Astros get shutout and drop series to Rangers
Astros daily report: Rangers 4, Astros 0
Apr 3, 2019, 9:47 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
Houston faced the Rangers on Wednesday night with the winner taking the series win. Here's how it went:
Final Score: Rangers 4, Astros 0
Record: 2-5, fourth in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Mike Minor (1-1).
Losing pitcher: Gerrit Cole (0-2).
Star of the game: There wasn't a true star in this game for the Astros considering the bad night, but Jose Altuve did get his second multi-hit game of the year, going two for four with a couple of singles.
Notes: It was the Rangers who struck first in the game, getting a couple of hits off of Gerrit Cole in the bottom of the first to grab an early 1-0 lead. A few egregious pitch calls that went against the Astros stirred some arguments in the second inning, resulting in A.J. Hinch being ejected from the game. After rebounding well from the early run in the next couple of innings, Cole would give up a few more hits in the fourth, expanding the Rangers' lead to 3-0 before his night ended at six innings, with the three runs allowed to go with nine strikeouts. Josh James would come in from the bullpen, looking great overall but allowed a solo homer to add on to the Rangers lead at 4-0. After continued poor calls at the plate, Houston would be unable to get anything going offensively, getting shutout the first time this year, dropping the series 2-1.
Up next: The Astros get their first day off in the early season on Thursday, a chance to regroup and turn things around in front of their home crowd in their home opener. First pitch in Friday night's series opener with the A's will be at 7:10 PM and will pit starter Collin McHugh for Houston against Frankie Montas for Oakland.
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Houston's D allowed only four carries to running backs in 2023 that went for 20 or more yards. Two of which were to Taylor in the final game of the regular season.
Finally, DeMeco Ryans and company have to find a way to get pressure on the QB. They only had one QB hit and zero sacks on Richardson and Garner Minshew the first time they faced off last year.
On offense, the Texans have two big x-factors to watch for on Sunday. The offensive line that suited up to play the Colts in Week 2 last season is completely different from this year.
The o-line was ravaged with injuries to start the 2023 campaign, so we expect a big jump in productivity in the trenches this year.
Another big addition in 2024 is the presence of running back Joe Mixon. The running game only produced 2 yards per rush in Week 2 against Indy last year, so there's clearly room for improvement.
Be sure to watch the video above for our in-depth preview of Texans-Colts!
And catch Texans on Tap (a Texans podcast) live on our SportsMapTexans YouTube channel following every game this season!