Houston gets the victory

Astros get back in the win column with 7-2 victory over Rangers

Astros' Jose Urquidy
Jose Urquidy was impressive against the Rangers on Wednesday night. Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

Jose Urquidy was impressive against the Rangers on Wednesday night.

After a disappointing lopsided loss on Tuesday to even the series, the Astros tried to get back in position to take the series with a win on Wednesday. They would get it, thanks to a great start by Jose Urquidy and plenty of run support behind him.

Final Score: Astros 7, Rangers 2

Astros' Record: 85-60, first in the AL West

Winning Pitcher: Jose Urquidy (7-3)

Losing Pitcher: Kohei Arihara (2-4)

Houston goes back-to-back in the second

After a scoreless first inning on both sides, Houston would strike first to start the scoring in the top of the second. A one-out single by Kyle Tucker set up the first two runs of the game, a two-run homer by Jake Meyers to make it 2-0. Marwin Gonzalez was next, and he made it back-to-back homers with a solo shot in the next at-bat, extending the lead to 3-0 with his second homer since re-joining the Astros.

Urquidy tosses an impressive quality start

The three-run inning put Houston's starter, Jose Urquidy, in a good position. After a walk to start the game, he settled in, retiring the next six batters he faced. The Rangers got on the board in the bottom of the third, getting a leadoff triple on a nearly scary play by Kyle Tucker that collided with the right-field wall tracking a long fly ball, which would ultimately fall in for the hit. Houston ceded a run on a groundball, making it 3-1 as Urquidy would get the next three batters in order to end the frame.

His offense backed him up with more runs in the next two innings, getting back-to-back hits to start the fourth, setting up a two-RBI single by Chas McCormick later in the inning, then in the fifth, Yordan Alvarez made it a five-run game with an RBI double. Urquidy remained efficient the rest of the way, allowing just one hit while retiring eleven of the final twelve batters he faced. His final line: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 81 P.

Astros get the win

Ryne Stanek took over in the bottom of the seventh, working around a leadoff single to keep the lead at 6-1. Kyle Tucker got his third hit of the night in the next inning, this one a solo homer to add another insurance run and make it 7-1.
Kendall Graveman pitched the eighth, a 1-2-3 inning, and then Josh James came in to finish things in the ninth. He allowed a run, but it would matter little as the Astros would get their 85th win of the season, giving them a chance to get the series win on Thursday.

Up Next: The final game of this four-game series and the last matchup between these two teams this season will be another 7:05 PM Central start on Thursday. Glenn Otto (0-1, 6.92 ERA) will make his fourth career start for the Rangers, going opposite Framber Valdez (10-5, 3.26 ERA) for the Astros.

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The Warriors beat the Rockets, 104-93. Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images.

Stephen Curry closed his eyes and rested his tired head on Jimmy Butler's right shoulder as the superstars shared another postgame moment.

This time, with Butler injured and wearing street clothes — a full-length fur coat at that.

“Well first, he had a fantastic coat on,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I thought he was going to be way too hot in that thing.”

Sidelined for Game 3 of Golden State's first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets, Butler had a front-row seat to watch his teammate take over Saturday night in a 104-93 win that gave the Warriors a 2-1 lead.

Curry scored 36 points with five 3-pointers and had nine assists and seven rebounds in nearly 41 minutes. He had been determined to do more if Butler couldn't play after injuring his pelvis and suffering a deep gluteal muscle contusion in a hard fall during Game 2.

Butler and Curry can compare notes on their injured backsides, given that Curry has dealt with a bruised tailbone multiple times. For now, Curry appreciates the support, whether Butler is in uniform or not.

And the fur Butler was wearing?

“I almost didn't need a hot pack on the sideline sitting next to him. There was plenty of heat emanating from him,” Curry said before adding, “He's a savvy veteran, high-IQ guy, he's got a presence whether he's active or not where his voice matters, and we needed him to lift everybody up on the bench and give us that energy. His presence matched the fit for sure.”

Kerr wasn't ready to guess whether Butler will be able to play in Game 4 on Monday night.

“He’s literally day-to-day. We have tomorrow off. It will be helpful for him to have another day, and then it’s a night game,” Kerr said. “So he gets a few extra hours. So we’ll see. I have no idea right now if he’s going to play.”

Butler had been set to go through his pregame routine, which he does out of sight on the team's practice court and not the playing floor before games at Chase Center. He had an MRI exam Thursday in the Bay Area a day after he was hurt in Houston.

“We had to have Jimmy’s back while he was out,” said Gary Payton II, who scored 11 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter. “Hopefully we get Jimmy back for Game 4 and get back to our regularly scheduled program.”

Jonathan Kuminga, who didn't play for three straight games before rejoining the rotation in Game 2 when Butler got hurt, was in the starting lineup for his fourth career playoff start.

Butler went down hard when he was fouled by Amen Thompson late in the first quarter and then missed the rest of the Warriors’ 109-94 Game 2 loss on Wednesday night.

Butler tried to secure a rebound when Thompson undercut him and sent the Warriors star’s feet high into the air so that he came down straight onto his tailbone. Both players thudded to the floor and Butler grimaced in pain, grabbing at his backside. He stayed in briefly to shoot two free throws before going to the locker room.

Kerr appreciated Butler's insight on the bench.

“Jimmy is so smart. He reminds me so much of Andre Iguodala," Kerr said. “Incredible basketball IQ and then the ability to communicate what he’s seeing to his teammates on the bench. I thought Jimmy was important for us tonight in that regard. He was talking to guys throughout the game, and giving them advice, giving some help, and that was big.”

In the Game 1 win against the Rockets, Butler had 25 points on 10-for-19 shooting, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals in 42 minutes. The Warriors are 26-9 since Butler made his debut at Chicago on Feb. 8, including 23-8 in the regular season, a play-in tournament win over Memphis and the three games against Houston.

“We know they are still dangerous without Butler, so that doesn’t change anything as far as that," Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “We didn’t make them pay, especially with the paint shots.”

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