Astros take first game of the series
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 4-2 win
May 9, 2019, 10:09 pm
Astros take first game of the series
After winning the series against the Royals earlier in the week, the Astros turned the page to a four-game set with the Rangers starting on Thursday night. Here's how the first game of the series panned out:
Final Score: Astros 4, Rangers 2
Record: 23-15, first in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Wade Miley (3-2, 3.18 ERA)
Losing pitcher: Mike Minor (3-3, 2.68 ERA)
Wade Miley added another good start to his 2019 season, going six innings and keeping the Rangers to two runs in that span. The two runs came on a two-run home run in the top of the fourth, which was one of just two hits he allowed on the night. Those two runs on two hits combined with two walks and seven strikeouts would add up to a good start. The seven strikeouts matched his season-best so far.
George Springer smashed his 13th home run of the early season in the bottom of the third which put Houston ahead 1-0 at the time. Down 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth, the Astros strung together some hits and a walk to load the bases before Alex Bregman hit a sac fly to tie the game at 2-2. They were unable to convert any more of those runners, though, keeping the game tied until the bottom of the next inning when Josh Reddick put Houston back ahead 3-2 on an RBI single.
Houston threatened again in the bottom of the eighth, looking to add some insurance runs to their one-run lead. They loaded the bases with one-out, then after a strikeout went to a pinch-hitting Michael Brantley who worked an RBI-walk to make it a 4-2 game. That's all they would come away with, but that was enough to get the win.
Will Harris took over in the seventh and worked around a one-out walk to keep the Astros in front by one run. Ryan Pressly pitched the eighth, just another ho hum scoreless inning to keep his record streak going. That set up Roberto Osuna for another save opportunity, which he converted thanks to a homer-robbing catch by Josh Reddick.
Up Next: Game two of this four-game series will get underway tomorrow night at 7:10 PM. The Astros will send out their ace, Justin Verlander (5-1, 2.86 ERA), to face off against Lance Lynn (4-2, 5.75 ERA) for the Rangers.
The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.
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.
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.
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.
Houston finished 22 of 34 from the free throw line, while Denver made 18 of 26.
Denver hosts the Chicago Bulls on Monday night, while Houston hosts the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night.