Brian Cushing is on his way out. Tim Warner/Getty Images
Brian Cushing, the 2009 first round pick, has been told that he will be released before the start of the league year on March 14. A lot of people are saying about it’s about time. He hasn’t been the same since the knee injuries and his veteran presence is not worth it anymore. Every team and player in the league knows it is a game of replacement and the Texans finally have the talent to send Cushing on his way with a half-hearted thanks for playing.
Cushing is coming off a disappointing season in which he was suspended 10 games for a PED violation. That was probably the final nail in a coffin that was already being boarded up after a down year in 2016. His contract was worth $8.84 million this year and the savings will be $7.64 million against the cap. That’s a very useful amount for a team that has a lot of holes to be patched.
I really like this move. The Texans will now have over $60 million in cap space headed into free agency and without the early round draft picks they will be going after as many of the big names as they can. I have to think they’ve learned a valuable lesson from last offseason when they sat on their hands while the best offensive linemen and secondary players signed elsewhere.
If this is how the new front office is going to play it, then things might be looking up in Houston. They have the quarterback and receiver combo and some big time players on the defensive front seven. All they have to do is infuse some of the top talent in free agency and they could find their way right back in the mix for a playoff spot in 2018.
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Zack Short hit a walk-off RBI single in the 11th inning after Christian Walker tied it with a sacrifice fly and the Houston Astros beat the Texas Rangers 5-4 on Saturday night.
Short hit a 1-1 pitch to right field off Hoby Milner after Robert Garcia (1-5) walked two to load the bases.
Texas took a 4-3 lead when Adolis García hit the first pitch from Bennett Sousa (3-0) for a single — scoring automatic runner Marcus Semien.
Kyle Higashioka hit a solo home run off Josh Hader with two outs in the ninth to tie it 3-3. It was the first blown save for Hader after 25 straight to begin the season.
Jose Altuve hit his 17th homer — a two-out solo shot in the first off Jacob deGrom to tie it 1-1 after the Rangers scored an unearned run on Framber Valdez’s wild pitch.
Yainer Diaz homered for the 14th time for a 2-1 lead in the fourth. Mauricio Dubón hit his sixth homer off Jacob Webb for a 3-1 lead in the seventh.
Semien hit his 11th homer to cut it to 3-2 in the eighth.
Valdez allowed an unearned run on four hits with 10 strikeouts and no walks in six innings. The Astros have won his last 12 starts with him getting the win in nine of them.
DeGrom allowed two runs on four hits and a walk in six innings with eight strikeouts.
The Rangers struck out 19 times — two short of the club record for an extra-inning game.
Key moment
Short entered as a pinch runner in the ninth and was just 4 for 17 before his game winner.
Key stat
Houston hasn’t lost a season series with division rival Texas since 2016.
Up next
Rangers RHP Nathan Eovaldi (6-3, 1.62 ERA) starts Sunday’s rubber game opposite Astros RHP Hunter Brown (9-3, 2.21).
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