Houston takes Game 1

Correa homers twice as Astros power past A's in ALDS Game 1

​Carlos Correa celebrates a home run in ALDS Game 1
Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Carlos Correa celebrates a home run in ALDS Game 1

With the two-game sweep of the Twins in the ALWC series, the Astros earned their spot into the divisional series. Their opponent in their ALDS, the AL West champions, the Oakland A's. However, with MLB's "bubble" in effect, Dodger Stadium was their home for the next three to five days. Here is a recap of Game 1:

Final Score: Astros 10, A's 5.

Series: HOU leads 1-0.

Winning Pitcher: Blake Taylor.

Losing Pitcher: J.B. Wendelken.

Early, frantic scoring knocks both starters out early

The scoring started early in Game 1, and at a frantic pace. The A's broke the seal, getting their first baserunner against Lance Mccullers Jr. wit ha one-out walk in the bottom of the second, setting up a two-run home run by Khris Davis to take the early 2-0 lead. Sean Murphy pushed the lead to three with a solo homer to start the bottom of the third, putting the Astros in early trouble.

Houston responded quickly, though, getting a solo shot by Alex Bregman to lead off the fourth, followed by a Kyle Tucker single to set up a two-run bomb by Carlos Correa to tie the game 3-3. Houston started the fifth with back-to-back singles, knocking Chris Bassitt out of the game, but both runners would stay put.

Oakland continued attacking McCullers Jr, getting a go-ahead solo homer by Matt Olson in the bottom of the fourth. They threatened for more, getting runners on second and third with no outs, but would strand both. McCullers Jr. would come back out for the fifth, but after a leadoff single would prompt a visit by Dusty Baker, who would move on to his bullpen. Blake Taylor would enter and complete the inning, but not before allowing the runner to score on a sac fly, making it a 5-3 Oakland lead. McCullers Jr.'s final line: 4.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 3 HR, 75 P.

Astros put up four in the sixth

Down two runs, the Astros were able to get an extended inning in the top of the sixth with Josh Reddick reaching base on a two-out error. That spurred a rally by Houston, who would get four-straight hits, including an RBI-double by George Springer, a go-ahead two-RBI single by Jose Altuve, then an RBI-single by Michael Brantley, giving Houston a 7-5 lead before the dust settled.

After Taylor finished the fifth, Enoli Paredes was next out of Houston's bullpen and tossed a perfect bottom of the sixth. In the top of the seventh, Carlos Correa hit his second home run of the day, extending the lead to 8-5. Paredes stayed in the game for the bottom of the inning, retiring three more Oakland batters in order.

Houston takes Game 1

Cristian Javier took over on the mound in the bottom of the eighth to try and keep the Astros in front heading to the ninth. He would do his job, erasing a leadoff walk to keep it a three-run game. Houston tacked on insurance in the top of the ninth, getting an RBI-single by Carlos Correa, his fourth run driven in on the day, and a sac fly by Yuli Gurriel, making it a five-run lead at 10-5. Even though it was no longer a save situation, the Astros still brought in Ryan Pressly in the bottom of the ninth, who retired Oakland 1-2-3 to finish off the victory.

Up Next: Game 2 of this ALDS will get underway on Tuesday at 3:37 PM Central, again from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Oakland will be the home team and will send Sean Manaea to the mound, while the Astros as visitors will start Framber Valdez.

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Kyle Tucker returns to Houston this weekend. Composite Getty Image.

Two first-place teams, identical records, and a weekend set with serious measuring-stick energy.

The Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs open a three-game series Friday night at Daikin Park, in what could quietly be one of the more telling matchups of the summer. Both teams enter at 48-33, each atop their respective divisions — but trending in slightly different directions.

The Astros have been red-hot, going 7-3 over their last 10 while outscoring opponents by 11 runs. They've done it behind one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, with a collective 3.41 ERA that ranks second in the American League. Houston has also been dominant at home, where they’ve compiled a 30-13 record — a stat that looms large heading into this weekend.

On the other side, the Cubs have held their ground in the NL Central but have shown some recent shakiness. They're 5-5 over their last 10 games and have given up 5.66 runs per game over that stretch. Still, the offense remains dangerous, ranking fifth in on-base percentage across the majors. Kyle Tucker leads the way with a .287 average, 16 homers, and 49 RBIs, while Michael Busch has been hot of late, collecting 12 hits in his last 37 at-bats.

Friday’s pitching matchup features Houston’s Brandon Walter (0-1, 3.80 ERA, 1.10 WHIP) and Chicago’s Cade Horton (3-1, 3.73 ERA, 1.29 WHIP), a promising young arm making one of his biggest starts of the season on the road. Horton will have his hands full with Isaac Paredes, who’s slugged 16 homers on the year, and Mauricio Dubón, who’s found a groove with four home runs over his last 10 games.

It’s the first meeting of the season between these two clubs — and if the trends continue, it may not be the last time they cross paths when it really counts.

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Astros -112, Cubs -107; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

Here's a preview of Joe Espada's Game 1 lineup.

The first thing that stands out is rookie Cam Smith is hitting cleanup, followed by Jake Meyers. Victor Caratini is the DH and is hitting sixth. Christian Walker is all the way down at seventh, followed by Yainer Diaz, and Taylor Trammell who is playing left field.

How the mighty have fallen.

Pretty wild to see Walker and Diaz hitting this low in the lineup. However, it's justified, based on performance. Walker is hitting a pathetic .214 and Diaz is slightly better sporting a .238 batting average.

Screenshot via: MLB.com



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