Houston has won six straight

Astros get walk-off win against Rockies in extras to keep winning streak going

Chris Campise
Aug 18, 2020, 5:16 pm
Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images

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.

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.

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.

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Houston has won seven straight

Astros get best of Keuchel to complete four-game sweep of White Sox

McCullers Jr. out-pitched friend and former teammate Dallas Keuchel on Father's Day. Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

With three impressive wins to start this series against the once AL-leading Chicago White Sox, Houston tried to extend their winning streak to seven games and finish a four-game sweep on Father's Day. Thanks to a big inning against former-Astro Dallas Keuchel, they would win to keep their hot streak going.

Final Score: Astros 8, White Sox 2

Astros' Record: 43-28, first in the AL West

Winning Pitcher: Lance McCullers Jr. (4-1)

Losing Pitcher: Dallas Keuchel (6-2)

Rough return to Houston for Keuchel

In his first game against his old squad, Dallas Keuchel would not have a memorable start on the mound for Chicago. Houston made him labor in the first inning, loading the bases though they only came away with one run on an RBI single by Abraham Toro, grabbing the early 1-0 lead. After going down 1-2-3 in the second, they got after Keuchel again in the third.

They ended up batting around against him that inning, including a two-RBI single by Yordan Alvarez, RBI double by Taylor Jones, and bases-loaded RBI-walk by Jose Altuve, which would end Keuchel's day very early and leave the bases juiced. Chicago's bullpen would walk another batter to give Keuchel another earned run, making it a 6-2 game, with all six going against the former Houston ace. Carlos Correa extended the lead to five runs in the next inning, hitting a leadoff solo home run to make it 7-2.

McCullers Jr. gives up two over six

That gave Lance McCullers Jr. a nice lead to work with, and he managed it well. He had one big mistake in the early goings of the game, giving up a one-out single in the second to set up a two-run home run, which at the time put Chicago in front 2-1 before Houston's offense came alive. He followed that up with four scoreless innings, erasing a walk in each with some tremendous defense behind him—his final line: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 1 HR, 94 P.

Astros complete the sweep to jump on top of the standings

Still a six-run game in the top of the seventh, Blake Taylor entered as the first reliever out of Houston's bullpen, tossing a 1-2-3 frame. He continued in the top of the eighth, getting two strikeouts in another scoreless inning. The 8-2 score would go final as Ralph Garza Jr. would enter as the third pitcher of the day to wrap things up with a scoreless top of the ninth to finish the four-game sweep. The win, their seventh straight, paired with an Oakland loss earlier in the afternoon, moves Houston into the top spot in the AL West based on winning percentage.

Up Next: This long stretch of consecutive games continues on Monday in Baltimore, as the Astros pick up a seven-game road trip starting with a three-game set against Baltimore getting underway at 6:05 PM Central. Jake Odorizzi (1-3, 5.68 ERA) will get the start for Houston, going opposite of Keegan Akin (0-2, 5.76 ERA) for the Orioles.

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