HOUSTON THE BEAUTIFUL
Houston shines among America's best places to celebrate 4th of July
Jul 1, 2019, 3:43 pm
yuhirao/Getty Images
Houston is a pretty good place to be for the Fourth of July.
This article originally appeared on CultureMap.
Fourth of July is upon us, and Houston is just the place to be, according to a new study that names H-Town among the top places to celebrate the holiday.
Personal finance website WalletHub recently released a list of the best and worst places to celebrate July Fourth this year, ranking Houston No. 3 in Texas and No. 27 nationally. The site graded each city on its celebrations, affordability, attractions and activities, safety and accessibility, and — always crucial — weather.
Houston, where there are plenty of events and fireworks extravaganzas to choose from, ranks ninth in celebrations, 28th in affordability, and 31st for attractions and activities. Regarding safety and accessibility, we rank 70th, and for holiday weather, we're just about the worst (99th out of 100).
WalletHub isn't the only one taking notice of Houston this summer. Travel site Priceline deems it the country's top spot for millennials to spend the Fourth of July, as well as the most affordable destination, based on holiday hotel bookings. Dallas takes the No. 2 spot on both lists.
Continue reading on CultureMap to see where other Texas cities rank on the list.
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Yainer Diaz homered, Josh Hader got the last four outs for his major league-leading 25th save, and the Houston Astros spoiled Shohei Ohtani's 31st birthday, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-4 on Saturday.
Ohtani made his fourth mound start of the season, pitching two scoreless innings as he continues to work his way back from elbow surgery. He struck out the side in the second.
Justin Wrobleski (4-3) relieved Ohtani to start the third, and that's when the Dodgers' problems started. Zack Short hit a two-run double as Houston scored four times in the inning. Diaz went deep leading off the fourth, his 11th of the season.
Mookie Betts hit his 11th homer for the Dodgers in the first, and Miguel Rojas' two-run shot in the fourth pulled LA within 5-4.
Jose Altuve led off the seventh with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly.
Hader entered with two on and two out in the eighth and struck out pinch-hitter Esteury Ruiz. In the ninth, he allowed a leadoff single to Ohtani but retired Betts, Will Smith and Freddie Freeman to end it.
Framber Valdez (10-4) struck out seven and allowed four runs in six innings.
Key moment
The Dodgers sent Michael Conforto to the plate to pinch-hit with two out in the eighth, and the Astros brought in Hader. Manager Dave Roberts replaced Conforto with Ruiz, who fanned on Hader's slider.
Key stat
The Astros have scored 24 runs in the first two games of the series. On Friday night, they handed the Dodgers their worst loss in the history of Dodger Stadium, 18-1.
Up next
Astros RHP Ryan Gusto (5-3, 4.90 ERA) will face the Dodgers' Emmet Sheehan (0-0, 2.25) for Sunday’s series finale.