Astros get memorial day win over Cubs
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 6-5 win
May 27, 2019, 4:23 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
With both teams losing on Sunday, the Astros and Cubs wanted a victory on Memorial Day to get back in the win column and start this highly-anticipated series on a good note. The game also marked the MLB-debut of Jack Mayfield for Houston. Here's the result of Monday's game:
Final Score: Astros 6, Cubs 5.
Record: 36-19, first in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Gerrit Cole (5-5, 4.02 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Cole Hamels (4-1, 4.02 ERA).
1) Cubs strike early against Cole, then Cole strikes back
Chicago, whose fans showed up in force to Minute Maid Park, received a lead off the bat of Anthony Rizzo in the bottom of the first. Rizzo drilled a ball from Gerrit Cole into the upper right-field deck, giving the Cubs a quick 2-0 lead. Cole rebounded quickly from it, though, and would go on to have a great day.
After the home run, he allowed just two other hits while striking out a dozen, matching his season-high and bringing his total to 112 for the year. His final line: six innings, three hits, two runs, one walk, and twelve strikeouts.
2) Mayfield delivers in debut
Jack Mayfield got his first major league hit out of the way in his first at-bat which came in the bottom of the second inning. He didn't miss a home run by much, doubling off the left-field scoreboard which put runners on second and third. Tyler White took advantage of that with a sacrifice fly to trim Chicago's lead to 2-1.
The Astros got after Hamels again in the bottom of the third, getting back-to-back RBI hits from Yuli Gurriel and Robinson Chirinos to take a 3-2 led. That brought Mayfield to the plate again who notched his first RBI with a groundout to extend the lead to 4-2. The scoring wouldn't stop there, Derek Fisher would deliver an RBI-single to make it 5-2, followed by Jake Marisnick with an RBI-groundout to extend the lead to 6-2.
3) Bullpen closes it out
With Cole's day over after six innings, it was up to the bullpen to hold on to the four-run lead for the final three. Hector Rondon took over on the mound in the seventh but after allowing a two-out RBI-single left in favor of Will Harris who would get the last out of the inning thanks to a great diving catch by Tyler White.
Ryan Pressly had the eighth in the 6-3 game and was able to work around a one-out walk to get through the inning scoreless. In the ninth, Roberto Osuna took over and had a rough time, allowing a leadoff solo home run and then a one-out solo home run, getting the Cubs within a run, but would eventually finish off the game for the Memorial Day victory.
Up Next: Game two of this series between Houston and Chicago will have a usual weeknight start of 7:10 PM tomorrow. The pitching matchup will feature Corbin Martin (1-1, 4.97 ERA) for the Astros looking to shrug off a couple of poor starts as he faces Jon Lester (3-3, 2.68 ERA) for the Cubs.
The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.
Christian Walker homered among his three hits and had a season-high four RBIs to lead the Houston Astros over the Chicago White Sox 10-2 on Wednesday night.
ALL-STAR SMASH.#VoteWalker ⭐️ https://t.co/W06pfHQMR1 pic.twitter.com/DDzNOvnsXt
— Houston Astros (@astros) June 12, 2025
Jose Altuve added two hits to give him 2,300 in his career, joining Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (2,342) as the only active players with at least 2,300.
The GOAT with another milestone.
Congrats to Altuve on 2,300 career hits! #VoteAltuve ⭐️ https://t.co/W06pfHRkGz pic.twitter.com/gtaLqdegqM
— Houston Astros (@astros) June 12, 2025
Altuve got things going with an RBI double in the first. There were two outs in the inning when Walker homered to left field off Sean Burke (3-7) to make it 3-0.
Houston starter Ryan Gusto (4-3) allowed seven hits and two runs with a season-best seven strikeouts in a season-high six innings.
Josh Rojas had two hits for the White Sox, who fell to 7-27 on the road.
Altuve singled with two outs in the third before Yainer Diaz walked. Walker then smacked a line drive to center field for a double to score them both and push the lead to 5-0.
There was one out in the fourth when Cam Smith hit a ground-rule double. With two outs, Jeremy Peña doubled on a ball that bounced off the wall in left field to make it 6-0. Isaac Paredes followed with another RBI double to chase Burke, who yielded eight hits and seven runs — both career highs — in 3 2/3 innings.
Rojas singled in the fifth and moved to third on a ground-rule double by Vinny Capra. Rojas scored on a groundout by Mike Tauchman to cut it to 7-1. Miguel Vargas hit an RBI single to make it 7-2.
Paredes had three hits and two RBIs to help the Astros snap a two-game skid.
Key moment
Walker’s home run that put Houston up 3-0 early.
He talked about his big night following the game.
Christian Walker’s four RBIs were a season-high pic.twitter.com/V2cQWk6pRC
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) June 12, 2025
Key stat
Walker had just two RBIs in his previous six games.
Up next
Houston LHP Framber Valdez (6-4, 3.07 ERA) opposes RHP Davis Martin (2-6, 3.62) when the series concludes Thursday night.