Houston falls to beatable Arizona

Astros fall to D-backs in second-straight extra-inning game to even series

Astros' Jose Altuve
Houston's inexplicable struggles against struggling teams continued on Saturday night. Photo by Harry How/Getty Images

Houston's inexplicable struggles against struggling teams continued on Saturday night.

After needing extra innings to beat the struggling Diamondbacks, the Astros hoped to rebound with a much more convincing win over Arizona on Saturday to secure the series win. Instead, Arizona would get the best of Houston in extras, tying the three-game set at one game apiece


Final Score (10 innings):
Diamondbacks 6, Astros 4

Astros' Record: 87-61, first in the AL West

Winning Pitcher: J.B. Wendelken (3-2)

Losing Pitcher: Yimi Garcia (3-9)

Houston strikes first, Arizona responds against McCullers Jr.

After a quick top of the first by their starter, Lance McCullers Jr., the Astros jumped out to an early lead off the bat of Yordan Alvarez, who capitalized on a one-out walk by crushing a 453-foot two-run homer to straightaway center, putting Houston ahead 2-0. McCullers dealt with some traffic in the second, allowing a one-out double and two-out walk, but erased both to maintain the lead.

After a 1-2-3 third, things unraveled for him in the fourth, allowing a leadoff double that would result in a run on an error, then gave up the lead with an RBI double and RBI single in back-to-back at-bats to give Arizona a 3-2 advantage. He finished that frame, erased a leadoff double in the fifth, and then made it through the sixth with some defensive help. His final line: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 111 P.

Game stays tied as the teams go to extras for second straight night

Houston got McCullers Jr. off the hook in the bottom of the sixth, getting a single and double to start the frame to set up a sac fly by Carlos Correa, making it 3-3. Phil Maton was Houston's first reliever in the top of the seventh, and he would face three batters, getting two outs and allowing a walk before Brooks Raley came in to finish the inning.

Despite back-to-back singles to start the bottom of the seventh for Houston, they would come away empty-handed as the game remained gridlocked. Ryne Stanek was next out of the bullpen, and he sat down Arizona 1-2-3 before Houston suffered the same fate in the bottom half. For the second night in a row, Houston's closer came in to try and keep things tied in the top of the ninth. Ryan Pressly did it again, but so did Arizona in the bottom of the ninth, making it back-to-back nights with extra innings.

Astros fall in extras as Arizona evens the series

Yimi Garcia had the top of the tenth for Houston, but after allowing the free runner to score on a one-out single, he would give up a two-run homer to make it a 6-3 lead for Arizona before finishing the inning. Houston made it a two-run game with a pinch-hit RBI single by Jason Castro in the bottom of the inning but would not come any closer as the Diamondbacks would even the series.

Up Next: The finale of this three-game series will be a normal 1:10 PM Central start on Sunday. It'll be the battle of the Zac(k)s, as Zac Gallen (2-10, 4.44 ERA) will be on the mound for Arizona and Zack Greinke (11-6, 3.94 ERA) will pitch for the Houston.

Most Popular

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome

Listen Live

ESPN Houston 97.5 FM
The Texans are the class of the division. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.

The Houston Texans received a lot of praise for their moves in free agency across various outlets. And for good reason, most people believe the team got significantly better with the additions of Danielle Hunter, Azeez Al-Shaair, and Denico Autry among others.

But there's another factor to consider this offseason. How much have the other teams in the AFC South improved?

When looking at the PFF grades in free agency, the Colts received a B-minus. Most of the Colts moves this offseason involved spending a lot of money re-signing their own players. Which is great in theory, but it's hard to improve the overall quality of your roster when you're bringing back players that were already there to begin with. A lot will be riding on player development for the Colts to see a big jump this season. A healthy quarterback wouldn't hurt either.

The Jaguars have made some big additions financially this offseason by signing receiver Gabe Davis and defensive tackle Arik Armstead. They also lost the top receiver on the market, Calvin Ridley, to the Titans. Gabe Davis wasn't able to establish himself as a reliable No. 2 receiver with Josh Allen throwing him the ball in Buffalo. So it's hard to believe he'll take the next step in Jacksonville. Their best move of the offseason might have been retaining edge rusher Josh Allen by using the franchise tag on him. So what did PFF think of Jacksonville's offseason? They received a B-minus, just like the Colts.

The Titans have a lot of turnover heading into the 2024 season, and not just on the roster. They have a new head coach in Brian Callahan, who's looking to revamp Tennessee's offense. Early in free agency, they agreed to terms with former Cowboys running back Tony Pollard, signing him to a 3-year deal at $8 million per season. Which is more money than the Ravens are paying for Derrick Henry, who left the Titans in free agency. Calvin Ridley was the most notable addition to the squad, he received a 4-year, $92 million deal. And while this could be viewed as an overpay, at least he gives the Titans' offense some upside. Their receiving corps looks a lot more dangerous with Ridley added to DeAndre Hopkins and Treylon Burks.

They also spent big at the center position, adding Lloyd Cushenberry on a 4-year, $50 million contract.

Because the Titans spent a lot of money on some highly coveted players, PFF gave them a B.

Now that brings us to the Texans. The Texans re-signed some of their own players like Dalton Schultz and Noah Brown. But they also made some big splashes with Hunter, Autry, Al-Shaair, and Joe Mixon. But the Texans spent their money in a more conservative way by not handing out many contracts over two years in length.

The Texans managed to add the best pass rusher in free agency with Hunter, but it's only a two-year deal. The overall talent level is going up on this roster, and GM Nick Caserio isn't having to sign players to long contracts that could come back and haunt him.

That's why we're seeing post-free agency power rankings coming out with Houston in the Top 10. And that's also why PFF gave the Texans an A for their moves in free agency.

Be sure to check out the video above as Craig from Sports Talk Extra takes an in-depth look at PFF's grades for the AFC South, and much more!

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome