BROWN VS. HEANEY
Houston Astros eye critical wins in clash with Rangers
Aug 5, 2024, 12:42 pm
Hunter Brown takes the ball for Houston Monday night. Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images.
Houston Astros (57-54, second in the AL West) vs. Texas Rangers (53-59, third in the AL West)
Arlington, Texas; Monday, 8:05 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Hunter Brown (9-7, 4.11 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 126 strikeouts); Rangers: Andrew Heaney (4-11, 4.12 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 107 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Astros -125, Rangers +106; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Texas Rangers host the Houston Astros to start a three-game series.
Texas has gone 30-25 at home and 53-59 overall. The Rangers are 38-19 in games when they record eight or more hits.
Houston is 57-54 overall and 25-28 in road games. The Astros are 43-5 in games when they scored at least five runs.
The teams meet Monday for the 11th time this season. The season series is tied 5-5.
TOP PERFORMERS: Josh Smith has a .279 batting average to lead the Rangers, and has 20 doubles, a triple and 11 home runs. Corey Seager is 14-for-41 with three home runs and five RBI over the last 10 games.
Yordan Alvarez has 26 doubles, two triples and 20 home runs while hitting .301 for the Astros. Yainer Diaz is 17-for-39 with four doubles, a triple and two home runs over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Rangers: 3-7, .236 batting average, 6.76 ERA, outscored by 28 runs
Astros: 5-5, .243 batting average, 3.50 ERA, outscored by one run
INJURIES: Rangers: Jake Latz: 15-Day IL (forearm), Max Scherzer: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Evan Carter: 60-Day IL (lumbar), Jon Gray: 15-Day IL (groin), Cole Winn: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Tyler Mahle: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jacob deGrom: 60-Day IL (elbow), Carson Coleman: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Astros: Kyle Tucker: 60-Day IL (shin), Justin Verlander: 15-Day IL (neck), Cristian Javier: 60-Day IL (forearm), Jose Urquidy: 60-Day IL (forearm), Oliver Ortega: 60-Day IL (elbow), Bennett Sousa: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Penn Murfee: 60-Day IL (elbow), Luis Garcia: 60-Day IL (elbow), Lance McCullers Jr.: 60-Day IL (elbow), Kendall Graveman: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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Jalen Green made two free throws with 3.5 seconds left and the Houston Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors 91-90 on Wednesday night to advance to the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas.
Houston snapped a 15-game skid against the Warriors, winning for the first time in the series since Feb. 20, 2020. The Rockets will face Oklahoma City, which beat Dallas in the other West quarterfinal game on Tuesday night, in the semifinals on Saturday.
Alperen Sengun led the Rockets with 26 points and 11 rebounds and Jabari Smith Jr. added 15 points.
Houston led by 14 before falling behind late to set up the thrilling finish.
Houston trailed by six with about 1 1/2 minutes left before Fred VanVleet made a 3-pointer and Sengun added a layup with 27 seconds to go to cut the lead to one.
Stephen Curry missed a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left and Gary Payton II grabbed the rebound, but Green intercepted his pass and was fouled by Jonathan Kuminga to set up the winning free throws.
The Warriors had a chance to win it at the buzzer but Smith blocked Brandin Podziemski’s 3-point attempt.
Takeaways
Warriors: Golden State beat the Rockets twice this season without Curry before losing Wednesday in a game where he had 19 points.
Rockets: This young team showed poise in finishing this one after squandering a double-digit lead.
Key moment
Green’s hustle on getting the ball late to draw the foul to set up the winning free throws.
Key stat
Houston won despite making just 6 of 27 3-pointers.
Up next
While Houston heads to Las Vegas this weekend, the Warriors will return to regular-season play Sunday at Dallas.