Houston Astros vs Miami Marlins Box Score on May 17, 2017

The Sports Xchange
May 17, 2017

MIAMI -- Lance McCullers pitched six scoreless innings, and Jose Altuve slugged four extra-base hits to lead the Houston Astros to a 3-0 win over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday afternoon at Marlins Park.

The Astros (29-12) own the best record in the majors and have won 15 of their past 19 games.

Miami (14-25) ended its homestand at 1-8. The Marlins have lost 17 of their past 21 games and are in last place in the National League East. They also have one of the two worst records in the majors.

McCullers (4-1), wearing "16" on his cleats as a tribute to the late Jose Fernandez, allowed three hits and two walks. He extended his streak of not allowing an earned run to 17 consecutive innings.

Fernandez, the former Marlins star who died in boat crash this past September, played his high school ball in Tampa. He and McCullers were teammates on a travel-ball team, the Tampa Bay Warriors. The two trained together for several years.

Altuve went 4-for-5 with two triples, two doubles and one RBI. Houston's other batting hero was George Springer, who went 2-for-5 with two RBIs.

Springer led off the game with a double over a leaping Giancarlo Stanton in right field. With one out, Altuve ripped a double down the third-base line that bounced over the glove of Derek Dietrich, scoring Springer and giving Houston a 1-0 lead.

It was the fourth first-inning run scored in this series by Houston.

The Astros scored two unearned runs in the sixth to extend their lead to 3-0. With two outs, Alex Bregman singled and advanced to second when Jake Marisnick was hit by a pitch. Miami should have escaped the jam when McCullers hit a bouncer to Dee Gordon at second.

However, Gordon fielded the ball and flipped to rookie shortstop JT Riddle, who didn't have his footwork in order and failed to make the grab. Gordon was given the throwing error, and Houston cashed in on a two-run single by Springer, whose shot got past diving first baseman Justin Bour.

NOTES: Astros SS Marwin Gonzalez went 0-for-3 and had his 11-game hit streak snapped. ... Miami dropped to 6-2 when C A.J. Ellis starts. ... Miami recalled INF Christian Colon, RHP Brian Ellington and RHP Odrisamer Despaigne from Triple-A New Orleans. Miami optioned RHP Tom Koehler to New Orleans, placed RHP Junichi Tazawa on the disabled list and designated INF Mike Aviles for assignment. ... Of the five starters that began the season in Miami's rotation, Koehler and LHP Adam Conley have been demoted to New Orleans, LHP Wei-Yin Chen is on the disabled list, RHP Edinson Volquez is winless (0-5) and RHP Dan Straily has one win. ... Houston rested SS Carlos Correa, whose 46 homers are the second most in MLB history for a shortstop younger than 23. Only Alex Rodriguez had more. ... Houston rested Brian McCann, who is 11th in MLB history with 238 homers by a catcher. McCann has 25 RBIs, tops among AL catchers. ... Miami starts a six-game road trip on Thursday night at the Los Angeles Dodgers. ... Houston starts a 10-game homestand on Friday vs. the Cleveland Indians.