Houston falls to New York

Disaster in the sixth for Astros as Yankees take series opener

Chris Campise
May 4, 2021, 9:39 pm
Zack Greinke had another disappointing start on Tuesday. Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images

With victories in their last three series, going 8-3 in that eleven-game span, the Astros traveled to The Bronx to take on the Yankees, and a very energized crowd, at Yankee Stadium for a three-game set. After an exciting back-and-forth early, the Yankees would get a big inning to put things out of reach for Houston, handing them a loss in the opener.

Final Score: Yankees 7, Astros 3

Astros' Record: 15-14, third in the AL West

Winning Pitcher: Lucas Luetge (2-0)

Losing Pitcher: Brandon Bielak (1-1)

Teams trade blows early as Greinke has another forgettable outing

Having been met by boos both in pre-game and in their first at-bats in the top of the first inning, Alex Bregman quickly did his best to silence them by giving Houston a 1-0 lead with a solo home run. New York promptly responded, pounding Zack Greinke in the bottom of the inning. A leadoff single turned into a two-run home run by Giancarlo Stanton; then the Yankees loaded the bases still with no outs. Greinke would limit the damage to one run, but before it was all said and done would have used 31 pitches.

The 3-1 score held until the top of the fourth when a one-out bomb by Michael Brantley into the upper deck cut the deficit to one run. Later that same inning, Yordan Alvarez singled then scored to tie the game on a ground-rule double by Yuli Gurriel that narrowly missed being a homer. Zack Greinke would finish his third consecutive scoreless inning in the bottom of the fourth, but that would be the end of his night: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 1 HR, 84 P.

Disaster in the sixth

Brandon Bielak would take over for him in the bottom of the fifth, erasing a one-out double to maintain the tie score. He returned in the bottom of the sixth, getting two outs while putting runners on the corners before Dusty Baker would bring in Bryan Abreu.

Disaster would ensue, as a poorly called strike zone resulted in a walk to load the bases, followed by a groundball by DJ LeMaheiu that would be thrown wide by Alex Bregman to Yuli Gurriel, bringing in two runs easily, then a third that resulted in a collision by Rougned Odor into Martin Maldonado, taking both out of the game. Stanton would bring in another on an RBI single to make it 7-3 before Abreu would eventually get the third out.

Yankees take the opener

Andre Scrubb was the next reliever for Houston, working around two walks for a scoreless inning. Joe Smith had the eighth and also put up a zero despite loading the bases on two singles and a walk. Houston came up empty in the top of the ninth, as New York would take the first of this three-game series.

Up Next: The Astros and Yankees will meet for another 6:05 PM Central start on Wednesday. Houston will look to Luis Garcia (0-3, 2.70 ERA) to try and get his first win of the season, while New York will send Jordan Montgomery (1-1, 4.39 ERA) to the mound.

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Houston wins another

Astros complete sweep of Rangers, Greinke grabs win number 10

Zack Greinke earned his 10th win of the season in Sunday's finale agains the Rangers. Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images

With the first two wins of the series under their belt, the Astros entered Sunday looking to take care of business before heading on the road. Despite the Rangers taking the first lead of the day, the Astros responded on offense and defense to erase the deficit to get the victory.

Final Score: Astros 3, Rangers 1

Astros' Record: 61-39, first in the AL West

Winning Pitcher: Zack Greinke (10-3)

Losing Pitcher: Dennis Santana (0-1)

Greinke, with some help, notches a quality start

Zack Greinke was doing well in the early goings of Sunday's finale. Despite allowing back-to-back singles to start the game, he stranded both runners to finish the top of the first. He followed that by erasing two more runners in the second, starting a stretch of eight straight batters which he would retire to make it through one out in the top of the fifth without allowing a run.

Texas finally added a blemish to his day at that point, getting a solo homer to grab their first lead in weeks. Greinke rebounded from it, sitting down the next two batters to finish the frame, then posted a 1-2-3 sixth. He returned for the top of the seventh, but would end his day with a struggle, loading the bases with no outs on a single, hit batter, and walk. That prompted Dusty Baker to bring in Cristian Javier, who saved Greinke's stat line by getting a strikeout and double play to keep the Rangers from scoring. Greinke's line: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR, 86 P.

Houston grabs the lead

Houston's starter would leave in line for the win, thanks to the work of Cristian Javier, but also some timely offense in the two innings prior. With not much going for them in the first four innings, the Astros tried to take advantage of Chas McCormick being on base in the bottom of the fifth, sending him for a potential hit and run with Abraham Toro swinging.

That turned into two runs, with McCormick able to slow his run as Toro would launch a two-run go-ahead homer to erase the Rangers lead quickly. They extended the lead to two runs in the next inning, with Yordan Alvarez working a walk and then later scoring on an RBI single by Kyle Tucker, making it 3-1.

Astros finish the sweep

After cleaning up the inherited mess in the top of the seventh, Javier remained on the mound in the top of the eighth and made it through a 1-2-3 inning to give him six outs against five batters. With it still a two-run game in the top of the ninth, Ryan Pressly entered for the save opportunity. He notched it, sitting down the Rangers 1-2-3 to finish the sweep, handing Texas their twelfth straight loss.

Up Next: The Astros will head out west for an eight-game road trip starting with a three-game set with the Mariners kicking off at 9:10 PM Central on Monday. In the opener, Luis Garcia (7-5, 2.86 ERA) for Houston is slated to go opposite Darren McCaughan (0-0, 1.80 ERA), who will make his second career appearance and first start for Seattle.

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