McCormick backs McCullers with 'beautiful swing' 

HOUSTON -- There’s no way better way to get on a pitcher’s good side than to help him pick up a much-deserved victory. So when outfielder Chas McCormick blasted a two-run homer in the seventh inning Friday that put the Astros ahead, pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. met him in the dugout and jokingly issued a pardon.

“After the home run I hit, he said he forgave me,” said McCormick, who threw to the wrong base in McCullers’ previous start Sept. 2 in Anaheim. “It took him a couple of days, but I'm glad he’s back on my side.”

McCullers, who threw seven strong innings to win his second consecutive start in the Astros’ 4-3 victory over the Angels at Minute Maid Park, was thankful for McCormick driving in three runs -- including a bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning that proved to be the difference -- as well as being a good sport.

“He’s really come along this year and is playing excellent baseball and swinging the bat well and has played a great center field for us,” McCullers said. “I was giving him a hard time because he told me he didn’t get behind the ball as well as he wanted to in L.A.”

In this fifth start of the season after recovering from a strained right flexor tendon that kept him out of action until Aug. 13, McCullers pitched his best game yet. He reached season highs for innings pitched and pitches (105) while allowing two runs, four hits and one walk and striking out six batters.

“He’s kind of at the end of his Spring Training and he was very sharp with his fastball, very good command of his slider, good changeup,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “He had it all working. He just got that ball up [to Mike Trout for a sixth-inning homer]. That was probably the only mistake that he made. Other than that, he was real good. We had him down for 100 pitches and tried to extend his endurance, and I think he ended up with 105, which is a good day’s work.”

McCullers averaged 5.8 walks per nine innings in his first four outings (14 walks in 21 2/3 innings) but walked only one of the 26 batters he faced Friday. He credits the improved strike throwing with a change of mindset from “don’t walk people” to “attack the zone.”

“Felt much more confident with my stuff in the zone,” he said. “I felt like I was executing well. I had a good week of throwing. I threw two bullpens this week with the extended rest and just felt confident going into the game.”

The only blemish against McCullers came in the sixth inning when he left a sinker up to Trout, who hit a long drive to left-center that was his fifth homer in as many games. It put the Angels ahead, 2-0, before Jeremy Peña homered in the bottom of the inning to make it 2-1.

“I needed one batter, one pitch back, but other than that I felt pretty good about the effort,” McCullers said.

McCullers gave up a leadoff single in the seventh but -- with the bullpen starting to stir -- he came back to record three consecutive outs to finish off seven innings for the first time since July 16, 2021, at the White Sox.

“I’ve been looking forward to being a little more pitch efficient and being able to dip into that 100-plus range, and they gave me that opportunity tonight,” McCullers said. “I’m glad that I executed when I needed to and finished strong.”

The late-season return of McCullers to a rotation that’s been the best in the American League for much of the season is a huge advantage for the Astros with the playoffs looming. McCullers has pitched in 16 career playoff games (nine starts), closing out Game 7 of the 2017 AL Championship Series and starting Game 7 of the 2017 World Series. He has a career 2.83 ERA in the playoffs and figures to play a key role in Houston’s October rotation once again.

“It’s great to get deep into a game and the offense came up big for me and dug me out of that hole in the seventh,” McCullers said. “Chas with a beautiful swing.”