Houston gets a huge win in LA

Astros rally late to beat the Dodgers in pivotal game

George Springer
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
George Springer

After a disappointing series in Oakland where they went 1-4, the Astros had a day off on Friday before starting a quick two-game series with arguably the best team in the MLB right now, the Dodgers, in Los Angeles. Here is a recap of the first game:

Final Score: Astros 7, Dodgers 5.

Record: 23-23, second in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Josh James (1-0, 9.95 ERA).

Losing pitcher: Kenley Jansen (3-1, 3.93 ERA).

Astros strike first, then Dodgers go to work on Valdez

The Astros were able to get a run across in the first, which is one thing they have done a decent job with this season. George Springer started the game with a double, moved to third on a groundout, then scored on an RBI-single by Yuli Gurriel, giving Houston the quick 1-0 lead.

After Framber Valdez made quick work of the top of the Dodgers' order in the bottom of the first, the bottom of their order would knock him around in the second. After a one-out single, Chris Taylor hit a two-run homer to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead, which became 3-1 on the next batter as Enrique Hernandez would hit a solo home run.

Valdez would allow two more runs over his five innings, while he would get no more run support behind him; one on a sac fly to turn a one-out triple into a run in the third, then an RBI-single in the fifth, which came after a walk and wild pitch. His final line: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 2 HR, 82 P.

Houston's bullpen holds the Dodgers at bay

After Valdez's five innings, Humberto Castellanos would come in as the first reliever for Houston, erasing a one-out double and two-out single for a scoreless inning. Cionel Perez was next for the bottom of the seventh and would face three batters, getting two outs and allowing a single, before Josh James would come in to finish the inning via a caught stealing.

Houston would get one run closer in the top of the eighth, with Alex Bregman following a leadoff single by George Springer by beating a potential double play to reach on a fielder's choice, moving to third on a single by Michael Brantley, then scoring on a groundout by Yuli Gurriel, making it 5-2.

Astros rally in the ninth to steal the win

The Astros would get back-to-back singles to start the ninth, against the Dodgers' closer Kenley Jansen, before both would score on a two-RBI double by Josh Reddick to make it a 5-4 game, with Reddick representing the tying run on second. Reddick would move to third on a single by Martin Maldonado, then scored on a game-tying RBI-single by George Springer, making it 5-5.

Alex Bregman would come up next and provided Houston their first lead since the beginning of the game, getting an RBI-single to make it 6-5. Yuli Gurriel would follow later with a sac fly, giving the Astros an additional insurance run at 7-5. Ryan Pressly would hold on to those two runs, allowing a leadoff single but erasing it along with a two-out double to give Houston the big win.

Up Next: The closing game of this quick two-game set is Sunday at 7:00 PM on Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN. Zack Greinke (3-1, 3.27 ERA) will start for the Astros against the team he played for in 2013-2015, while the Dodgers' starter is TBD.

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This season is officially upon us! Composite Getty Image.

The Houston Texans have a big challenge in store as they look to start the season with a win against the Colts this Sunday. When these two teams met in Week 2 last year, the Colts dominated the Texans, despite losing their QB Anthony Richardson to a concussion after the first quarter.

Keeping Richardson contained on Sunday will go a long way in increasing the Texans' chances of coming home with a win. The Texans defense will have their hands full containing the Colts backs and tight ends in the passing game.

Scoring touchdowns with their wide receivers could prove difficult, as the Texans allowed the second-fewest TDs (10) to the receiver position in 2023.

Limiting running back Jonathan Taylor will also be a top priority. While the Texans had an elite defense against the run last season, they struggled with Taylor in Week 18 as he almost rushed for 200 yards.

Houston's D allowed only four carries to running backs in 2023 that went for 20 or more yards. Two of which were to Taylor in the final game of the regular season.

Finally, DeMeco Ryans and company have to find a way to get pressure on the QB. They only had one QB hit and zero sacks on Richardson and Garner Minshew the first time they faced off last year.

On offense, the Texans have two big x-factors to watch for on Sunday. The offensive line that suited up to play the Colts in Week 2 last season is completely different from this year.

The o-line was ravaged with injuries to start the 2023 campaign, so we expect a big jump in productivity in the trenches this year.

Another big addition in 2024 is the presence of running back Joe Mixon. The running game only produced 2 yards per rush in Week 2 against Indy last year, so there's clearly room for improvement.

Be sure to watch the video above for our in-depth preview of Texans-Colts!

And catch Texans on Tap (a Texans podcast) live on our SportsMapTexans YouTube channel following every game this season!

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