Astros end slump at Minute Maid and may have found a hidden gem

The Astros got a much-needed series win. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images.

After starting their season with a 6-3 record, the Houston Astros were swept by the Detroit Tigers, lost two of three games to the Seattle Mariners and were swept once again by the Colorado Rockies (who had the worst record in baseball at the time) in a 2-game series.

During this 1-7 stretch the Astros offense was atrocious as they were unable to score runs consistently.

Sure they didn't have Alex Bregman, Robel Garcia, Martin Maldonado and Yordan Alvarez in four of those games during that stretch due to being placed on the COVID-19 reserve for contract tracing, but other players were not stepping up as they should have.

One player in particular who has had a tough season is Kyle Tucker.

His batting average is .181 to start the year with 16 strikeouts.

Martin Maldonado is another Astros' player who is slumping as his batting average is .111 and leads the team with 23 strikeouts.

The two bright spots of the 1-7 slump were Michael Brantley and Yuli Gurriel.

Both batters continued to stay hot at the plate has they were able to hit above .300 and keep the team afloat during this valley portion of the season.

The Astros looked to change their fortunes by starting the first half of an eight game homestead against the Los Angeles Angels.

Thursday night's game to start the series was historic, as it was the first time the Astros played exclusively on YouTube.

The popular video sharing site seemed to bring good luck, as Houston went on to score the most runs in a game since their initial 4-game series against the Oakland A's.

A more likely factor for their good offensive fortunes could be that Astros' manager Dusty Baker made a change to his lineup by putting Carlos Correa as the leadoff hitter for the first time in his career.

This seemed to work as Correa had two hits, two RBI and scored three runs.

Alex Bregman had his best performance since returning from the COVID-19 list landing three hits and three RBI.

Cristian Javier made his Astros return after spending some time at the alternate site. He struck out a career-high nine batters and threw five scoreless innings.

The Astros broke their 3-game losing streak and beat the Angels 8-2.

Friday's game proved to be more difficult as Houston needed extra-innings and an unlikely hero to win their second straight game against the Angels.

Los Angeles took a 2-0 lead in the 5th inning but Gurriel tied the game with a two-run home run in the bottom of the 7th.

The Angels scored two runs in the top of the 10th on RBI singles by David Fletcher and Astros' headache Albert Pujols off Ryan Pressly to take a 4-2 lead. These were the first earned runs given up by Pressly this season.

The bottom of the 10th started with Kyle Tucker on second base and went to third on a fly ball by Aledmys Díaz. Myles Straw singled to score Tucker and the lead was cut to 4-3.

Jason Castro then hit a ground-rule double into the right field corner to send Straw to third. The play was reviewed to see if it was a foul ball, but the call was upheld.

Correa was able to score Straw on a sacrifice fly to tie the game 4-4.

With two outs in the bottom of the 10th, the number 2 spot came up in the batting order. Instead of the usual Michael Brantley hitting in that place, it was Robel Garcia, who just returned from being on the COVID-19 reserve list.

Brantley was pinch run for by Chaz McCormick earlier in the game and Garcia was pinch hitting for McCormick.

Garcia took two quick strikes from Angels closer Raisel Iglesias but hit an RBI single to score Castro to win the game 5-4 for the Astros.

Saturday's game was arguably the best game for the 'Stros, as they scored a season high 16 runs and found an unused gem in their bullpen.

Jake Odorizzi started the game for the Astros, but only lasted 1/3 of an inning as he left the game early with an injury.

Enter Kent Emanuel who didn't think he was going to pitch anytime soon.

"All of the sudden they were like: 'Hey, you better start loosening up,'" he said. "I was like ... 'here we go."' Emanuel said after the game.

The former Astros minor leaguer made his major league debut by pitching the remaining 8 2/3 innings of the game.

"It's pretty wild," Emanuel said. "But I've been expecting this moment for quite some time now. So, I was ready."

He allowed five hits and two runs and became the fourth pitcher to have a relief outing of 8 2/3 innings or more in the modern era. Fred Smith (1907), Maury Kent (1912) and John Montefusco (1974) were the others just in case you were wondering.

The Astros gave Emanuel a lot of run support to say the least.

Correa, Bregman and Kyle Tucker all hit home runs in this game to give the Astros their best offensive performance of the season.

Sundays' game ended the week on a sour note, but was still eventful nonetheless.

Lance McCullers started the game and pitched more than five innings for the first time and left the game with a no decision after Yuli Gurriel hit his fourth homer of the season to tie the game 2-2.

Angles two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani broke the game open with a solo home run off Luis Garcia in the top of the 8th to give the Angels a 3-2 lead.

The Halos won the game 4-2, but still lost the series to the Astros 3-1.

This was the first series win since their first one of the season in which they swept the Oakland A's in four games.

UP NEXT: The Astros finish out their homestead with four games against the Seattle Mariners before heading on the road Friday to take on the Tampa Bay Rays.

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The Longhorns host Georgia on Saturday night. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

By any measure, from the official statistics to the informal eye test, top-ranked Texas' defense has been dominant.

The Longhorns rank No. 1 in total defense and scoring defense. They are top 10 in first downs allowed, tackles for loss and passing yards. Much of that is built against opponents starting former walk-on quarterbacks ( Michigan ) and freshmen ( Mississippi State and Oklahoma.)

But the level of quarterback play Texas will face, in both talent and experience, is about to get much better over the second half of the season.

Texas hosts No. 5 Georgia on Saturday night in the first matchup of top five teams in Austin since 2006, before playing the next week at Vanderbilt. Bulldogs senior Carson Beck was a preseason first team Associated Press All-America pick, and standout Vanderbilt transfer Diego Pavia has carried the Commodores to a surprising 4-2 start, including a historic win over then-No. 1 Alabama.

Quite simply, Texas hasn't defended this caliber of quarterback all season.

Beck is a player on the doorstep of the NFL, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said.

“There's nothing in the throw game (Beck) can't do,” Sarkisian said. “He's played enough football now, too. It's kind of hard to confuse guys when they've played that much football.”

Texas (6-0, 2-0 SEC) has allowed just one team to pass for more than 200 yards this season. Beck passed for 459 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions last week in a 41-31 win over Mississippi State. His 36 completions set a Georgia record.

Even when Beck struggled early in Georgia's loss to Alabama, he rallied the Bulldogs to a late fourth-quarter lead. He finished with 439 yards in the loss where Georgia's rally ended with an Alabama interception in the end zone in the final minute.

Sarkisian recruited Beck when the Texas coach was an assistant at Alabama. Beck had initially committed to the Crimson Tide before switching to Georgia.

Beck is 18-2 in his career as a starter, and 6-2 against top 20 opponents.

The Bulldogs (5-1, 3-1) will need another exceptional game from him Saturday. A second SEC loss could threaten any chance of playing for the SEC championship, and raise the alarms on the College Football Playoff as well.

Texas has all but overwhelmed opposing quarterbacks so far.

In last week's 34-3 thrashing of rival Oklahoma, the Longhorns sacked Sooners freshman quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. five times, and held him to 27 yards on 20 carries. Texas allowed just 225 total yards.

Hawkins was the first Sooners freshman to start at quarterback against the Longhorns in the 120-year history of the rivalry and was quickly swallowed up by a relentless pass rush.

By the numbers, the Longhorns program is on pace for a historic season. Sarkisian has said his favorite stat is points allowed, which is not many.

Texas has surrendered only three touchdowns all season. Opponents have snatched four turnovers inside Texas territory, but none have produced points.

That ability to snuff momentum can drain an opponent, Sarkisian said.

“We're so composed as a defense,” Texas safety Michael Taaffe said. “We're so confident, that no matter what happens, everything is going to be alright.”

The only time Texas has trailed this season was a 3-0 early deficit against Oklahoma. Several Longhorns starters were still on the field when the Sooners' final drive stalled at the Texas 6-yard-line as the game ended.

The stars emerging for the Longhorns have been second-year linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. and freshman edge rusher Colin Simmons.

Hill leads the team in total tackles (42), sacks (4 1/2) and tackles for loss (8 1/2). His sideline-to-sideline speed and move this season from the edge to the middle of the Texas defense has drawn comparisons to former Longhorns All-American Derrick Johnson 20 years ago.

Simmons has four sacks and 7 1/2 tackles for losses, second on the team in both categories.

“Size, speed,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said in summing up the Texas defense.

“They’re the complete package on defense," Smart said. "The consistency you watch them play with, it reminds me of some of our best teams here.”By any measure, from the official statistics to the informal eye test, top-ranked Texas' defense has been dominant.