Houston's offense struggles in loss
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 4-1 loss
Jun 8, 2019, 5:39 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
The Astros were able to take game one of this series against the Orioles on Friday night, though it took eleven innings to pull off. Houston and Baltimore were right back at it on Saturday afternoon, and here's how the middle game of the series went:
Final Score: Orioles 4, Astros 1.
Record: 44-22, first in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Paul Fry (1-3, 3.29 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Will Harris (1-1, 1.54 ERA).
1) Reddick gets hit 1,000 in an mostly quiet offensive day
After being blanked through the first five innings, Houston finally threatened in the bottom of the sixth inning. Back-to-back singles put runners on the corners with no outs and a chance to erase a 1-0 deficit. They'd come away with just one run, getting an RBI from Yuli Gurriel on a sac fly to tie the game 1-1.
That would be the lone run the Astros would manage during the game, though Josh Reddick was able to notch a milestone with the 1,000th hit of his career with a single in the bottom of the second.
2) Valdez fills starter spot well
Framber Valdez was terrific in his first start of 2019, filling the vacant spot in the rotation after Corbin Martin was optioned back to AAA after some rough starts. Valdez didn't allow a run until the sixth inning, a solo home run which broke the scoreless tie.
Besides that one hiccup, Valdez was electric and had a great day, recording efficient innings on his way to a seven-inning afternoon. His final line: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 1 HR.
3) Orioles go-ahead in the eighth, add insurance in the ninth
Will Harris took over for Valdez in the top of the eighth but would deal with a lot of traffic. Baltimore started the inning with a single followed by a double to get runners on the corners with no outs. Bregman made a great heads-up play on a ground ball to catch the runner between third and home to save a run and keep it a tie game.
Harris was able to get another ground ball in the next at-bat which had double-play potential but instead an errant throw by Jack Mayfield after getting the out at second allowed the go-ahead run to score. Reymin Guduan pitched the top of the ninth, but after getting two strikeouts to start the inning allowed a walk then two-run home run to put the game out of reach.
Up Next: The Astros will wrap up this series with the Orioles with the rubber game tomorrow at 1:10 PM. Wade Miley (5-3, 3.39 ERA) will be on the mound for Houston looking win the series, while Baltimore is expected to start Dylan Bundy (3-6, 4.64 ERA).
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.