Astros rally late to win in primetime

Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 4-1 win

Chris Campise
Apr 28, 2019, 8:55 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

After the big walk-off win on Saturday, the Astros turned to Sunday Night Baseball to try and get the series split and take over sole possession of first place in the AL West with a win. Here are the quick facts then three hits from the game:

Final Score: Astros 4, Indians 1

Record: 17-11, first in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Framber Valdez (1-1).

Losing pitcher: Carlos Carrasco (2-3).

1) Decent game for Miley

Wade Miley cruised through the first three innings, allowing just two baserunners on one walk and one single. Cleveland did much better against him the second and third times through the lineup, though, getting a solo home run in the fourth then putting pressure on him the rest of his night. Miley finished an out shy of a quality start, finishing five and two-thirds during which he allowed just the one run on six hits, two walks, and three strikeouts.

2) Astros break through against Carrasco in the seventh

After Carlos Carrasco had dominated the lineup through the first six innings, holding them to just one hit, Houston finally got ahold of him for a huge seventh inning. Michael Brantley started things with a one-out single, then scored on an RBI-double from Yuli Gurriel to tie the game 1-1. Carrasco issued and intentional walk to Josh Reddick to bring up Robinson Chirinos, who greeted him with a first-pitch three-run home run to put the Astros ahead 4-1.

3) Bullpen stands strong to notch the save

With Miley's night done early with two outs in the sixth, it was up to the bullpen to keep the game close and then eventually get the save, and they'd have to do it without Roberto Osuna who pitched two innings in Saturday's extra-inning game. Chris Devenski came in for the final out of the sixth, then Framber Valdez took over with two great scoreless innings of relief in the seventh and eighth. That set up Ryan Pressly who took the mound for the ninth and was able to get the save to finish off the come-from-behind win.

Up Next: Houston will fly out to Minnesota tonight to start a four-game set with the Twins starting tomorrow. The four games will complete the season series with the Twins since these teams just played three games in Houston this past week. First pitch of Monday night's game will be 6:40 PM and will feature Justin Verlander (4-0, 2.61 ERA) on the mound for Houston opposite of Jake Odorizzi (2-2, 4.37 ERA).

The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.

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Houston wins another

Astros complete sweep of Rangers, Greinke grabs win number 10

Zack Greinke earned his 10th win of the season in Sunday's finale agains the Rangers. Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images

With the first two wins of the series under their belt, the Astros entered Sunday looking to take care of business before heading on the road. Despite the Rangers taking the first lead of the day, the Astros responded on offense and defense to erase the deficit to get the victory.

Final Score: Astros 3, Rangers 1

Astros' Record: 61-39, first in the AL West

Winning Pitcher: Zack Greinke (10-3)

Losing Pitcher: Dennis Santana (0-1)

Greinke, with some help, notches a quality start

Zack Greinke was doing well in the early goings of Sunday's finale. Despite allowing back-to-back singles to start the game, he stranded both runners to finish the top of the first. He followed that by erasing two more runners in the second, starting a stretch of eight straight batters which he would retire to make it through one out in the top of the fifth without allowing a run.

Texas finally added a blemish to his day at that point, getting a solo homer to grab their first lead in weeks. Greinke rebounded from it, sitting down the next two batters to finish the frame, then posted a 1-2-3 sixth. He returned for the top of the seventh, but would end his day with a struggle, loading the bases with no outs on a single, hit batter, and walk. That prompted Dusty Baker to bring in Cristian Javier, who saved Greinke's stat line by getting a strikeout and double play to keep the Rangers from scoring. Greinke's line: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR, 86 P.

Houston grabs the lead

Houston's starter would leave in line for the win, thanks to the work of Cristian Javier, but also some timely offense in the two innings prior. With not much going for them in the first four innings, the Astros tried to take advantage of Chas McCormick being on base in the bottom of the fifth, sending him for a potential hit and run with Abraham Toro swinging.

That turned into two runs, with McCormick able to slow his run as Toro would launch a two-run go-ahead homer to erase the Rangers lead quickly. They extended the lead to two runs in the next inning, with Yordan Alvarez working a walk and then later scoring on an RBI single by Kyle Tucker, making it 3-1.

Astros finish the sweep

After cleaning up the inherited mess in the top of the seventh, Javier remained on the mound in the top of the eighth and made it through a 1-2-3 inning to give him six outs against five batters. With it still a two-run game in the top of the ninth, Ryan Pressly entered for the save opportunity. He notched it, sitting down the Rangers 1-2-3 to finish the sweep, handing Texas their twelfth straight loss.

Up Next: The Astros will head out west for an eight-game road trip starting with a three-game set with the Mariners kicking off at 9:10 PM Central on Monday. In the opener, Luis Garcia (7-5, 2.86 ERA) for Houston is slated to go opposite Darren McCaughan (0-0, 1.80 ERA), who will make his second career appearance and first start for Seattle.

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