Yankees too much for the Astros yet again

Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 7-5 loss

Chris Campise
Jun 22, 2019, 9:25 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

Carrying a six-game losing streak on their shoulders, the Astros went back to work on Saturday night in a nationally televised game to try and right the ship against the Yankees. Here's how they did:

Final Score: Yankees 7, Astros 5.

Record: 48-30, first in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Jonathan Holder (5-2, 5.55 ERA).

Losing pitcher: Ryan Pressly (1-1, 1.31 ERA).

1) Miley terrific early, struggles late 

Wade Miley's night started less than ideal, walking his first batter on four pitches then going down 2-0 on the next. He was able to bounce back very quickly, though, getting a double play to erase the walk and then a strikeout to end the first inning. Miley would lock in after that, keeping the Yankees hitless through the first four innings.

The first hit for New York was a loud one, a two-out two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth to capitalize on a one-out walk earlier in the inning, giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead. After the offense tied the game in the top of the sixth, Miley went back to work in the bottom of the inning but would end up loading the bases on back-to-back walks then a single to start the inning.

Will Harris would come in to finish the sixth, but not before allowing a two-run single, charged to Miley. Miley's final line: 5 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, 1 HR.

2) Taking advantage of the short porch

With little offense happening through the early goings of the game, when the Yankees broke through first with their two-run home run in the fifth things looked bleak for Houston considering their recent struggles to get runners home. Josh Reddick gave the Astros a boost of momentum in the top of the sixth with a game-tying two-run home run of his own, but they'd quickly find themselves down again with the Yankees re-taking the lead in the bottom of the inning.

Houston would respond with arguably their best inning of offense in this series in the top of the seventh, getting back-to-back two-out singles from Alex Bregman and Michael Brantley before Yordan Alvarez delivered another great moment in his early career with a go-ahead three-run home run to the short porch in right field.

That gave the Astros a 5-4 lead, but it too would quickly be erased, and Houston would be unable to answer again despite getting the go-ahead run to the plate in the top of the ninth inning.

3) Pressly with a rare shaky inning

After Will Harris would watch the Yankees re-take the lead in the sixth, Ryan Pressly would meet the same fate in the seventh. With a 5-4 lead, Houston went to Ryan Pressly to try and hold down their one-run lead. Instead, Pressly would be unable to contain New York's lineup, allowing a one-out solo home run to tie the game 5-5 before later allowing a two-RBI single to put the Yankees back in front 7-5.

After stranding two runners in the top of the inning, the Astros looked to Reymin Guduan to keep the score at 7-5 in the bottom of the eighth, and he was able to do so with a little defensive help. That would end the night of pitching for Houston with the offense coming up empty in the top of the ninth, giving them their seventh loss in a row.

Up Next: Houston will wrap up this seven-game road trip with the series finale against New York tomorrow afternoon at 1:05 PM. The Astros will turn to their ace, Justin Verlander (9-3, 2.59 ERA) to get his tenth win of the season while the Yankees are expected to start J.A. Happ (7-3, 4.59 ERA).

The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.

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Houston takes the opener

Astros continue march towards playoff berth with extra-inning win over D-backs

Altuve's homer starting the scoring for Houston on Friday night. Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
After a solid showing to take the three of the four-game series in Arlington against the Rangers to start the week, the Astros returned home for three against the Diamondbacks in a weekend series. They would have a slow start to the opener but would ultimately come away victorious.

Final Score (10 innings): Astros 4, Diamondbacks 3

Astros' Record: 87-60, first in the AL West

Winning Pitcher: Ryne Stanek (3-4)

Losing Pitcher: Tyler Clippard (1-1)

Bielak makes the impromptu start

With Luis Garcia having to move his start ahead by a day on Thursday instead of Friday with Framber Valdez's finger cut, Brandon Bielak made a start for Houston in the opener against Arizona. He didn't go as deep as he probably would have wanted and certainly ventured out of his comfort zone with traffic on the bases.

He loaded the bases in the top of the first, allowing a single and two walks, but was able to strand all three to keep it a scoreless game. He rebounded with a 1-2-3 second, but he dealt with a threat again in the third as back-to-back singles pressured him to start the inning. He would get back-to-back strikeouts, but that's as far as he would go as Houston moved on to Blake Taylor. Taylor got the final out of the third on one pitch, then erased a two-out double in the top of the fourth.

Altuve breaks up the no-no with a go-ahead homer

Brooks Raley took over in the top of the fifth, but in his three batters, he faced allowed a single while getting two outs before Cristian Javier took over to end the frame. Javier allowed the first run of the game in the top of the sixth, a leadoff solo homer to Kole Calhoun to put the Diamondbacks in front 1-0 before he finished the inning.

Madison Bumgarner didn't allow a single hit to the Astros through the first five and two-thirds innings. He allowed a one-out walk in the bottom of the sixth, which proved costly as Jose Altuve would get the first knock of the game for Houston, a two-run go-ahead homer. Phil Maton was the next reliever for the Astros in the top of the seventh, maintaining the new one-run lead by erasing a leadoff single.

Astros get the win in extras

The Diamondbacks tied it up in the top of the eighth against Kendall Graveman, getting a leadoff single followed by a walk, then later an RBI single to knot things up 2-2. Houston stranded a runner in the bottom of the eighth, then brought in Ryan Pressly, who tossed a 1-2-3 top of the ninth to keep the game tied.

Despite getting the winning run in scoring position with a leadoff ground-rule double by Jason Castro to start the bottom of the ninth, they would strand it as the game went to extras. Arizona scored their free runner in the top of the tenth, getting a sac fly to move it to third then going in front on an RBI single.

The Astros matched that and more in the bottom of the inning, moving their runner to third on a lineout to start the frame, followed by an intentional walk to Yordan Alvarez. Jake Meyers tied the game with an RBI single, then after another walk to load the bases, Chas McCormick was hit by a pitch to bring in the winning run, moving the Astros closer to clinching their playoff berth.

Up Next: The middle game of this three-game set will have a start time of 6:10 PM Central on Saturday. Tyler Gilbert (2-2, 3.15 ERA) is expected to make a start for Arizona, while Lance McCullers Jr. (12-4, 3.12 ERA) will be on the mound for Houston.

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