Astros come back from 7-0 deficit to win in extras
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 4 hits from the 11-9 win
Sep 5, 2019, 11:51 pm
Astros come back from 7-0 deficit to win in extras
After ending their recent road trip with a loss against the Brewers before a day off, the Astros started Thursday 1.5 games behind the Yankees for the best record in the American League. They had an excellent opportunity to make up some ground with a four-game set with the Mariners. Here is a quick rundown of the opener:
Final Score (13 innings): Astros 11, Mariners 9.
Record: 91-50, first in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Josh James (5-0, 4.64 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Matt Wisler (3-4, 5.18 ERA).
Wade Miley had a terrible appearance on the mound on Thursday night. He faced a total of six batters and did not record an out against any of them. Instead, he allowed four runs on three hits and a home run, then put runners on first and second before A.J. Hinch would give him the hook.
Cy Sneed was given the task of a quick warmup and entry into the game and was able to get the three outs despite allowing Miley's fifth earned run. Miley's final line: 0.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HR.
After allowing the run in the first, Sneed would also struggle with Seattle's lineup, giving up a two-run home run in the top of the second to extend the Mariners' lead to 7-0.
Houston's batters did not throw in the towel; they tried to shake Marco Gonzalez and start chipping away at the lead. In the bottom of the second, they were able to get runners on second and third with no outs. They would score one on a wild pitch but waste an opportunity for more.
Alex Bregman cut the lead to 7-3 in the bottom of the third on a two-RBI double. Jose Urquidy took over on the mound out of Houston's bullpen in the top of the fourth and worked around a leadoff walk for a scoreless inning then followed that up with a 1-2-3 fifth.
After another scoreless inning by Urquidy in the top of the sixth, Kyle Tucker finally notched his first major-league home run with a solo shot to lead off the bottom of the inning. Josh Reddick hit another one out later, making it a two-run game at 7-5.
After blasting a career-high 34 homers this year in #MiLB, Kyle Tucker hit his first #MLB homer tonight for the #Astros. pic.twitter.com/312aP1SHA0
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) September 6, 2019
Seattle moved the lead back to three runs in the top of the seventh, getting a solo home run off of Urquidy to make it 8-5. Joe Biagini was the next reliever out and provided a 1-2-3 top of the eighth, then Houston went to work in the bottom half. They put two on base with a hit batter and walk, setting up Jose Altuve for a two-RBI triple to cut the lead to one run at 8-7, then Michael Brantley hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 8-8 after the Astros had been down 7-0 after the first two innings.
Joe Smith tried to keep it tied and give the Astros a chance to walk it off in the bottom of the ninth by throwing a scoreless top half and was able to get two of three batters out before Roberto Osuna took over for the final out. In the bottom of the ninth, Houston struck out in order, sending the game to extras.
Osuna remained on the mound in the top of the tenth and worked around a one-out walk to keep the game tied. The Mariners did the same, pushing the game another inning where Hector Rondon pitched for Houston in the top of the eleventh. He kept Seattle off the bases, giving his offense yet another chance to finish the comeback.
In the bottom of the eleventh, the top of the Astros' order would strike out in order. Josh James had the top of the twelfth and would allow a one-out solo home run to put the Mariners back in front 9-8 before getting out of the inning. Houston would get a runner on base in the bottom of the inning, brought in Myles Straw to run, and that paid dividends as he would score from second on an RBI-single by Kyle Tucker to re-tie the game 9-9 and keep it going to the thirteenth.
Despite allowing the home run in the inning prior, James would remain in the game for the top of the thirteenth and struck out the side in order. Jake Marisnick led the bottom of the inning off with a walk, but Michael Brantley wouldn't need it with a walk-off home run to complete the comeback.
Up Next: This series will continue with another game on Friday night and another 7:10 PM start. The expected starting pitchers are Tommy Milone (3-8, 4.90 ERA) for the Mariners going against Framber Valdez (4-7, 5.55 ERA) for the Astros.
The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.
The Houston Texans head to Green Bay this weekend to play in one of the most highly anticipated matchups of the season.
On offense, the Texans will look to maintain the boost Joe Mixon and Dameon Pierce provided to the running game last week against the Patriots.
Despite Houston's success with the ground game against the Pats, there are some concerns. Most of the production came from two explosive runs. They ranked in the Bottom 5 in success rate (26.9%) and Top 10 in stuff rate (23.1%) amongst all teams in Week 6.
Despite the volume against New England, Houston's run game on Sunday:
Ranked Bottom 5 in success rate (26.9%) and Top 10 in stuff rate (23.1%) amongst all teams in Week 6.
Lots of inefficient runs with huge gains sprinkled in-between. Is that sustainable? #HTownMade
— John Crumpler (@JohnHCrumpler) October 15, 2024
Air it out
The passing game once again will go through Tank Dell and Stefon Diggs with Nico Collins sidelined. Dell received a large portion of the downfield work that Collins had been doing.
Tank posted the highest route win rate and average separation score for Houston in Week 6, per Jacob Gibbs, and Fantasy Points Data.
In what should be a high scoring game, expect Dell to be Stroud's main target downfield.
What about the defense?
The Texans defense is 30th in EPA against play action, so don't be surprised if that's how the Packers will try to get some big plays down field.
D'Angelo Ross stepped in at corner with Kamari Lassiter injured last week. He lined up at the left corner spot, where Packers receiver Christian Watson will likely run the majority of his routes this week.
With Derek Stingley lining up outside on the right, he'll be facing Romeo Doubs a majority of the time. We expect Doubs will have a quiet day and the Packers will target Watson against Ross, and Jayden Daniels in the slot versus Jalen Pitre.
Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans has been dialing up the blitz more and more. And that looks like a good idea once again this week, as Love is 28th in QBR when blitzed this season.
What does Vegas think?
The Packers are favored by 2.5 points, with the total set at 47.5 points.
There are so many more angles to cover in this exciting matchup. Don't miss the video above as we break it all down! And head to the SportsMap Texans YouTube channel right after the game as we react live!