OC Register: José Suarez, Luis Rengifo lift Angels to victory over Astros

[AngelsWin.com]

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  Houston Astros’ Jose Siri, right, steals second past Los Angeles Angels shortstop Luis Rengifo during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

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  Jose Siri #26 of the Houston Astros slides into second base safely ahead of the tag by Luis Rengifo #2 of the Los Angeles Angels in the fourth inning at Minute Maid Park on September 11, 2021 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)

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  Jose Siri #26 of the Houston Astros slides into second base safely ahead of the tag by Luis Rengifo #2 of the Los Angeles Angels in the fourth inning at Minute Maid Park on September 11, 2021 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)

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  Los Angeles Angels’ Luis Rengifo (2) celebrates his two-run home run with Jo Adell during the third inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

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  Houston Astros trainer tends to Jose Siri #26 who cut his finger sliding into second base in the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Minute Maid Park on September 11, 2021 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)

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  Jack Mayfield #9 of the Los Angeles Angels doubles in the sixth inning against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park on September 11, 2021 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)

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  Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Angels grounds out to Yuli Gurriel #10 of the Houston Astros in the sixth inning at Minute Maid Park on September 11, 2021 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)

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  Los Angeles Angels’ Luis Rengifo celebrates his two-run home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

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  Los Angeles Angels’ Luis Rengifo celebrates his two-run home run with third base coach Brian Butterfield during the third inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

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  Houston Astros starting pitcher Luis Garcia, right, throws out Max Stassi during the third inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

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HOUSTON — So far September is going pretty well for a couple players trying to carve out a spot on the 2022 Angels.

Starter José Suarez gave up just one run and Luis Rengifo hit a two-run homer in the Angels’ 4-2 victory over the Houston Astros on Saturday night.

Suarez, 23, has allowed two runs in 14-2/3 innings in his this starts this month, including the Angels’ only complete game of the season.

Rengifo, 24, has a pair of homers this week, and six hits in 18 at-bats since he came back from Triple-A at the start of the month.

Both players had struggled enough in the majors during sporadic opportunities prior to this season for the shine to have worn off their status as former prospects.

This month, though, there is reason for optimism surrounding both of them.

Suarez gave up one run in 5-2/3 innings on Saturday, cutting his ERA to 3.59 this season. He gave up one run in a complete game last weekend against the last-place Texas Rangers, so the Astros certainly represented a tougher challenge.

Suarez started strong again, facing the minimum through the first three innings.

In the fourth, though, the Astros pushed him. Suarez lost a nine-pitch battle with José Siri, who singled into right for the Astros first hit of the game. He then walked Alex Bregman at the end of a nine-pitch duel, before giving up a first-pitch single to Yordan Alvarez.

Just like that, the Astros had the bases loaded with one out and Suarez had already thrown 27 pitches in the inning.

Suarez, however, needed just three more pitches to retire Yuli Gurriel and Carlos Correa on a pair of groundouts. A run scored, but major damage was avoided.

And after that marathon inning, Suarez responded with a 13-pitch fifth inning. He then struck out Siri and Bregman to start the sixth, before giving up a double to Alvarez, ending his night.

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Relievers Mike Mayers, Steve Cishek and Raisel Iglesias then preserved the victory for Suarez.

They had a cushion after Rengifo doubled the lead with a two-run homer in the third inning.

Rengifo started at shortstop for the fifth time in the six games he’s played since returning from Triple-A on Sept. 1.

He made a nice play charging on a high chopper in the first inning. He also got a force at third to help the Angels escape the Astros only serious threat in the fourth inning.

At the plate, Rengifo has continued to show encouraging signs after he posted a .915 OPS in the 23 games he played at Salt Lake since the Angels’ sent him back to Triple-A in early August.

More to come on this story.

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[wopphil]

Suarez has been one of the brightest spots of this season (and one of the least discussed). He continues to prove he is capable of being a very good rotation piece. If guys like Rodriguez and Sandoval can stay healthy, the rotation has a lot of potential.