Houston's losing streak extended to six games
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 2 hits from the 4-1 loss
Jun 21, 2019, 9:15 pm
Houston's losing streak extended to six games
Houston was desperate to get a win and end their five-game skid on Friday night against the Yankees in the Bronx. Here is a recap of game two of four against New York:
Final Score: Yankees 4, Astros 1.
Record: 48-29, first in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: James Paxton (5-3, 3.75 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Brad Peacock (6-5, 3.62 ERA).
Brad Peacock had about as good of a start as the Astros could have asked from him on Friday night. He only had one major mistake, a two-run home run to Gary Sanchez in the third which put New York up 2-0. Other than that, he was dominant for most of the night against the Yankees' potent lineup as he would go on to strike out eleven while issuing zero walks.
Unfortunately, he would not get the offense needed behind him to get a win. Peacock's final line: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 11 K, 1 HR. Hector Rondon took over for Peacock to pitch the seventh, but unlike the great inning of relief the night before would allow a two-run home run to extend New York's lead to 4-1. Chris Devenski wrapped up the pitching night for Houston with a quick 1-2-3 eighth inning.
It was another frustrating night on offense for Houston, who other than an RBI-double by Jake Marisnick in the top of the fourth to trim the lead to 2-1 would be unable to convert scoring opportunities. The Astros would get plenty of traffic on the bases, but all for naught as they'd strand twelve runners on base and go 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position in the loss.
Up Next: Game three of this four-game series will get underway at 6:10 PM tomorrow and will air on FOX. The pitching matchup is expected to be Wade Miley (6-4, 3.30 ERA) for the Astros and Masahiro Tanaka (5-5, 3.23 ERA) for the Yankees.
The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.
The Houston Texans have a big challenge in store as they look to start the season with a win against the Colts this Sunday. When these two teams met in Week 2 last year, the Colts dominated the Texans, despite losing their QB Anthony Richardson to a concussion after the first quarter.
Keeping Richardson contained on Sunday will go a long way in increasing the Texans' chances of coming home with a win. The Texans defense will have their hands full containing the Colts backs and tight ends in the passing game.
Scoring touchdowns with their wide receivers could prove difficult, as the Texans allowed the second-fewest TDs (10) to the receiver position in 2023.
Limiting running back Jonathan Taylor will also be a top priority. While the Texans had an elite defense against the run last season, they struggled with Taylor in Week 18 as he almost rushed for 200 yards.
Houston's D allowed only four carries to running backs in 2023 that went for 20 or more yards. Two of which were to Taylor in the final game of the regular season.
Finally, DeMeco Ryans and company have to find a way to get pressure on the QB. They only had one QB hit and zero sacks on Richardson and Garner Minshew the first time they faced off last year.
On offense, the Texans have two big x-factors to watch for on Sunday. The offensive line that suited up to play the Colts in Week 2 last season is completely different from this year.
The o-line was ravaged with injuries to start the 2023 campaign, so we expect a big jump in productivity in the trenches this year.
Another big addition in 2024 is the presence of running back Joe Mixon. The running game only produced 2 yards per rush in Week 2 against Indy last year, so there's clearly room for improvement.
Be sure to watch the video above for our in-depth preview of Texans-Colts!
And catch Texans on Tap (a Texans podcast) live on our SportsMapTexans YouTube channel following every game this season!