HOUSTON _ The tribute looped from Angels pitcher Andrew Heaney's hand at an undetermined speed, slow enough to avoid detection from the Minute Maid Park radar gun, but distinct enough to leave no doubt.
Heaney's first pitch of the Angels' 4-0 loss to the Houston Astros on Saturday was a languid overhand curveball, the sort that Tyler Skaggs threw better than all but a few others. Heaney threw the pitch because Skaggs could not.
The death of Skaggs a few days ago devastated the Angels. The grief has not ceased. The process plays out on a nightly basis, as the organization absorbs the reality of its loss.
Heaney considered Skaggs his best friend. He had held Skaggs' jersey aloft during a moment of silence in Arlington, Texas. Heaney took the mound Saturday still reeling. He acquitted himself well, leaving after striking out five batters during five innings of two-run baseball.
The offense provided Heaney no support. A night after hitting three home runs against Astros ace Justin Verlander, the Angels could not solve Gerrit Cole. Cole (9-5) limited the Angels (45-45) to three hits and struck out nine in seven innings.
The Astros (56-33) broke through in the fourth inning. Alex Bregman led off with a single. A single by designated hitter Yordan Alvarez followed. With two outs and runners at the corners, Josh Reddick dunked a single into right field. Bregman chugged home for the first run.
Bregman drove in a run an inning later. He batted after a one-out walk to George Springer. Heaney challenged Bregman with a 3-and-2 fastball. Bregman hit the 95-mph fastball off the Crawford Boxes in left field, inches above the reach of Shohei Ohtani. The double bounced off the wall as Springer scored.
Heaney (1-3) exited after the fifth inning. Trevor Cahill replaced him. Cahill watched his second pitch of the game disappear over the fence. Yuli Gurriel powered an opposite-field shot on a 93-mph fastball.
The Astros squeezed a run out of Cahill in the seventh. Alvarez hit a flat change-up off the right-field fence. The double drove in Bregman, who had walked.
