Astros drop their third straight game
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 2 hits from the 4-3 loss
Jun 18, 2019, 9:33 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
Looking to end their two-game skid, the Astros sent their ace Justin Verlander to the mound to try and get back in the win column on Tuesday night against the Reds. Here is a recap of the middle game of the series:
Final Score: Reds 4, Astros 3.
Record: 48-26, first in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Anthony DeSclafani (4-3, 4.22 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Justin Verlander (9-3, 2.59 ERA).
1) Offense comes up just short again
After finding themselves down three runs early, the offense had trouble putting any big innings together to threaten to take a come from behind lead. They didn't get on the board until the top of the sixth, trimming the lead to two runs on an RBI-double by Yordan Alvarez.
Down 4-1 in the top of the eighth, the Astros would have their best inning offensively, getting a leadoff walk to set up a two-run home run for Alex Bregman to make it a one-run game. Brantley would hit a no-out single next and move to second on a wild pitch but would be left stranded to keep them behind in the game. They would come up empty in the top of the ninth to drop their third straight game.
2) Early homers haunt Verlander
Justin Verlander continued to struggle with home runs in his start on Tuesday night, allowing a solo and two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning to put Houston in a quick 3-0 hole. Though Verlander would rebound well from those early runs, his offense would be unable to get him off the hook.
He'd go on to allow just two hits over the next five innings, but with his night nearing an end with two outs in the seventh, would get dinged with one more home run to extend Cincinnati's lead back to three-runs at 4-1. Verlander's final line: 7 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 3 HR.
Chris Devenski pitched a scoreless eighth inning, but there would be no bottom of the ninth with the offense going down 1-2-3 in the top half of the inning, ending the loss for Houston.
Up Next: Houston will wrap up his series with Cincinnati tomorrow with an early game starting at 11:35 AM. The pitching matchup for the finale will be Gerrit Cole (6-5, 3.67 ERA) for the Astros going against Tyler Mahle (2-7, 4.33 ERA) for the Reds.
The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.
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Jamal Murray had 39 points, Michael Porter Jr. added 17 points and nine rebounds and the Denver Nuggets beat Houston 116-111 on Sunday night to snap the Rockets' nine-game win streak.
Murray, who scored 17 in the first half, had 17 in the third quarter as Denver outscored the Rockets 39-22 in the quarter to take a 96-79 lead.
Russell Westbrook had 14 points off the bench, Aaron Gordon scored 13 points with eight assists and DeAndre Jordan had 11 points and 15 rebounds for the Nuggets, which shot 51% and were 10 of 21 on 3-pointers.
Jalen Green scored 30 points, and Dillon Brooks added 21 points for Houston. Alperen Sengun had 17 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, and Steven Adams finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Rockets, which shot 44% and were 11 of 34 from behind the arc.
Trailing 109-100 with 1 ½ minutes left, Houston used a 7-1 run to cut the lead to three on a Sengun layup with 21 seconds left, but Christian Braun made two free throws with 19 seconds remaining to push the lead back to five.
Takeaways
Nuggets: Nikola Jokic missed his fourth straight game with left ankle impingement, and Denver improved to 2-2 with him out of the lineup.
Rockets: Houston remains in second place in the Western Conference with 10 games left, but the Nuggets closed to within a game of Houston.
Key moment
Sengun made one of two free throws with 14 seconds remaining, and Murray made two free throws two seconds later to push the lead to 114-108.
Key stat
Houston finished 22 of 34 from the free throw line, while Denver made 18 of 26.
Up next
Denver hosts the Chicago Bulls on Monday night, while Houston hosts the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night.