Houston splits the series with Detroit

Astros fall to Tigers in extras in series finale

Astros' Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa
Houston's offense remained cold in Detroit to finish the series on Sunday. Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Houston's offense remained cold in Detroit to finish the series on Sunday.

With their winning streak snapped in the loss in the first half of a doubleheader the day before, the Astros tried to move their new one to two games by taking the finale and, therefore, the series victory with a win Sunday. The Tigers would continue to stifle Houston's offense, though, and would get the walk-off win over Houston in extras.

Final Score (10 innings): Tigers 2, Astros 1

Astros' Record: 48-30, first in the AL West

Winning Pitcher: Gregory Soto (4-1)

Losing Pitcher: Blake Taylor (0-2)

Odorizzi goes five scoreless

There wasn't much going on for either offense as the afternoon rolled on. For Jake Odorizzi, he was able to hold Detroit scoreless over five frames, allowing just a walk in the second, a single in the third, and a single in the fifth, all of which he was able to strand. His final line: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 77 P.

He left in line for the win, despite the Astros only giving him one hit of support. It came in the top of the fourth when Tarik Skubal hit the leadoff batter before issuing two walks to load the bases. Carlos Correa brought in the first run of the day; a sac fly to put Houston in front 1-0.

Detroit ties it as game goes to extras

With Odorizzi making it through five, the Astros turned to long-reliever Cristian Javier to try and eat up some innings. He would work in and out of trouble, starting with two walks in the bottom of the sixth, which he erased, then issuing two more in the bottom of the seventh while getting two outs. That prompted Dusty Baker to move on to Brooks Raley to try and get out of the jam, but Raley instead gave up a game-tying RBI single before ending the frame.

Raley remained on the mound to start the bottom of the eighth but would face one batter, issuing a walk, before Baker moved on to Ryne Stanek. Stanek escaped unscathed, allowing a single to his first batter then retiring the next three in a row to strand both runners. Tied 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth, Ryan Pressly came in and forced extra innings, posting a 1-2-3 inning.

Tigers get the walk-off in extras to split the series

Houston played small ball in the top of the tenth, getting a leadoff walk then a sac bunt by Jason Castro to put runners on second and third with one out, but did nothing with it as the next two batters would foul out and a groundout. Blake Taylor was the next reliever for Houston, coming in with a free runner on second trying to extend things another inning. Detroit would get the walk-off win, getting a groundout to move the runner to third, then an RBI bunt to win the game, with the Tigers and Astros splitting the four-game series.

Up Next: With this seven-game road trip complete, the Astros will continue this long stretch of games with three at home starting Monday at 7:10 PM Central with another series against the Orioles. Zack Greinke (8-2, 3.56 ERA) is slated to go up against Thomas Eshelman (0-1, 7.27 ERA) in the opener of the three-game set.

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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!

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