Houston gets a huge win in LA
Astros rally late to beat the Dodgers in pivotal game
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.
Stop us if you've seen this before. #ForTheH pic.twitter.com/s90MUG2w1n
— Houston Astros (@astros) September 13, 2020
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.
