Houston's offense went scoreless
Astros shutout by Mariners, preventing a four-game sweep
Apr 29, 2021, 5:40 pm
Houston's offense went scoreless Thursday afternoon. Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
Houston's offense went scoreless Thursday afternoon.
After a thrilling comeback win on Wednesday night to grab the first three games of this series, the Astros returned to Minute Maid Park on Thursday afternoon to try and put an exclamation point on an already successful homestand. A four-game sweep was not in the cards, however, as Houston's offense would go cold in the finale, ending the eight-game stretch of home matchups on a sour note.
Final Score: Mariners 1, Astros 0
Astros' Record: 13-12, fourth in the AL West
Winning Pitcher: Yusei Kikuchi (1-1)
Losing Pitcher: Luis Garcia (0-3)
Garcia does well, but support never arrives
Luis Garcia had a relatively successful day on the mound, giving his team a chance by holding the Mariners to just one run over five innings. The run came on a solo home run by Taylor Trammell in the top of the third, putting Seattle in front 1-0. Unfortunately for Garcia, that would be the only run of the game, sending him to the loss. His final line: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 73 P.
Kikuchi takes a no-hitter into the seventh, Mariners complete the shutout
That's because Yusei Kikuchi was having an even better day. He would blank the Astros over seven innings, allowing just one hit, a double by Carlos Correa at the bottom of the seventh. After Garcia for Houston, the combination of Bryan Abreu, Brooks Raley, and Joe Smith finished off the final four innings, all scoreless.
Seattle's bullpen would finish the job for Kikuchi, getting two more scoreless innings while allowing just one hit, a single by Alex Bregman in the bottom of the ninth to finish Houston's day with just two knocks. The loss tumbles Houston down to fourth in the division standings, for now, as they head out on the road for the next six games over seven days.
Up Next: Houston will travel to Tampa Bay to start a three-game set with the Rays Friday at 6:10 PM Central. Lance McCullers Jr. (1-1, 4.58 ERA) will head to the mound to try and help the Astros get back in the win column, while Ryan Yarbrough (1-2, 4.28 ERA) will be on the bump for the Rays.
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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!