How Houston Texans can conquer daunting task of taming streaking Bengals
TEXANS ON TAP
07 November 2023
The Houston Texans are coming off their most dramatic win of the season and now must shift their focus to one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.
Joe Burrow and the Bengals have won 4 straight games, after getting off to a slow start this season. Cincinnati is favored by about a touchdown, depending on which sportsbook you're looking at.
So this will be a tough challenge on the road for a young team that's all of a sudden dealing with a lot of success. There are several things working in the Texans' favor. Bengals superstar receiver Ja'Marr Chase is dealing with a back injury, so even if he plays, he may not be at full strength.
Also, the Bengals may be looking past the Texans, with a huge division game against the Ravens looming the following week. That game will have massive implications in the AFC North, a division with every team chasing Baltimore sharing a 5-3 record.
The Bengals are also one of the few teams that struggle to run the ball (32nd in rushing) more than the Texans, so maybe Houston can take advantage of that and sell out to keep their receivers in check.
For Houston, it's all about the passing game. But CJ Stroud will have to be careful, as the Bengals have the 2nd-most interceptions (11) in the NFL.
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José Ramírez homered for a third straight game, Angel Martínez also went deep and the Cleveland Guardians got a 4-2 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday night to complete a three-game sweep.
It’s the first time the Guardians, who entered the series on a 10-game skid, have won three in a row since a four-game winning streak from May 21-24.
Slade Cecconi (4-4) allowed five hits and two runs with a career-best nine strikeouts in 7-plus innings for the win. Paul Sewald pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save.
Martínez homered for a second straight at-bat with his shot to the Crawford Boxes with one out in the first inning. His grand slam with two outs in the 10th inning Tuesday night lifted Cleveland to a 10-6 win.
Four pitches after Martinez’s homer Wednesday, Ramírez also connected off Brandon Walter (1-2) to make it 2-0. Walter settled in after that, retiring the next 17 batters, with seven strikeouts before Bennett Sousa took over to start the seventh.
Ramírez and Carlos Santana hit consecutive singles with no outs in the inning before David Fry walked to load the bases. Johnathan Rodríguez then singled to score two and extend the lead to 4-0.
The Astros had managed just four singles when Taylor Trammell walked with no outs in the eighth and scored on a double by Mauricio Dubón that cut the lead to 4-1. There were two outs in the inning when Jose Altuve’s RBI double made it 4-2.
The AL West-leading Astros went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position to cap this disappointing series which came after they swept the Dodgers in Los Angeles over the weekend.
Key moment
Martínez and Ramírez had back-to-back homers in the first.
Key stat
Ramírez, who dropped out of next week’s All-Star game Wednesday to rehab a nagging Achilles injury, has four homers and seven RBIs this month.
Up next
LHP Logan Allen (5-7, 4.07 ERA) will start for Cleveland in the opener of a four-game series against the Chicago White Sox Thursday night. The Astros are off Thursday and haven’t announced their rotation for their weekend series against the Rangers.
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