Astros lose to the Brewers to split the series

Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 4-2 loss

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

After winning the opener of the two-game series with the Brewers on Labor Day, the Astros looked to make it a mini-sweep with a win on Tuesday night. Here is a recap of the game:

Final Score: Brewers 4, Astros 2.

Record: 90-50, first in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Jordan Lyles (10-8, 4.46 ERA).

Losing pitcher: Zack Greinke (14-5, 3.09 ERA).

1) Springer goes down hard with an injury

The Astros experienced a scary moment in the bottom of the fifth inning. Tracking a ball deep into center field, George Springer lept and made an incredible catch for the final out of the inning.

However, during the catch, he would fall back and hit his head, hard, against the center-field wall, and although he would complete the play, would stay on the ground in obvious pain for quite some time. He was attended to for several minutes before eventually, they would bring the cart out, which he would stand and get into before being taken off the field. Hopefully, Springer was simply shaken up and avoided anything serious.

2) Greinke gets tagged in the third

Zack Greinke had one bad inning on Wednesday, and it came in the third. After allowing just one hit in each of the first two innings, the Brewers were able to back-to-back one-out singles in the bottom of the third before a two-out RBI-single followed by a three-run home run which pushed Milwaukee in front 4-1.

He was able to recover over the next three frames, allowing just two other hits while keeping the Brewers from adding any more runs to their lead. Greinke's final line: 6 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 1 HR.

3) Houston unable to mount a comeback

Meanwhile, the Astros had gotten two runs on the board; one in the top of the second on an RBI-single by Josh Reddick which gave them a 1-0 lead at the time, then a solo home run by Alex Bregman in the top of the sixth which made it a two-run game at 4-2.

With Greinke's night done after six innings of work, Houston turned to their bullpen starting with Chris Devenski in the bottom of the seventh. Devenski was able to erase a two-out double to complete the inning. Cionel Perez made his first appearance since June, having been down in the minors until being brought back up when rosters expanded over the weekend. He started the bottom of the eighth but would allow a leadoff walk before a pinch-hitter caused A.J. Hinch to move to another pitcher.

Joe Biagini was the new pitcher and would get a double play to erase the leadoff walk before getting out of the inning. The Astros were unable to mount a comeback, though, coming up empty late in the game to allow the Brewers to split the two-game series.

Up Next: Houston will travel home for a day off on Wednesday. They'll resume play on Thursday at home with the opener of a four-game series against the Mariners at Minute Maid Park. That game will get underway at 7:10 PM and the expected pitchers are Marco Gonzalez (14-11, 4.30 ERA) for the Mariners going opposite of Wade Miley (13-4, 3.06 ERA) for the Astros.

The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.

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Michael Brantley will start in left field in the finale against Seattle. Composite Getty Image.

It all comes down to this. If the Astros are able to come away with a victory on Wednesday night, they control their own destiny moving forward. But if they fall to the Mariners, they will likely have to sweep Arizona and get some help from the Rangers to have a chance at the postseason.

The Astros are currently a half game up on Seattle, but a loss tonight would push Houston out of the final wild card spot and give the Mariners a leg up.

How will Dusty deploy his hitters in the biggest game of the season?

Tonight's lineup is missing several key pieces to the Astros' offense. Chas McCormick and Yainer Diaz. McCormick might be out of the lineup due to getting hit by a pitch on Tuesday night. And Diaz's only shot at playing was hitting DH, with Martin Maldonado catching for Framber Valdez as he has done all season.

In what could be a silver lining, Michael Brantley has returned to play left field, with Yordan Alvarez sliding over to the DH spot. And once again Dusty Baker is sticking to his guns with Jose Abreu hitting 5th once again.

Let's hope Framber Valdez has one of his classic performances, because runs could be tough to come by if the top 4 guys in the lineup don't come through with big performances.

Let's go get this one! Go Astros!


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