locations, that’s the first thing that tells me the pitch is feeling good -- and also, the swings from the hitters,” Javier told reporters.

After the game, Angels manager Phil Nevin spoke at length about Javier’s nasty arsenal of pitches.

“It's just got so much ride on it,” Nevin told reporters of Javier. “Really, his release point is a little lower than most and the fastball has so much ride. He can really hit that top rail consistently, which not a lot of guys can do. It’s just a tough pitch. Back in my day, we’d say, ‘Get the ball down,’ and when guys swung through pitches up, we didn’t understand why. But with technology now, we know that pitch has ride and it looks like it’s in a certain spot, but it’s not. It’s a really tough pitch to hit, obviously.”

With the litany of injuries to the pitching staff, outings like this one are crucial. The Astros need Javier more than ever now. Javier proved Wednesday what he’s capable of producing.

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