Astros get memorial day win over Cubs
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 6-5 win
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.
