Houston starts the weekend with a win

Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 5-4 win

Chris Campise
Aug 23, 2019, 9:18 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

After wrapping up a 3-1 series win against the Tigers to start the week, Houston sported their "Player's Weekend" uniforms in the series opener against the Angels at home to start the three-game weekend series. Here is a recap of the opener:

Final Score: Astros 5, Angels 4.

Record: 83-47, first in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Zack Greinke (14-4, 2.83 ERA).

Losing pitcher: Jose Suarez (2-5, 6.67 ERA).

1) Houston builds up a lead in the middle innings

Houston was able to get on the board in the bottom of the third, cutting the Angels' lead in half at 2-1 after an RBI-single by Jose Altuve. They tied the game in next inning on an RBI by Jake Marisnick, making it a 2-2 game going to the fifth.

In the bottom of the fifth, Houston took their first lead of the night. Alex Bregman hit a two-out double, bringing Yuli Gurriel to the plate who delivered a go-ahead two-run home run to give the Astros a 4-2 advantage.

2) Greinke leaves with a lead

Zack Greinke did not have his greatest stuff on Friday night, but it was still enough to keep him in line for the win. He put the Astros down 2-0 in the top of the second, allowing three straight singles to begin the inning which resulted in a 2-0 Los Angeles lead.

He settled in after that while his team gave him a 4-2 lead, but in the top of the sixth, he would allow one more run after an error and a single before an RBI-groundout made it a 4-3 game. Greinke would remain in the game to start the seventh, getting a couple of outs while putting runners on first and third, but Will Harris could get the third out. His final line: 6.2 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 0 HR.

3) Astros hold on for the win

After the Angels pulled within one run at 4-3 in the top of the sixth, the Astros pushed it back to a two-run lead in the bottom of the seventh. Jose Altuve hit a one-out single, moved to second on a groundout for the second out, then scored on a two-out RBI-single by Alex Bregman to make it a 5-3 Houston lead.

Hector Rondon took over on the mound in the top of the eighth but was met with a solo home run to cut the lead back to one run at 5-4 before retiring the next three batters. That set up Roberto Osuna for another save opportunity, which he converted to complete the one-run win to start the weekend series.

Up Next: Houston and Los Angeles will continue this series with a Saturday night matchup getting underway at 6:10 PM. The Astros will send Wade Miley (12-4, 3.18 ERA) to the mound who has not earned a loss since June 17th, while the Angles are expected to start Dillon Peters (3-1. 3.92 ERA).

The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.

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FALCON POINTS

Is another Houston star about to be shown the door?

Correa could be on his way out. Composite image by Jack Brame.

It has not been the best of times to be a star athlete in Houston. In the last year, Jadeveon Clowney and DeAndre Hopkins were solid off for a warm bucket of spit. George Springer won't be back. James Harden and Russell Westbrook rumors are rampant. J.J. Watt might be moving on as well.

Now, reports are the Astros are listening to offers for Carlos Correa.

Predictably, Astros fans are livid. And if it's true, they should be concerned about the bigger picture.

Trading Correa makes sense - if you have no plans on keeping him after next season, as was clearly the case with Springer. If the Astros can get a haul and replenish the farm system, it would be the right move, especially considering Correa's injury history.

But in the long run, it does not bode well for the direction of the team. All recent indications are that the Astros are going cheap.

They would still be a competitive team without Correa, but it would be yet another indication their World Series window has closed. Alex Bregman could slide over to shortstop, but who would play third? And they only have one starting outfielder on the roster as it is. Putting together a competitive lineup around Bregman, Jose Altuve, Kyle Tucker, Yuli Gurriel and Yordan Alvarez would still be possible, but if the Astros aren't going to spend money, that could be problematic.

The writing was probably on the wall when the team hired James Click as GM from the notoriously frugal Tampa Bay organization. The good news is the Rays have been successful. But this is a new direction for a team that was not afraid to spend big money to make runs at the World Series.

If they lose Correa, they lose a team leader, one of the few players who embraced the villain role in the wake of the cheating controversy and was not afraid to speak out. But he has never lived up to his MVP potential, has battled injuries and will command big dollars on the open market. He is still young enough to become that kind of player, and someone will gamble big money that he will.

Sadly, if this rumor is true, it won't be the Astros.

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