WHAT A WEEKEND
No matter who you rooted for, it was a great weekend for Houston sports fans
Oct 8, 2018, 6:32 pm
It was a big weekend for fans of Houston teams. Elsa/Getty Images
If you are a Houston sports fan, chances are this past weekend was one of the best in recent memory. No matter who you rooted for, you had something to celebrate. A look at the winners:
1) The Astros took the first two games of the ALDS at Minute Maid Park before raucous crowds on Friday and Saturday, beginning their defense of the 2017 World Series title. They wrapped up the series in Cleveland on Monday with a dominant 11-3 win.
2) The Texans? They beat fan rivals (if not real rivals) Dallas 19-16 on Sunday Night Football before a national audience. The win was their second in a row after an 0-3 start.
3) Fan of the Texas Longhorns? They are officially back. They knocked off previously unbeaten and arch-rival Oklahoma to take charge of the Big 12.
4) Texas A&M? They beat a ranked Kentucky team (yes, Kentucky is good at football this year) and moved back into the Top 25.
5) The Houston Cougars started the weekend off with a nationally televised win over Tulsa on Thursday night. After an abyamal start, they cranked it up in the fourth quarter and kept pace in the American Athletic Conference.
6) While the post-fight brawl got all the attention at the UFC card Saturday night, Houstonian Derrick Lewis stole the show before all that with a monster knockout. He also picked up a bunch of new fans with his funny, memorable postfight interview. Lewis could be in line for a heavyweight title shot after the win.
So unless you are a Rice Owls fan (well, sorry to all six of you), you had a good weekend.
In the grand scheme of things, it's not much. But for a city that is not exactly swimming in titles, we don't get too many weekends like this. The Astros' World Series win was the first in the franchise's 50-plus year history. The Rockets, while close in the last few years, have not won a title since 1995, which means fans have the same bragging rights as Cowboys fans do on their most recent title. (Quite simply, neither of you can brag about those anymore. If a team has not won a title since you were born and you are drinking age or older, it no longer counts. Sorry).
All that aisde, the Astros might be on their way to another title and will face the Yankees or Red Sox next (they vanquished both on the way to the title last year). The Texans are now 2-3 and only a game out of first in a suddenly mediocre AFC South. And chances are good your college team still has a lot to pay for, too. So it was a darned good weekend for Houston fan.
No matter who you rooted for.
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Marcell Ozuna hit his major league-leading eighth homer and Orlando Arcia’s RBI single in the 10th inning lifted the Atlanta Braves to a 5-4 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday.
It completes a three-game sweep of the struggling Astros and is Atlanta’s fourth straight victory.
The Braves scored two runs in the eighth inning to tie it at 4-4. Michael Harris II started the 10th as the automatic runner on second and there was one out in the inning when Seth Martinez (1-1) intentionally walked Matt Olson.
Ozuna lined out to right field to send Harris to third base. Arcia then singled on a ground ball to left field to score Harris and put the Braves on top.
Pinch-runner Jake Meyers was on second when Kyle Tucker walked with no outs in the 10th. Meyers moved to third on a fly out by Yainer Diaz but Jeremy Peña grounded into a double play to end it.
A.J. Minter (3-1) got the last two outs of the ninth for the win and Raisel Iglesias earned his fifth save.
Reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. added his first homer of the season to help the Braves to the victory. Ozuna also leads the majors with 23 RBIs and he extended his hitting streak to 16 games, which ties his career best and is the longest active streak in the majors.
Yordan Alvarez and Mauricio Dubón both homered for the Astros, who fell to 6-14 and are last in the AL West.
There was one out in the first when Alvarez connected on his homer to the seats in left field to put Houston up 1-0.
Ozuna opened the second with his 432-foot shot to left field, which bounced off the wall and tied the game.
Acuña put the Braves up 2-1 when he sent the first pitch of the fifth inning to straightaway center field.
The Astros tied it on an RBI single by Alex Bregman in the fifth and Kyle Tucker’s RBI double came next to put the Astros up 3-2.
Dubón hit his first home run of the year off Jesse Chavez to start Houston’s sixth and push the lead to 4-2.
Harris singled to start the seventh before a ground-rule double by Austin Riley. Olson reached, and Harris scored on a fielding error by first baseman José Abreu when he couldn’t grab a routine ground ball.
There was one out in the inning when Riley scored on a sacrifice fly by Arcia to tie it at 4-all.
Houston starter J.P. France allowed four hits and two runs in five innings.
Max Fried gave up seven hits and three runs in five innings.
UP NEXT
Braves: Atlanta is off Thursday before opening a series against Texas on Friday night with LHP Chris Sale (1-1, 4.58 ERA) on the mound.
Astros: Houston is also off Thursday before ace Justin Verlander will make his season debut Friday night against Washington. The three-time Cy Young Award winner opened the season on the injured list with inflammation in his right shoulder.