Astros crush Mariners with barrage of homers
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 10-2 win
Aug 2, 2019, 10:08 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
After wrapping up another series win in Cleveland on Thursday night, the Astros were back at home to start a fresh three-game set with the Mariners. Here is a recap of game one against Seattle:
Final Score: Astros 10, Mariners 2.
Record: 71-40, first in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Wade Miley (10-4, 3.05 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Yusei Kikuchi (4-8, 5.49 ERA).
1) Houston puts on a home run parade
Yordan Alvarez was the first to put Houston on the board, crushing a ball to straightaway center to lead off the bottom of the second inning. The 427-foot bomb made it a 1-0 game, but later in the inning, Jake Marisnick extended the lead to 3-0 with a two-run home run of his own.
The home runs didn't stop there; Martin Maldonado made his return to Minute Maid Park memorable with a one-out solo home run in the bottom of the fourth to extend the lead to 4-0. Then, after a two-out triple by George Springer later in the inning, Jose Altuve capitalized with a two-run shot to the Crawford Boxes to make it a 6-0 Houston advantage.
Even after Seattle went to their bullpen in the bottom of the fifth inning, they couldn't avoid Houston's momentum. After Alvarez worked a one-out walk in the inning, Carlos Correa joined in on the home run parade with a two-run blast before Aledmys Diaz made it back-to-back jacks, extending the lead further to 9-0. That made it a season-high six home runs in the game for Houston.
Six homers. Nine runs. Nice. pic.twitter.com/z9m2xD2tN8
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 3, 2019
2) Miley gets win number 10
Meanwhile, Wade Miley was quietly stringing together another solid start on the mound. He allowed a few walks in the early innings but did not allow a hit until the top of the fifth. He would keep the Mariners scoreless until the sixth when he would give up a one-out two-run home run to trim the lead to 9-2.
He went on to finish that inning, but after giving up five walks on the night saw his pitch count prevent him from going further in the game. Still, with the run support, he was able to get his tenth win of the season. Miley's final pitching line: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 6 K, 1 HR.
3) Bullpen sends things home
Collin McHugh was the first reliever to come out of Houston's bullpen, taking over for Miley to pitch the seventh. He worked around back-to-back two-out walks to get through the scoreless inning.
He stayed on the mound for the eighth, another scoreless inning during which allowed just a walk. In the bottom of the inning, the Astros tacked on one more insurance run with an RBI-groundout from Jose Altuve to make it 10-2.
Jose Smith came in with the eight-run lead to close things out in the ninth, and did so, giving Houston a win in the series opener.
Up Next: Game two of this series will start tomorrow at 6:10 PM. The Astros will send newly acquired Aaron Sanchez (3-14, 6.07 ERA) to the mound to try and turn the page on his rough season so far and start fresh with his new team. He will be going up against Marco Gonzalez (12-8, 4.21 ERA) for Seattle. Houston can secure another series win with a victory.
The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.
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The Texas Longhorns still believe in quarterback Quinn Ewers despite two poor games from the third-year starter who was briefly benched in last week's loss to No. 1 Georgia, coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday.
Ewers struggled through one of his worst career games against the Bulldogs, completing 25 of 43 passes for 211 yards with an interception and two fumbles. He was 6-of-12 passing for 17 yards on the Longhorns' first six drives, and was replaced by Arch Manning in the second quarter as Georgia took a 23-0 lead into halftime.
Ewers returned in the third quarter and led two touchdown drives. But the overall performance in one of the biggest games of the season was well below what was expected from a veteran quarterback who some predict as a potential first round NFL draft pick.
Texas never led against the Bulldogs and Ewers looked rattled.
Sarkisian has insisted that Ewers remains the No. 1 quarterback going forward.
“We have confidence and belief in him,” Sarkisian said. “I think he's going to come out and play really good football for us here in the second half of the season.”
Texas (6-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) plays at No. 25 Vanderbilt (5-2, 2-1) on Saturday.
Ewers did not meet with reporters on Monday.
He had performed at his best in some of Texas' biggest games the previous two seasons. He was considered a likely Heisman Trophy contender after the Longhorns won at defending national champion Michigan in week two.
But he was sidelined by an abdomen strain in the first half a week later against UTSA, and the injury knocked him out of the next two games. He returned for Texas' 34-3 win over Oklahoma, but had just 199 yards and one touchdown passing and said he needed to play better.
Against Georgia, Ewers appeared hesitant against a fierce Bulldogs pass rush and missed several throws. The Bulldogs recorded seven sacks and Texas never led.
Georgia quarterback Carson Beck was arguably having an even worse game. He was 23-of-41 passing for 175 yards and three interceptions.
But after Texas cut the Georgia lead to 23-15, Beck answered by leading the Bulldogs on an 11-play, 89-yard drive to the final touchdown of the game.
“I think Quinn definitely can play better. We've got to continue to work on his pocket presence,” Sarkisian said. “But I also think we need to play better around him. You know, our offense isn't about one player playing well.”
Texas rushed for just 29 yards and and managed only 259 total yards of offense against Georgia.
Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. said the Longhorns will rally behind Ewers.
“We're always going to trust Quinn. We're always going to believe in Quinn,” Banks said.