Astros beat Boston for ninth-straight win
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 3-1 win
May 17, 2019, 9:11 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
Riding an eight-game winning streak into Boston, the Astros started a weekend series with the defending champion Red Sox in an ALCS rematch from last season. Here's a rundown of the first game of the three-game set:
Final Score: Astros 3, Red Sox 1
Record: 30-15, first in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Will Harris (1-0, 1.23 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Rick Porcello (3-4, 4.80 ERA).
1) Porcello outlasts Cole before losing lead
Both starting pitchers had their work cut out for them going up against potent lineups at the plate. Gerrit Cole had a very respectable game, working in and out of some trouble to finish five scoreless innings with six hits, one walk, and seven strikeouts. Rick Porcello had a much more efficient night than Cole, finishing seven scoreless innings, but would allow two runs in the eighth to earn him the loss.
2) Springer breaks through late
After a tough night at the plate through the first seven innings, Houston finally had something to work with after Jake Marisnick led off the eighth with a double. That provided an opportunity for George Springer to blast a go-ahead home run, his 17th of the year, to put the Astros ahead 2-1. They'd make it a three-run inning by working a couple of walks then getting an RBI sac fly from Josh Reddick to extend the lead to 3-1.
3) Bullpen throws four innings of one-run ball
After Cole's night ended relatively early, it was up to Houston's bullpen to throw four innings and keep the Astros in the game. Things weren't looking good in the first of those four innings, with Hector Rondon allowing an RBI-single for the first run of the game, putting Boston up 1-0 at the time. That would be the only run the Red Sox would get, though, with Will Harris throwing a 1-2-3 seventh with two strikeouts, then Ryan Pressly throwing yet another scoreless inning, making it an MLB-record 39 straight appearances. Roberto Osuna took over in the ninth and worked around a one-out double and two-out walk to lock up another save and finish the win.
Up Next: The Astros will continue this series tomorrow with game two of three getting underway at 6:15 PM. Corbin Martin (1-0, 3.38 ERA) will make his second career start for Houston and look to repeat the success of his first as he goes up against Hector Velazquez (1-2, 3.95 ERA) for Boston.
The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.
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Marcell Ozuna hit his major league-leading eighth homer and Orlando Arcia’s RBI single in the 10th inning lifted the Atlanta Braves to a 5-4 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday.
It completes a three-game sweep of the struggling Astros and is Atlanta’s fourth straight victory.
The Braves scored two runs in the eighth inning to tie it at 4-4. Michael Harris II started the 10th as the automatic runner on second and there was one out in the inning when Seth Martinez (1-1) intentionally walked Matt Olson.
Ozuna lined out to right field to send Harris to third base. Arcia then singled on a ground ball to left field to score Harris and put the Braves on top.
Pinch-runner Jake Meyers was on second when Kyle Tucker walked with no outs in the 10th. Meyers moved to third on a fly out by Yainer Diaz but Jeremy Peña grounded into a double play to end it.
A.J. Minter (3-1) got the last two outs of the ninth for the win and Raisel Iglesias earned his fifth save.
Reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. added his first homer of the season to help the Braves to the victory. Ozuna also leads the majors with 23 RBIs and he extended his hitting streak to 16 games, which ties his career best and is the longest active streak in the majors.
Yordan Alvarez and Mauricio Dubón both homered for the Astros, who fell to 6-14 and are last in the AL West.
There was one out in the first when Alvarez connected on his homer to the seats in left field to put Houston up 1-0.
Ozuna opened the second with his 432-foot shot to left field, which bounced off the wall and tied the game.
Acuña put the Braves up 2-1 when he sent the first pitch of the fifth inning to straightaway center field.
The Astros tied it on an RBI single by Alex Bregman in the fifth and Kyle Tucker’s RBI double came next to put the Astros up 3-2.
Dubón hit his first home run of the year off Jesse Chavez to start Houston’s sixth and push the lead to 4-2.
Harris singled to start the seventh before a ground-rule double by Austin Riley. Olson reached, and Harris scored on a fielding error by first baseman José Abreu when he couldn’t grab a routine ground ball.
There was one out in the inning when Riley scored on a sacrifice fly by Arcia to tie it at 4-all.
Houston starter J.P. France allowed four hits and two runs in five innings.
Max Fried gave up seven hits and three runs in five innings.
UP NEXT
Braves: Atlanta is off Thursday before opening a series against Texas on Friday night with LHP Chris Sale (1-1, 4.58 ERA) on the mound.
Astros: Houston is also off Thursday before ace Justin Verlander will make his season debut Friday night against Washington. The three-time Cy Young Award winner opened the season on the injured list with inflammation in his right shoulder.