Verlander throws a gem in Astros win

Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 2 hits from the 5-1 win

Chris Campise
May 21, 2019, 10:03 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

After taking the first game of the series against the White Sox, the Astros had Justin Verlander on the mound Tuesday night to make it two in a row. Here are the quick results of the game and two hits:

Final Score: Astros 5, White Sox 1.

Record: 33-16, first in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Justin Verlander (8-1, 2.24 ERA).

Losing pitcher: Dylan Covey (0-3, 5.31 ERA).

1) Vintage Verlander

Justin Verlander was spectacular on Tuesday night, and in fact, took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. Over the first six innings, he allowed just a walk while striking out ten. The no-hit bid was broken in the top of the seventh on a solo home run, but that didn't stop Verlander from having an incredible night. He'd complete eight innings during which he allowed only the one hit and run while striking out 12. The win moved him to 8-1 on the season and lowered his ERA to 2.24. Hector Rondon took over for the ninth and threw a scoreless inning to wrap up the win.

2) Big fifth inning of offense

After both teams going scoreless through the first three innings, Yuli Gurriel finally got Houston on the board with a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth. The big offensive inning of the night, was the fifth, though, with the Astros putting up four runs on a wild pitch an RBI-single from Carlos Correa and a big two-RBI double from Michael Brantley.

Up Next: Game three of this four-game set will get underway with another 7:10 PM start on Wednesday night. Houston will send the league leader in strikeouts, Gerrit Cole (4-4, 3.56 ERA), to the mound to match up against Ivan Nova (2-4, 7.42 ERA) for Chicago.

The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.

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Houston is now 6-6

Bielak with an impressive start, Astros rally late but come up short as Diamondbacks take series

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

After a rough, disheartening loss the night before to even the series at one game apiece, the Astros tried to shake it off and regroup for a win on Thursday to get the series win against the Diamondbacks in Arizona. Here is a quick recap of the finale:

Final Score: Diamondbacks 5, Astros 4.

Record: 6-6, second in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Junior Guerra (1-0, 0.00 ERA).

Losing pitcher: Ryan Pressly (0-1, 40.50 ERA).

Bielak tosses an impressive start as Houston puts him in winning position

After both teams finished the first three innings scoreless, the Astros were able to get a little bit of good luck on their side, unlike the night prior. Jose Altuve started the inning with a much-needed single, stole second, then moved to third on a groundout for the second out. That set up Yuli Gurriel, who hit a ball down the third-base line that would strike the bag and bounce away from Arizona, allowing Altuve to score and put Houston up 1-0.

Though he likely would have preferred more run support, Brandon Bielak made do with that one run in his first career MLB start. He was able to complete five innings of work, holding Arizona scoreless over that span despite allowing a runner in each inning. He left in line for the win, with a final line of 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 0 HR.

Altuve extends the lead, then Diamondbacks go ahead

Jose Altuve helped double the lead in the top of the sixth, connecting for a one-out solo home run to make it 2-0. With Bielak's night over at five innings, Cy Sneed took over in the bottom of the sixth and allowed back-to-back one-out doubles to cut Houston's lead in half. He allowed a single to put runners on the corners before Dusty Baker would move on to another reliever to try and preserve the lead. Blake Taylor would enter but allowed the tying RBI-single to take Bielak out of winning position. Taylor would go on to allow a go-ahead run before getting out of the jam.

In the bottom of the seventh, Taylor was still on the mound but would only get two outs before another call to the pen. Andre Scrubb would enter and get the final out of the inning. In the top of the eighth, Jose Altuve would improve to 3-for-4 on the night with a two-out double, setting up Alex Bregman for a go-ahead two-run home run to make it 4-3, Houston.

Ryan Pressly allows the walk-off

Scrubb went back to the mound in the bottom of the eighth and was able to record a 1-2-3 inning to move the game to the ninth. After a scoreless top of the ninth, Ryan Pressly would attempt to get the save in the bottom of the inning. Instead, he would allow the walk-off, loading the bases with no outs on a walk and two singles before a two-RBI single to give Arizona the win and the series victory.

Up Next: The Astros will travel to Oakland to kick off a three-game weekend series with the A's on Friday at 8:10 PM Central. The A's will send Chris Bassitt (1-0, 0.93 ERA) to the mound while Houston will turn to Zack Greinke (0-0, 5.00 ERA) to help cut down Oakland's division lead.

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