Astros take another from the Mariners
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 7-4 win
Sep 6, 2019, 10:43 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
With the Astros playing a marathon the day before with their bullpen responsible for 13 innings of work in the victory in the series opener, they looked for a more traditional win on Friday night. Here is a recap of game two of four for this weekend:
Final Score: Astros 7, Mariners 4.
Record: 92-50, first in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Joe Smith (1-0, 1.40 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Tommy Milone (3-9, 4.98 ERA).
1) Teams trade blows in the first while Valdez goes just four innings
It looked like Houston may be in for a repeat of the night before in the first inning. Framber Valdez struggled to find the zone, walking the bases loaded with one out before a two-RBI single put the Mariners out to a 2-0 lead. Valdez would recover and finish the inning; then, his offense went to work in the bottom half.
Jose Altuve led things off for the Astros by reaching on an infield single and advancing to second on an error. After a walk, Houston would get three-straight RBIs from Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez, and Yuli Gurriel, giving them a 3-2 advantage.
Valdez was able to get two clean innings in the second and third, but a leadoff single in the top of the fourth would turn into a tying run. With his pitch count rising, he would finish that inning but go no further in the game. His final line: 4 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 6 BB, 6 K, 0 HR.
2) Houston adds to their lead
Houston regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a two-out solo home run by Josh Reddick, his second in as many nights. Joe Biagini was first out of Houston's taxed bullpen and was able to retire Seattle in order in the top of the fifth.
In the bottom of the inning, a one-out single by Alex Bregman turned into another run after he moved along to third on a hit batter and a groundout then took home while Aledmys Diaz was trapped in a rundown between first and second attempting to steal.
Biagini remained in the game for the top of the sixth; however, Seattle met him with a solo home run to start the inning and trim the lead back to one run. He would walk the next batter, resulting in another call to the bullpen to bring in Joe Smith who finished the inning. In the bottom half, Houston added two runs to their lead on an RBI-single by Michael Brantley and another on a passed ball, making it a 7-4 game.
3) Bullpen holds strong to seal the win
Hector Rondon was next out of Houston's bullpen and worked around a two-out hit batter to complete a scoreless inning in the seventh. Will Harris was next for the top of the eighth and he, too, would keep Seattle off the scoreboard.
Roberto Osuna finished things off in the ninth, notching another save and sealing up the victory for Houston. The win moved them to 92-50 on the year, tying them with the Yankees for the best record in the American League.
Up Next: Game three of this four-game set will be Saturday at 6:10 PM. Justin Verlander (17-5, 2.56 ERA) will be on the mound for Houston trying to replicate the success of his no-hitter from his last start, while Yusei Kikuchi (6-9, 5.36 ERA) will start for Seattle.
The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.
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Stephen Curry closed his eyes and rested his tired head on Jimmy Butler's right shoulder as the superstars shared another postgame moment.
This time, with Butler injured and wearing street clothes — a full-length fur coat at that.
“Well first, he had a fantastic coat on,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I thought he was going to be way too hot in that thing.”
Sidelined for Game 3 of Golden State's first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets, Butler had a front-row seat to watch his teammate take over Saturday night in a 104-93 win that gave the Warriors a 2-1 lead.
Curry scored 36 points with five 3-pointers and had nine assists and seven rebounds in nearly 41 minutes. He had been determined to do more if Butler couldn't play after injuring his pelvis and suffering a deep gluteal muscle contusion in a hard fall during Game 2.
Butler and Curry can compare notes on their injured backsides, given that Curry has dealt with a bruised tailbone multiple times. For now, Curry appreciates the support, whether Butler is in uniform or not.
And the fur Butler was wearing?
“I almost didn't need a hot pack on the sideline sitting next to him. There was plenty of heat emanating from him,” Curry said before adding, “He's a savvy veteran, high-IQ guy, he's got a presence whether he's active or not where his voice matters, and we needed him to lift everybody up on the bench and give us that energy. His presence matched the fit for sure.”
Kerr wasn't ready to guess whether Butler will be able to play in Game 4 on Monday night.
“He’s literally day-to-day. We have tomorrow off. It will be helpful for him to have another day, and then it’s a night game,” Kerr said. “So he gets a few extra hours. So we’ll see. I have no idea right now if he’s going to play.”
Butler had been set to go through his pregame routine, which he does out of sight on the team's practice court and not the playing floor before games at Chase Center. He had an MRI exam Thursday in the Bay Area a day after he was hurt in Houston.
“We had to have Jimmy’s back while he was out,” said Gary Payton II, who scored 11 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter. “Hopefully we get Jimmy back for Game 4 and get back to our regularly scheduled program.”
Jonathan Kuminga, who didn't play for three straight games before rejoining the rotation in Game 2 when Butler got hurt, was in the starting lineup for his fourth career playoff start.
Butler went down hard when he was fouled by Amen Thompson late in the first quarter and then missed the rest of the Warriors’ 109-94 Game 2 loss on Wednesday night.
Butler tried to secure a rebound when Thompson undercut him and sent the Warriors star’s feet high into the air so that he came down straight onto his tailbone. Both players thudded to the floor and Butler grimaced in pain, grabbing at his backside. He stayed in briefly to shoot two free throws before going to the locker room.
Kerr appreciated Butler's insight on the bench.
“Jimmy is so smart. He reminds me so much of Andre Iguodala," Kerr said. “Incredible basketball IQ and then the ability to communicate what he’s seeing to his teammates on the bench. I thought Jimmy was important for us tonight in that regard. He was talking to guys throughout the game, and giving them advice, giving some help, and that was big.”
In the Game 1 win against the Rockets, Butler had 25 points on 10-for-19 shooting, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals in 42 minutes. The Warriors are 26-9 since Butler made his debut at Chicago on Feb. 8, including 23-8 in the regular season, a play-in tournament win over Memphis and the three games against Houston.
“We know they are still dangerous without Butler, so that doesn’t change anything as far as that," Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “We didn’t make them pay, especially with the paint shots.”