WRESTLING REPORT

Clash of Champions is shaping up to be a great event.

Cory De La Guardia
Sep 4, 2019, 7:07 am

Born with a comic book in one hand and a remote control in the other, Cory DLG is the talent of Conroe's very own Nerd Thug Radio, Sports. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio shows www.nerdthugradio.com!

Raw started off strong with a contract signing between Seth Rollins and Brawn Strowman getting interrupted by AJ Styles and the rest of the OC. Ziggler and Roode came out and helped The OC beat down Rollins and Strowman after the match which was actually some smart writing. Lacey Evans and Natalya put on a great match, although there wasn't any story built from it, so it was a curious pairing. A Sasha vs Becky Lynch match looks promising they are both great wrestlers but the rivalry feels rushed a little bit. After all of that build up of how tough Cedric Alexander is supposed to be, he then loses to Baron Corbin? That's confusing at best. Is anyone else over the Viking Experience? The end to the Samoa Joe and Ricochet match was confusing but portrayed well, setting up a triple threat match into the finals of the King of the Ring on the Raw side. The Bayley heel turn at the finale was a great move that while they've been hinting at it, they haven't over sold it and it was a great moment.

Smackdown also came out strong with Bayley reminding everyone she's fighting Charlotte Flair for the title at the upcoming pay per view. Thankfully Elias eliminated Ali in the King of the Ring tournament, Ali is just one of those guys who keep getting a push that feels undeserved and this run in the King of the Ring was no different. Aleister Black asking people to come fight him during a King of the Ring tournament kind of feels like a missed opportunity, doesn't it? The tag match between Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross against Fire and Desire was exciting and a great preview for a potential rematch at Clash of Champions. I feel like the Randy Orton and Kofi Kingston rivalry has dragged on forever and am ready for it to be over. As happy as I was Ali was eliminated, I'm equally disappointed Chad Gable remains in the King of the Ring tournament. I'm so over the 24/7 title, at this point it's a massive joke and while sometimes it's fun, it's also never going to be taken seriously. The finale to Smackdown finally paid off the Roman Reigns lameness that they've been running for awhile and while Eric Rowan comes out of this great, I'm not sure if this is a good enough payoff.

Clash of Champions is setting up as an exciting pay per view with a lot of the rivalries building up rather well and potentially a lot of titles could change hands with most of them on the line.

Feel free to check out my brand new comic book Another Day at the Office email me for details or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where some proceeds help people struggling with cancer or listen to Nerd Thug Radio. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.

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Houston is now 5-4 on the year

Astros pull out an extra-inning win to grab series victory against Angels

Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images

After splitting the first two games of the series, including the extra-inning affair on Saturday, the Astros looked to defeat the Angels on Saturday to secure the series win and leave Los Angeles with a winning record. On the mound were two pitchers looking to shrug off bad debuts to the season. Here is how the game went on Sunday afternoon:

Final Score (11 innings): Astros 6, Angels 5.

Record: 5-4, first in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Blake Taylor (1-0, 0.00 ERA).

Losing pitcher: Jacob Barnes (0-2, 3.86 ERA).

James walks his way into trouble

After a disastrous start to his pitching season where he was unable to record an out, Shohei Ohtani was able to sit down the Astros 1-2-3 on just eight pitches in the top of the first. However, Houston would take advantage of his struggling command in the top of the second, working three straight walks to load the bases with no outs. They then would get two more walks with two outs to grab an early 2-0 lead and end Ohtani's day early yet again.

Meanwhile, on the mound for Houston was Josh James. He, too, allowed some walks but was able to work around them in the first two innings, erasing two in the bottom of the first and one in the second for two scoreless innings.

That changed in the third when he would walk the bases loaded with two outs before Albert Pujols continued his nearly twenty-year reign of being a thorn in Houston's side, hitting a grand slam, Los Angeles' first hit of the day, to put the Angels up 4-2. James would get the final out of the third, but that would conclude his day, making it two straight starts he would be unable to reach the fourth inning. His final line: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 6 BB, 4K, 1 HR.

Valdez impresses as Bregman makes it a one-run game in the seventh

Framber Valdez was first out of Houston' bullpen, likely to try and eat up several innings. He would accomplish that mission, getting through the next three innings scoreless, holding the 4-2 score. It remained locked on that score despite Houston getting runners on base in each of those innings, as they would struggle to turn players on base into runs yet again in this series.

Alex Bregman gave the Astros a spark in the top of the seventh, leading off the inning with a solo home run to straightaway center to make it a one-run game. Valdez returned for yet another inning, another scoreless frame to keep it 4-3 going to the eighth.

Reddick ties it in the ninth, Astros win in extras

Houston would threaten to tie in the top of the eighth, getting a pinch-hitting Carlos Correa to third base after a single to leadoff the inning, but would be unable to score him, leaving it at 4-3. Valdez would record another scoreless inning in the bottom of the eighth, giving the Astros one more chance to tie or go ahead in the top of the ninth.

Michael Brantley led off the inning with a double and was pinch-run by Myles Straw, who would score the tying run on an RBI-single by Josh Reddick, but the Angels would hold the Astros there. Valdez remained in the game trying to push extra innings and would do so, erasing a leadoff walk.

Kyle Tucker started the top of the tenth on second base and moved to third on a sac fly by Carlos Correa to start the inning before scoring on another sac fly, this time from pinch-hitting Garrett Stubbs to give Houston a 5-4 lead. Valdez, well above his comfortable pitch count, was still on the mound in the bottom of the tenth, and allowed his first run, though unearned, on a leadoff RBI-single to tie the game again at 5-5. He would get one more out before Houston moved to another reliever, bringing in Andre Scrubb.

After an intentional walk to Albert Pujols, Scrubb would walk the bases loaded before getting a popout, then Houston would turn to Blake Taylor. Taylor would come through, getting a big strikeout to send the game to the eleventh. Springer started on second in the top of the inning and would score and put the Astros back in front on a one-out RBI-single by Alex Bregman. In the bottom half, Taylor would get through the inning, giving Houston the win and series victory.

Up Next: The Astros will have a day off tomorrow before picking up a three-game set with the Diamondbacks in Arizona on Tuesday. The opening game of that series will be at 8:10 PM Central. While Arizona is expected to start Madison Bumgarner, the Astros will have to pivot as they had Framber Valdez slated for that start, who made a lengthy appearance out of the bullpen on Sunday.

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