Astros win fifth straight game in Greinke's debut
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 11-6 win
After a week of waiting, Tuesday night was finally the night Houston had been looking forward to since last Wednesday: Zack Greinke's first start in an Astros uniform. He was going up against a familiar foe in the Colorado Rockies. Here is a quick rundown of the first matchup of the quick two-game series:
Final Score: Astros 11, Rockies 6.
Record: 74-40, first in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Zack Greinke (11-4, 3.08 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Chi Chi Gonzalez (0-4, 5.95 ERA).
1) Not the best start for Greinke, but still a win
Zack Greinke had an efficient first three innings in his new uniform, allowing just two hits over that span, but erasing both to keep the Rockies off the board. He faced his first real test in the fourth, allowing a leadoff single then a walk to put runners on first and second. A wild pitch advanced both runners, setting up a sac fly for the Rockies followed by an RBI-double to trim Houston's lead to 3-2.
Greinke made it out of that inning but would face another high-leverage situation in the top of the fifth after a leadoff double then error put two runners on yet again. He would get out of the jam, though, with a flyout and double play to end the inning.
Greinke would have an unfortunate sixth inning, however. He allowed a leadoff infield single, then a one-out walk, putting two on base for a two-out three-run game-tying home run by Colorado to make it 5-5. He would get through the sixth, but it still ended his night on a sour note. His final line: 6 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K.
2) Alvarez provides some quick run support for his new pitcher
After going down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the first, Alex Bregman got the first hit of the night with a leadoff double to start the bottom of the second. That brought up Yordan Alvarez, who demolished a ball 436 feet for his fourteenth home run of the year to put Houston ahead 2-0 early.
Yordan's power is NUTS. 😳 pic.twitter.com/AWSHZ7sgo9
— MLB (@MLB) August 7, 2019
They would extend the lead further in the bottom of the third, getting an RBI-single by Michael Brantley to make it 3-0. After the Rockies trimmed the lead to one run in the top of the fourth, Yuli Gurriel put it back to two with a two-out solo home run, making it 4-2. In the bottom of the fifth, George Springer hit a one-out single, moved to third on a single by Jose Altuve, then scored on an RBI-groundout by Michael Brantley, extending the lead to 5-2.
After Colorado tied the game in the top of the sixth, Carlos Correa put Houston right back in front with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the inning. George Springer would tack on another later in the inning, getting a one-out RBI-single to extend the lead to 7-5.
3) Tacking on some insurance
Chris Devenski was the first reliever out of Houston's bullpen, taking the mound for the top of the seventh. He would snap his three-game streak of scoreless innings, allowing a one-out solo home run to Charlie Blackmon to cut the lead to one run at 7-6 before getting through the inning.
Carlos Correa would strike again in the bottom of the seventh to add on more runs. After a leadoff single by Michael Brantley and walk by Alex Bregman, Correa would drive both in on a two-RBI double. Yuli Gurriel was up next and launched his second home run of the night to further pad the lead at 11-6.
Hector Rondon took over on the mound in the top of the eighth and retired the Rockies in order. Collin McHugh wrapped things up by working around a couple of walks for a scoreless ninth, giving Houston their fifth straight win.
Up Next: These two teams will wrap up this entire two-game series in under 24 hours with the finale tomorrow at 1:10 PM. The expected pitching matchup is Peter Lambert (2-2, 5.71 ERA) on the mound for Colorado while Houston will send out Gerrit Cole (13-5, 2.87 ERA) who will be looking to continue his hot streak and add to his league-leading number of strikeouts.
The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.
