TOUGH BREAK
Texans lose exciting rookie QB Watson for season with knee injury
Nov 2, 2017, 4:00 pm
Deshaun Watson is lost for the season. Tim Warner/Getty Images
The sports gods played a cruel joke on the city of Houston Thursday. On a day when everyone was celebrating the amazing Astros World Series win, the Texans season essentially came to an end.
Rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson reportedly tore his ACL in practice and is lost for the season. Without Watson, the Texans are relegated to also-ran status.
The exciting rookie had energized the city. In six plus games, he passed for 1,699 yards, 19 touchdowns, 8 interceptions and a QB rating of 103.0. He had made the Texans relevant and exciting on offense.
Watson was reportedly injured on a read option at practice, and went down without contact.
The injury means Tom Savage, who has never thrown a touchdown pass in the NFL, returns as the starting quarterback.
The Texans signed former Penn State quarterback and Raiders QB Matt McGloin, who will likely supplant Savage at some point. The reality is, however, the Texans playoff hopes are gone.
It was a cruel blow on a day the city celebrated one of its greatest sports accomplishments.
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Oswald Peraza hit a two-run single in the ninth inning to help the Los Angeles Angels snap a three-game losing skid by beating the Houston Astros 4-1 on Saturday night.
Peraza entered the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning and hit a bases-loaded fly ball to deep right field that eluded the outstretched glove of Cam Smith. It was the fourth straight hit off Astros closer Bryan Abreu (3-4), who had not allowed a run in his previous 12 appearances.
The Angels third run of the ninth inning scored when Mike Trout walked with the bases loaded.
Kyle Hendricks allowed one run while scattering seven hits over six innings. He held the Astros to 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, the one hit coming on Jesús Sánchez’s third-inning infield single that scored Jeremy Peña.
Reid Detmers worked around a leadoff walk to keep the Astros scoreless in the seventh, and José Fermin (3-2) retired the side in order in the eighth before Kenley Jansen worked a scoreless ninth to earn his 24th save.
Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti struck out a season-high eight batters over 6 1/3 innings. The only hit he allowed was Zach Neto’s third-inning solo home run.
Yordan Alvarez had two hits for the Astros, who remained three games ahead of Seattle for first place in the AL West.
Key moment
Peraza’s two-run single to deep right field that broke a 1-1 tie in the ninth.
Key Stat
Opponents were 5 for 44 against Abreu in August before he allowed four straight hits in the ninth.
Up next
Astros RHP Hunter Brown (10-6, 2.37 ERA) faces RHP José Soriano (9-9, 3.85) when the series continues Sunday.