Houston's bullpen woes continue

Astros blow four-run lead before losing in extras to Giants

Astros Jose Altuve
Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

Astros Jose Altuve

After snapping a five-game losing streak with a win to start the three-game series with the Giants on Monday, the Astros had a chance to secure the series victory on Tuesday. Here is how the middle game went:

Final Score (10 innings): Giants 7, Astros 6.

Record: 7-10, third in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Trevor Gott (1-0, 1.50 ERA).

Losing pitcher: Cy Sneed (0-3, 6.75 ERA).

Astros build another early lead behind another solid Bielak start

The Giants would strike first on Tuesday, hitting a solo home run off of Brandon Bielak in the top of the second to grab a 1-0 lead. Houston's offense would answer right away in the bottom of the inning, getting a one-out triple by Kyle Tucker, followed by an RBI-double by Martin Maldonado to tie the game. Later in the frame, a go-ahead two-RBI double by Josh Reddick gave Houston a 3-1 lead.

Alex Bregman made it a three-run lead in the bottom of the third, leading off the inning with a solo home run. San Francisco would get that run back in the top of the fifth, getting a run on a walk and two hits in the inning, making it 4-2. With that extended inning, Bielak would hit 84 pitches, and that would be it for him. His final line: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HR.

Houston extends their lead, San Francisco rallies to tie and force extras

First out of the bullpen was Enoli Paredes for the top of the sixth. He made it a 1-2-3 inning, retiring the Giants in order. In the bottom of the inning, the first three batters all singled to load the bases with no outs. It looked like it may go to waste after a third-to-home double play left runners on first and second with two outs, but Myles Straw would deliver an RBI-single. Jose Altuve got a much-needed RBI-single in the next at-bat to push the lead to 6-2.

Paredes returned in the top of the seventh but would get two outs and walk a batter before Dusty Baker went to his bullpen again to bring out Blake Taylor. Taylor would get the third out, but not before issuing a walk to set up a three-run home run by former-Astro Hunter Pence, making it a one-run game at 6-5.

Still a one-run game in the top of the eighth, Andre Scrubb took over on the mound and kept the lead intact by stranding a leadoff walk and two-out single to complete the inning. After a scoreless bottom of the eighth for Houston's offense, they would bring in their current closer, Ryan Pressly, for the second-straight night. He would blow the save, allowing a walk and single to put runners on the corners to set up the tying RBI-single. He would recover to get the final two outs, sending the 6-6 game to the bottom of the ninth, where Houston would come up empty, forcing extra innings.

Giants get a go-ahead run and win in extras

In what has seemed like a regular occurrence in 2020, Cy Sneed was on the mound to start the tenth inning. He would not fare any better than his last outing, where he blew a one-run lead in the thirteenth and allowed a walk-off to Oakland, allowing back-to-back singles to start the inning to put the Giants ahead 7-6 for their first lead of the night. He would get two more outs before Houston brought in their new reliever, Brooks Raley, to get the third out.

In the bottom half, George Springer would pinch-run for Michael Brantley, and moved to third on a groundout to start the inning, but would get left stranded there as the Astros would fall in extra innings, allowing the Giants to tie the series.

Up Next: The final game of this three-game set will start Wednesday at 6:10 PM Central, an earlier start than the first two games. The pitching matchup is not yet finalized with San Francisco still taking their rotation day-by-day, but Houston will send Zack Greinke (0-0, 3.00 ERA) to the mound.

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Rockets beat the Grizzlies, 119-115. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.

Alperen Sengun had 32 points and 14 rebounds, and the Houston Rockets held on to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 119-115 on Thursday night in a showdown between two of the top teams in the Western Conference.

Jalen Green finished with 27 points and Fred VanVleet scored 22 as the Rockets won their third straight and solidified their hold on second place in the Western Conference, moving 1 1/2 games ahead of Memphis.

Ja Morant scored 27 points in his return from a five-game absence with a shoulder injury, and Jaren Jackson Jr. added 21 points, eight rebounds and six blocks for Memphis. Desmond Bane had 16 points.

Houston dominated the inside early, scoring 20 points in the paint before the halfway point of the first quarter. Memphis initially couldn't stop anything at the rim. Houston opened a 17-point lead before taking a 68-63 advantage at the break.

Takeaways

Rockets: Houston is 12-5 on the road, including six straight wins away from home.

Grizzlies: After allowing the Rockets to score inside and build a big lead, Memphis chipped into the advantage to make it a more competitive game.

Key moment

With 3.8 seconds left in the game and Houston leading 117-114, Bane fired up a 3-pointer that rattled in. But Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins called timeout before the shot was made. Bane was fouled on the ensuing inbounds, and Memphis wouldn't get another chance for a winning shot.

Key stat

Houston is 19-3 when they score at least 110. Houston hasn't allowed more than 115 points in past 15 games.

Up next

The Rockets are at Atlanta on Saturday. Memphis travels to Minnesota to face the Timberwolves on Saturday.

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