Houston wins in the tenth

Astros win over Angels in extras on an exciting tenth-inning rally

Astros' Yuli Gurriel
Yuli Gurriel lifted off in Friday's game against the Angels. Photo by Elsa/Getty Images.

Yuli Gurriel lifted off in Friday's game against the Angels.

By starting this four-game series and eight-game homestand with an impressive win over the Angels on Thursday night, the Astros looked to repeat that success to continue turning the tide on recent struggles. Friday night, they had their ace, Zack Greinke, on the mound to try and help them get back-to-back wins, and hopefully a repeat performance of when he was last on the bump when he went eight scoreless innings. Greinke would have a good night on the mound, but it would take extra innings for the Astros to pull out the win over the Angels:

Final Score (10 innings): Astros 5, Angels 4

Astros' Record: 9-10, fourth in AL West

Winning Pitcher: Ryan Pressly (2-0)

Losing Pitcher: Raisel Iglesias (1-2)

Greinke gets hit around but finishes another quality start

After allowing two hits each in the first and second inning, though no runs, Zack Greinke tried to settle in to get his pitch count and momentum back on track. He did so in the third and fourth innings, allowing just one hit over that span, but then the Angels would tag him in the fifth.

Los Angeles would get four hits and two runs in that inning, including an RBI-double by Shohei Ohtani, re-elevating Greinke's pitch count that he had just worked back under control the innings prior. After a scoreless sixth, Greinke remained in the game in the seventh, getting through another inning and hitting the highest pitch count by an Astros pitcher this season. His final line: 7.0 IP, 10 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 107 P.

Astros finally crack Heaney before tying the game

Unfortunately for Houston's offense, Andrew Heaney was doing even better to that point. They put just two runners on base against him through the first six innings, one on a single in the bottom of the first and another on a hit batter in the fourth.

That changed in the bottom of the seventh, with Yordan Alvarez getting the second hit of the night with a one-out double to force Heaney out of the game, followed by a game-tying homer to the Crawford Boxes by Yuli Gurriel, making it a brand new game at 2-2.


The game heads to extras

Ryne Stanek took over in the top of the eighth, getting two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 inning to keep the game tied. Houston's offense had that same outcome in their half, sending the game to the ninth. Hoping to give his team the chance to walk it off in the bottom of the inning, Ryan Pressly would enter in the top of the ninth to keep the game tied.

Pressly would erase a leadoff double, keeping the score pat at 2-2. Michael Brantley started the inning by laying down a gorgeous bunt down the vacated third-base line, putting the winning run on base before being pinch-run for by Chas McCormick. Yuli Gurriel would come through with another big hit to extend the inning with a two-out single to move McCormick to second, but they would both get left stranded as the game would go to extras.

Houston gets an incredible rally in the tenth to win

Ryan Pressly, who used 13 pitches to get through the ninth, remained in the game for the top of the tenth and was greeted by a first-pitch RBI-single by David Fletcher to score the free runner on second to put Los Angeles back in front 3-2. Albert Pujols would add another with two outs, an RBI-single to make it a 4-2 game.

Houston would try to rally in the bottom of the tenth, moving the free runner Kyle Tucker to third with a sac fly, then home on an RBI-single by Myles Straw, making it a one-run game. Jason Castro would nearly tie the game with a ball into the right-field corner that would bounce out of play for a ground-rule double to keep the tying run on third and winning run on second.

That brought Carlos Correa to the plate, who tied the game with a sac fly and moved Castro to third. Robel Garcia would pinch-hit next and would play hero to bring in the winning run on a walk-off RBI single making it a three-run inning to complete the incredible rally to get back-to-back wins.

Up Next: The third game of this series will be a Saturday afternoon start, with first pitch at 3:10 PM Central. The pitching matchup will be Griffin Canning (1-1, 5.68 ERA) for Los Angeles and Jake Odorizzi (0-2, 10.57 ERA) for Houston, looking to provide his new team better stuff than he's given so far this year.

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The Astros have an important offseason ahead of them! Composite Getty Image.

The World Series is in full swing and as we wait to see which team brings home the hardware, odds have already been released for the 2025 season.

According to Draft Kings and Fan Duel, the Astros have the sixth-best odds to win the championship next season. So while many in the national media are burying the Astros and saying the window is closed, the oddsmakers don't agree.

Of course, these odds have been released before free agency, so things will change based on the moves made this offseason.

For Houston, Alex Bregman's future with the team is up in the air. So that could have a big impact on their chances in 2025. Something else to monitor heading into the offseason is if the club would consider trading either Framber Valdez or Kyle Tucker.

If Breggy leaves, it's hard to imagine Houston moving on from Tucker. They can't afford to lose two of their best bats, and the team clearly has more depth in the rotation than they do in the outfield.

Trading Framber could clear about $18 million off the books and bring some top prospects into the farm system. And if Bregman is off the books as well, perhaps the team could afford to re-sign Yusei Kikuchi. Kikuchi would be significantly cheaper than signing Valdez to a long-term deal.

This could change the market

Another thing to consider this offseason is super agent Scott Boras, who also happens to represent Bregman. Boras was unable to secure blockbuster contracts for several of his clients last offseason. Many had to settle for shorter prove it deals.

It's fair to wonder if his clients will be more willing to take the first deal they are offered that they view as acceptable. As opposed to rolling the dice on what Boras is promising.

Maybe this could be a good thing for Bregman's chances of returning, if the Astros are willing to give him a reasonable offer.

Finally, Yankee GM Brian Cashman is still blaming the Astros for not being in a World Series over the last 15 years. We thought we were past this, but if he wants to go there again, we're more than happy to put him in his place!

Don't miss the video above for the full conversation!

*The Astros are always in season for discussion. Our Stone Cold ‘Stros podcasts drop Mondays!

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Fans of Houston sports and Houston food can now score tickets to The Tailgate, CultureMap's all-out party devoted to everyone’s favorite way to get in the gameday spirit. The event, presented by Verizon, goes down from 6-9 pm November 11 at 8th Wonder. Find out more about it here.

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