Astros power past Twins to end three-game skid
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: Astros 10, Twins 4
Apr 23, 2019, 10:14 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
The Astros were back at it on Tuesday night looking to end their three-game skid and get back in the win column against the Twins. Here's how things shook out:
Final Score: Astros 10, Twins 4
Record: 14-9, second in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Hector Rondon (2-0).
Losing pitcher: Trevor Hildenberger (2-1).
Stars of the game: George Springer should have had a 3-for-3 night, but Angel Hernandez struck to make his last at-bat a controversial strikeout. Nonetheless, Springer was 2-for-3 with two big RBIs and two walks that helped push the Astros to their win.
Notes: For yet another game, Houston saw their starting pitcher put themselves in a big hole early, with the Twins getting a three-run home run off of Wade Miley in the top of the first to go up 3-0. The Astros went to work against Michael Pineda in the bottom of the third, getting the first two batters on base to set up an RBI-single from George Springer, but would ground into a double play before stranding a runner to only come away with one run. Springer knocked in another run in the bottom of the fifth, another RBI-single to make it a one-run game at 3-2, then Alex Bregman came up clutch with a two-out two-RBI single to give Houston their first lead at 4-3. Wade Miley did great after his rough first inning, finishing six innings only allowing the three runs on the homer in the first. Hector Rondon was first out of the bullpen in the top of the seventh, and after two quick outs allowed back-to-back hits to tie the game 4-4.
After loading the bases in the bottom of the seventh, Alex Bregman came through again with a sac fly to put the Astros ahead again at 5-4. Michael Brantley added an insurance run after that, extending the lead to 6-4 before a bizarre play at the plate where Carlos Correa instinctively reached out and grabbed a wild pitch that resulted in the inning ending. Ryan Pressly took over on the mound for a scoreless eighth inning, then the Astros added a ton of insurance runs on an RBI from Jake Marisnick then later a three-run bomb from Jose Altuve to extend the lead to 10-4. With the game in a non-save situation, Will Harris took over in the top of the ninth to close out the win for Houston to get them back in the win column.
Up Next: Houston will wrap up this three-game series with Minnesota tomorrow night at 7:10 PM. The Astros will have Justin Verlander (3-0, 3.00 ERA) on the mound while the Twins have not yet named a starter.
The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.
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Road teams made a stand on Monday, and a pair of series are suddenly knotted up.
Day 3 of the NBA playoffs was about the visitors. Kawhi Leonard scored 39 points — his most in any game since December 2023, his most in a playoff game since 2021 — to lift the Los Angeles Clippers past Denver 105-102. And in New York, Cade Cunningham scored 33 points, Dennis Schröder had a big 3-pointer with 55.7 seconds left and Detroit beat the Knicks 100-94 for its first playoff win in 17 years.
Those series are now tied at a game apiece, heading back to L.A. and Detroit.
There are three games on Tuesday, with Indiana playing host to Milwaukee, Oklahoma City hosting Memphis and the Los Angeles Lakers hosting Minnesota. The Pacers and Thunder are seeking 2-0 leads; the Lakers will try to make it 1-1 before the series shifts to Minnesota.
Tuesday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
7 p.m. — Milwaukee at Indiana (NBA TV)
7:30 p.m. — Memphis at Oklahoma City (TNT/truTV)
10 p.m. — Minnesota at L.A. Lakers (TNT/truTV)
Wednesday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
7 p.m. — Orlando at Boston (TNT/truTV)
7:30 p.m. — Miami at Cleveland (NBA TV)
9:30 p.m. — Golden State at Houston (TNT/truTV)
Thursday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
7 p.m. — New York at Detroit (TNT)
9:30 p.m. — Oklahoma City at Memphis (TNT)
10 p.m. — Denver at L.A. Clippers (NBA TV)
Betting odds
Oklahoma City (+175) is favored to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed closely by Boston (+200). After that, it's Cleveland (+600), Golden State (+1400), the Los Angeles Lakers (+1600), the Los Angeles Clippers (+2000), New York (+4000), Minnesota (+4000) and Denver (+5000).
Denver's odds took a big hit after the Nuggets lost Game 2 at home to the Clippers — whose odds, in turn, improved greatly.
From there, it's Indiana (+8000), Houston (+10000), Milwaukee (+15000), Detroit (+35000), then Miami, Memphis and Orlando (all +100000).
Golden State, the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, is favored (-375) to win its series against No. 2 seed Houston. The Warriors entered that matchup favored, and Sunday's win moved those odds even more.
Other underdogs now favored to advance: Minnesota and the Clippers.
Award season
The first of the major NBA awards comes out on Tuesday, when the league announces the sixth man of the year — either Detroit's Malik Beasley, Cleveland's Ty Jerome or Boston's Payton Pritchard.
It’ll be revealed at 7 p.m. Eastern on TNT.
The other awards this week: clutch player (Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern on TNT), defensive player of the year (Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern on TNT), and the hustle awards (Friday at 2 p.m.).
Key upcoming events
April 26 — NBA early entry deadline.
May 3 — Earliest possible start date for Round 2 of the playoffs. Series could also start on May 4, May 5 or May 6.
May 12 — Draft lottery, Chicago.
May 18 or 20 — Game 1, Western Conference finals.
May 19 or 21 — Game 1, Eastern Conference finals.
June 5 — Game 1, NBA Finals. (Other games: June 8, June 11, June 13, June 16, June 19 and Game 7, if necessary, will be June 22.)
June 25 — NBA draft, first round.
June 26 — NBA draft, second round.
Stories of note
— Preview of Tuesday's games: Pacers-Bucks, Thunder-Grizzlies, Lakers-Timberwolves.
— Tom Thibodeau isn't happy with how Game 2 was officiated.
— Mavs GM Nico Harrison didn't know how beloved Luka Doncic was in Dallas.
— The NBA finalists for seven awards are released.
— The playoffs could be wide-open. Again.
— A look inside the numbers of this season, headed into the playoffs.
— Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson wins NBCA coach of the year award.
Stats of the day
— The Pistons snapped a 15-game playoff losing streak. Another loss would have tied the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (1975-79) for the second-longest in U.S. pro sports at 16. The playoff-futility record is held by baseball's Minnesota Twins, who once dropped 18 straight.
— The last time Detroit won a playoff game before Monday, LeBron James was 249th on the all-time scoring list and Gregg Popovich was 19th on the all-time coaching wins list. They're both No. 1 now by wide margins.
— Strange but true: The last three playoff triple-doubles have come in losing efforts. Nikola Jokic had one Monday night in Denver's loss to the Clippers and Luka Doncic's final two playoff ones for Dallas last season — one against Minnesota in the West finals, the other against Boston in the NBA Finals — both were in losses.