CUBS SWEEP 'STROS
Astros dealt another blow as Cubs complete crushing series sweep
Apr 25, 2024, 4:38 pm
That's five straight losses for Houston. Composite Getty Image.
Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a tiebreaking two-run homer for his first major league hit, and the Chicago Cubs swept the Houston Astros with a 3-1 victory on Thursday.
Nico Hoerner had three hits and Mike Tauchman went 1 for 1 with three walks as Chicago won for the fourth time in five games. Hayden Wesneski (2-0) pitched 2 1/3 perfect innings for the win in relief of Javier Assad.
Houston has lost a season-high five straight and eight of nine overall. At 7-19, it is off to its worst 26-game start since it was 6-20 in 1969.
First-year manager Joe Espada was ejected by plate umpire Jansen Visconti in the top of ninth.
Crow-Armstrong was recalled from Triple-A Iowa when Cody Bellinger was placed on the 10-day injured list on Wednesday with two fractured ribs. The 22-year-old outfielder, who is considered one of the team’s top prospects, made his big league debut last year and went 0 for 14 while appearing in 13 games.
He picked a perfect time for his first major league hit.
Houston had a 1-0 lead before Dansby Swanson scampered home on a fielder’s choice grounder for Miguel Amaya in the sixth.
Espada then replaced Rafael Montero with Bryan Abreu, who threw a wild pitch with Crow-Armstrong trying to sacrifice Amaya to second. Crow-Armstrong then drove his next pitch deep to right, delighting the crowd of 29,876 at Wrigley Field.
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Zach Dezenzo homered and Victor Caratini drove in two runs in the seventh to help the Houston Astros rally for a 5-3 victory over the Athletics on Wednesday.
The Athletics led by 1 when rookie Justin Sterner (1-1) took over for Luis Severino to start the seventh. Dezenzo sent his fourth pitch 416 feet to center field for his second homer this season to tie it at 3-all.
DEZENZO. BOMB. #BuiltForThis pic.twitter.com/ur27VQMcmm
— Houston Astros (@astros) May 28, 2025
There were runners on second and third with two outs in the inning when Caratini lined a single to center field to score 2 and put the Astros on top 5-3.
CARATINI FOR THE LEAD! pic.twitter.com/QX8fAMlQcd
— Houston Astros (@astros) May 28, 2025
Houston’s Lance McCullers Jr. allowed five hits and three runs in a season-long six innings in his fifth start after missing more than two seasons with injuries.
Shawn Dubin (2-0) struck out two in a scoreless seventh for the win and Josh Hader converted his 14th save in 14 opportunities with a scoreless ninth.
Jacob Wilson homered with two RBIs for the Athletics, who fell to 3-17 in their last 20 games.
Severino yielded three hits and two runs — one earned — in six innings. He struck out four to give him 1,003 strikeouts in his career, making him the 48th active player to reach 1,000 strikeouts.
Christian Walker was hit on the hand with a pitch to start Houston’s fourth. He left in the bottom of the sixth inning because of the injury. Manager Joe Espada said the X-rays were negative after the game.
Key moment
The Astros jumping on Sterner in the seventh to take the lead after Severino’s strong start kept them in check through six.
Key stat
McCullers struck out 12 to tie a career high he last reached in 2018.
Lance McCullers, 12th K. 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/A3hJ0eSzId
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 28, 2025
Up next
LHP Jacob Lopez (0-2, 2.57 ERA) will start for Oakland on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series at Toronto. The Astros open a four-game series against Tampa Bay on Thursday night with RHP Ryan Gusto (3-2, 4.58) on the mound against RHP Shane Baz (4-3, 4.94).