Houston has won six in a row
Astros secure series win over A's with homers by Altuve and Tucker
Jul 7, 2021, 10:10 pm
Kyle Tucker had the big go-ahead homer in Wednesday's game against the A's. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images
Kyle Tucker had the big go-ahead homer in Wednesday's game against the A's.
After mounting an impressive comeback to take the series opener against the A's, the Astros took the field in the middle game of this three-game series to try and lock up the victory with a win on Wednesday night. Thanks to homers by Jose Altuve and Kyle Tucker, they would grab the win.
Final Score: Astros 4, A's 3
Astros' Record: 54-33, first in the AL West
Winning Pitcher: Blake Taylor (2-2)
Losing Pitcher: Sean Manaea (6-6)
Garcia gives up an early homer, Altuve backs him up
Like in the opener of the series, Oakland got on the board first in the top of the first inning, this time against Luis Garcia. Unlike their three-run first with multiple hits the night prior, this time, it was limited to a solo home run by Matt Olson to give the A's the early 1-0 lead, which held for a few innings.
Jose Altuve. What else can you say? 💪#ForTheH pic.twitter.com/6gb3u8Pu1m
— Houston Astros (@astros) July 8, 2021
In the bottom of the third, Houston put their first two batters on base to set up a three-run go-ahead home run by Jose Altuve with one out, making it a 3-1 Astros advantage. Garcia rebounded for four scoreless innings after the early homer, leaving in line for the win with another solid start: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 1 HR, 88 P.
Oakland ties it, Tucker puts Houston back in front
Houston moved into their bullpen starting in the top of the sixth, with Cristian Javier entering to relieve Garcia. It would not be a good inning for him, allowing a solo homer to his first batter before loading the bases with no outs on two singles and a walk. He gave up the tying run on a wild pitch, but thanks to some solid defense and a strikeout was able to limit the damage there, leaving it a 3-3 tie.
Blake Taylor was Houston's next reliever in the top of the seventh, and though he dealt with traffic on the bases as well, he was able to post a scoreless inning by erasing an error and walk. Kyle Tucker untied the game in the bottom of the seventh, launching a solo home run to put the Astros back on top 4-3.
King Tuck puts us ahead. 👑#ForTheH pic.twitter.com/fszqkxuqPa
— Houston Astros (@astros) July 8, 2021
Astros secure the series
Ryne Stanek continued his recent role as setup man in the top of the eighth, tossing a 1-2-3 frame to maintain the one-run lead. That presented Ryan Pressly with another save opportunity in the top of the ninth, and he would notch it by sitting down Oakland in order, giving Houston the series win, and extending their lead in the division.
Up Next: The finale of this three-game set will be an afternoon game starting at 1:10 PM Central. The pitching matchup is slated to be Frankie Montas (7-7, 4.63 ERA) for Oakland and Lance McCullers Jr. (6-1, 2.97 ERA) for Houston.
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Road teams made a stand on Monday, and a pair of series are suddenly knotted up.
Day 3 of the NBA playoffs was about the visitors. Kawhi Leonard scored 39 points — his most in any game since December 2023, his most in a playoff game since 2021 — to lift the Los Angeles Clippers past Denver 105-102. And in New York, Cade Cunningham scored 33 points, Dennis Schröder had a big 3-pointer with 55.7 seconds left and Detroit beat the Knicks 100-94 for its first playoff win in 17 years.
Those series are now tied at a game apiece, heading back to L.A. and Detroit.
There are three games on Tuesday, with Indiana playing host to Milwaukee, Oklahoma City hosting Memphis and the Los Angeles Lakers hosting Minnesota. The Pacers and Thunder are seeking 2-0 leads; the Lakers will try to make it 1-1 before the series shifts to Minnesota.
Tuesday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
7 p.m. — Milwaukee at Indiana (NBA TV)
7:30 p.m. — Memphis at Oklahoma City (TNT/truTV)
10 p.m. — Minnesota at L.A. Lakers (TNT/truTV)
Wednesday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
7 p.m. — Orlando at Boston (TNT/truTV)
7:30 p.m. — Miami at Cleveland (NBA TV)
9:30 p.m. — Golden State at Houston (TNT/truTV)
Thursday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
7 p.m. — New York at Detroit (TNT)
9:30 p.m. — Oklahoma City at Memphis (TNT)
10 p.m. — Denver at L.A. Clippers (NBA TV)
Betting odds
Oklahoma City (+175) is favored to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed closely by Boston (+200). After that, it's Cleveland (+600), Golden State (+1400), the Los Angeles Lakers (+1600), the Los Angeles Clippers (+2000), New York (+4000), Minnesota (+4000) and Denver (+5000).
Denver's odds took a big hit after the Nuggets lost Game 2 at home to the Clippers — whose odds, in turn, improved greatly.
From there, it's Indiana (+8000), Houston (+10000), Milwaukee (+15000), Detroit (+35000), then Miami, Memphis and Orlando (all +100000).
Golden State, the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, is favored (-375) to win its series against No. 2 seed Houston. The Warriors entered that matchup favored, and Sunday's win moved those odds even more.
Other underdogs now favored to advance: Minnesota and the Clippers.
Award season
The first of the major NBA awards comes out on Tuesday, when the league announces the sixth man of the year — either Detroit's Malik Beasley, Cleveland's Ty Jerome or Boston's Payton Pritchard.
It’ll be revealed at 7 p.m. Eastern on TNT.
The other awards this week: clutch player (Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern on TNT), defensive player of the year (Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern on TNT), and the hustle awards (Friday at 2 p.m.).
Key upcoming events
April 26 — NBA early entry deadline.
May 3 — Earliest possible start date for Round 2 of the playoffs. Series could also start on May 4, May 5 or May 6.
May 12 — Draft lottery, Chicago.
May 18 or 20 — Game 1, Western Conference finals.
May 19 or 21 — Game 1, Eastern Conference finals.
June 5 — Game 1, NBA Finals. (Other games: June 8, June 11, June 13, June 16, June 19 and Game 7, if necessary, will be June 22.)
June 25 — NBA draft, first round.
June 26 — NBA draft, second round.
Stories of note
— Preview of Tuesday's games: Pacers-Bucks, Thunder-Grizzlies, Lakers-Timberwolves.
— Tom Thibodeau isn't happy with how Game 2 was officiated.
— Mavs GM Nico Harrison didn't know how beloved Luka Doncic was in Dallas.
— The NBA finalists for seven awards are released.
— The playoffs could be wide-open. Again.
— A look inside the numbers of this season, headed into the playoffs.
— Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson wins NBCA coach of the year award.
Stats of the day
— The Pistons snapped a 15-game playoff losing streak. Another loss would have tied the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (1975-79) for the second-longest in U.S. pro sports at 16. The playoff-futility record is held by baseball's Minnesota Twins, who once dropped 18 straight.
— The last time Detroit won a playoff game before Monday, LeBron James was 249th on the all-time scoring list and Gregg Popovich was 19th on the all-time coaching wins list. They're both No. 1 now by wide margins.
— Strange but true: The last three playoff triple-doubles have come in losing efforts. Nikola Jokic had one Monday night in Denver's loss to the Clippers and Luka Doncic's final two playoff ones for Dallas last season — one against Minnesota in the West finals, the other against Boston in the NBA Finals — both were in losses.