Houston has won three straight

Astros' bats erupt against the Angels to secure series win

Astros' Alex Bregman and Michael Brantley
Houston's bats teed off on Saturday. Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Houston's bats teed off on Saturday.

After taking the first two games of this series, including in dramatic fashion with a three-run tenth-inning rally for the walk-off win Friday night, the Astros tried to make it a three-game winning streak and secure the series with a victory over the Angels on Saturday.

They would get the win, and dominantly, as their offense would explode throughout the day to back up an impressive debut by Kent Emanuel:

Final Score: Astros 16, Angels 2

Astros' Record: 10-10, third in the AL West

Winning Pitcher: Kent Emanuel (1-0)

Losing Pitcher: Griffin Canning (1-2)

Odorizzi exits with injury, Emanuel impresses in his impromptu debut

The ballgame would start with some misfortune for Houston, as after just one batter and one out, Jake Odorizzi would exit with forearm tightness. That set up Kent Emanuel for his major-league debut. He would give up two solo home runs, one to the Astros-terrorizing Albert Pujols in the top of the second and one to Shohei Ohtani in the top of the third.

Emanuel would settle in well after those early homers, retiring ten batters in a row after the Ohtani homer keeping Los Angeles at bay, heading to the seventh inning. In the top of the seventh, he erased a leadoff single for another scoreless frame, then followed that up with a scoreless eighth. He came back out for the ninth, and despite the first two batters reaching base, would finish off the impressive debut: 8.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 90 P.

Houston's offense erupts



Luckily for him, though, Houston's offense was doing damage against Griffin Canning over that same span. Carlos Correa set the tone early with a leadoff solo home run in the bottom of the first before Houston would put up two more runs to grab an early lead. The top of the order repeated their success in the bottom of the third, with Correa and Michael Brantley reaching base to set up a three-run homer by Alex Bregman to make it a four-run lead at 6-2.

They kept punishing Los Angeles' pitchers in the bottom of the fourth, batting around the order and putting up four more runs on RBI hits by Jason Castro and Yuli Gurriel, extending the lead to 10-2. The train kept moving in the next inning, with a three-RBI triple by Yordan Alvarez to make it an eleven-run game, 13-2.

With the game out of reach in the bottom of the eighth, Los Angeles brought in a position player to try and get through the rest of the game on the mound. Kyle Tucker took advantage, launching a two-run opposite-field homer to make it 15-2 before Jason Castro would bring in another in the inning, making it a fourteen-run lead, which would go down as the final score to give Houston a three-game winning streak.

Up Next: The finale of this four-game series will be Sunday at 1:10 PM Central. Lance McCullers Jr. (1-1, 5.27 ERA), who had to miss his last scheduled start with illness, will be back on the mound for Houston, going opposite of Dylan Bundy (0-2, 4.50 ERA) for Los Angeles.

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The Texans can make a statement with a win against Detroit!Composite Getty Image.

Sunday night matchups don't get much exciting than this, as the Houston Texans host the Detroit Lions in prime-time at NRG.

The Lions come into this game on a six-game winning streak looking every bit of the best team in football. Houston on the other hand has lost two of their last three games with a struggling offense unable to protect their quarterback.

CJ Stroud has only one passing touchdown over this span, and is clearly having trouble adjusting to life without Stefon Diggs and Nico Collins.

If Houston is going to come away with an upset victory, they will need big performances from Tank Dell and Joe Mixon. After catching 4 passes against the Colts two weeks ago, Mixon not only failed to catch a single pass against the Jets, but he wasn't even targeted.

Considering the Texans' offensive line issues, choosing not to use Mixon as a pass catcher is hard to fathom. Especially since he and Dell are the team's top 2 playmakers.

What's working in the Texans' favor?

They play this game at home, where they are undefeated this season. A lot of the team's protection issues have popped up on the road, so communication should be easier for the offense on their home turf.

Bulls on Parade

We have good news and bad news about the defense this week. On the positive side, Azeez Al-Shaair and Jimmy Ward have returned to practice. If they're able to contribute on Sunday night, that would give the defense a lift.

And now for the bad news. Will Anderson has yet to practice this week after rolling his ankle in the Jets game. If he is unable to practice on Friday, it's hard to imagine he'll be active against Detroit.

X-factors

The Texans have to show some improvement on the offensive line this week.

Houston must lean on Joe Mixon again, as Nico Collins isn't expected to play.

Lions' Amon-Ra St. Brown is one of the best receivers in the league, and he does most of his damage from the slot. If the Texans continue to deploy Jalen Pitre against premier receivers in man coverage, St. Brown is going to light up the scoreboard.

What would a win over the Lions mean to Houston?

The Texans are no longer considered a true championship contender because of their losses to the Packers, Vikings, and Jets. In fact, the Bills are the only team with a winning record that the Texans have beaten.

An upset win over the streaking Lions would change that narrative.

What does Vegas think?

The Lions are currently favored by 3.5 and the total is set at 49 points.

Don't miss the full preview of Texans-Lions in the video above!


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