Astros' losing streak extended to five games
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 10-6 loss
Jun 20, 2019, 10:18 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
Riding a four-game losing streak into New York, the Astros were hoping to snap out of their funk and have a more typical game hopefully ending in a win. That would be a tall task against the strong Yankees in the first of four games over this weekend. Here's a recap:
Final Score: Yankees 10, Astros 6.
Record: 48-28, first in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Nestor Cortes Jr. (2-0, 4.09 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Framber Valdez (3-3, 3.61 ERA).
1) Framber fumbles the fourth
After looking sharp through the first three innings, Framber Valdez struggled in the bottom of the fourth, allowing a solo home run to start the inning, putting the next two on base, then allowing a three-run homer to blow the game open. He'd get just one out into the frame before A.J. Hinch made the call to the bullpen. Valdez's final line: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 2 HR.
The reason he'd end up with five earned runs was the result of Chris Devenski coming out in relief and allowing a two-run home run, one of those belonging to Valdez. That gave New York a 6-0 lead, and after a brief rain delay, Devenski would finish the inning.
2) Astros get some runs of their own
Houston was able to trim the six-run lead at the time to four runs on back-to-back solo home runs by Jake Marisnick and Alex Bregman to make it a 6-2 game in the top of the fifth. After New York added two runs to put their lead back at six, Yordan Alvarez delivered a solo home run to trim the lead again to 8-3 in the top of the sixth.
Yordan Alvarez HR. His 5th of the season. #Astros #TakeItBack pic.twitter.com/hYUo9gcYfo
— AT&T SportsNet SW (@ATTSportsNetSW) June 21, 2019
They would threaten to trim the lead further later in the game, but would come up short on an RBI-single from Josh Reddick to make it 10-4, then two runs in the top of the ninth, one on Marisnick's second home run of the night to make it 10-5 then an RBI-double by Alvarez to make it 10-6.
3) Long bullpen night
Josh James was next out of the bullpen for the fifth inning with Houston hoping he could provide a lengthy appearance to save some of the other relievers from having to get extended in the first game of the series. Instead, James would struggle to complete just one inning, allowing a two-RBI double to make it an 8-2 Yankees lead.
Hector Rondon pitched the bottom of the sixth, striking out the side in order. Rogelio Armenteros was next out of the bullpen but would make a mistake to newly acquired Edwin Encarnacion who blasted a two-run home run to make it a 10-3 game. Armenteros would get through that inning and also work around loading the bases in the bottom of the eighth to complete that inning as well.
Up Next: The weekend series will continue tomorrow with first pitch of the second of four games at 6:05 PM. The expected pitching matchup is Brad Peacock (6-4, 3.67 ERA) for the Astros going against James Paxton (4-3, 3.93 ERA) for the Yankees.
The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
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.