Houston has won six straight
Astros get walk-off win against Rockies in extras to keep winning streak going
With Yordan Alvarez landing on the IL earlier in the day, Michael Brantley already on it, George Springer a late scratch with his wrist discomfort, and a scheduled off-day for Carlos Correa, the Astros had a much different lineup than usual on Tuesday. Still, they had Zack Greinke on the mound trying to lift Houston to their sixth straight win and back-to-back against the Rockies. Here is a recap of the second game of the four this week against Colorado:
Final Score (11 innings): Astros 2, Rockies 1.
Record: 13-10, second in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Andre Scrubb (1-0, 0.00 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Jairo Diaz (0-1, 3.00 ERA).
Both starters match each other with eight shutout innings
Much like the series' opening game, Tuesday's game would unfold as a pitcher's duel. While Houston's injury-laden lineup struggled to figure out Antonio Senzatela, Zack Grienke was dealing on the mound himself.
Both pitchers would complete eight scoreless innings while holding the opposite team to three hits over that span. Greinke would reach nearly 100 pitches over those eight innings, ending his day with no run support but with a gem on the mound. His final line: 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 0 HR.
21 savage. #ForTheHpic.twitter.com/c1LgjAvV4i
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 18, 2020
No scoring through nine, Astros walk it off in extras
Still gridlocked scoreless, Enoli Paredes entered to relieve Zack Greinke in the top of the ninth. He would record yet another electric inning, retiring the Rockies in order. That set up the Astros with a chance to get their second walk-off in the last three days. They would not do it in the ninth, though, as they also would go down 1-2-3 to move the game to extra innings.
In their sixth extra-inning game this season, the Astros turned to Ryan Pressly to erase the free runner on second in the top of the tenth. He would induce a sac fly to start the inning, moving the runner to third, who would score on a two-out RBI-single to put the first run on the board for the day and put Colorado up 1-0.
Pressly would get the third out, turning it over to Houston, who had Bregman on second base to start the bottom of the tenth. Yuli Gurriel moved him to third with a leadoff single, and then Kyle Tucker brought him in to tie the game 1-1 with a sac fly, leaving Gurriel at first as the winning run. He would get left stranded there, extending the game another inning.
Andre Scrubb took over on the mound for Houston in the top of the eleventh inning, and despite allowing a leadoff walk and sacrifice bunt was able to strand runners on second and third with two big back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning. With Abraham Toro on second, Colorado issued an intentional walk to Carlos Correa, who came in to pinch-hit for Martin Maldonado to lead off the bottom of the inning. A bunt moved Toro to third, then Myles Straw drove him in with a walk-off single to extend Houston's winning streak to six by sweeping the home portion of the four-game series.
Get 'em on: @MLB
Get 'em over: @GarrettStubbs
Get 'em in: @myles_straw#ForTheHpic.twitter.com/dS3r5K2SOk
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 18, 2020
Up Next: With the two games in Houston complete, this four-game series shifts to Denver for the next two. Game three will be at 7:40 PM on Wednesday, and the expected pitching matchup is Ryan Castellani (0-0, 1.04 ERA) for the Rockies and Framber Valdez (1-2, 1.90 ERA) for the Astros.
