After taking three out of four from the Texas Rangers at home during the work week, the Houston Astros stayed home and began a new series. This time, the Stros welcomed the Milwaukee Brewers for a home weekend series.
Houston led for most of the game before letting the game get to extras, where they’d lose 5-4 in 10 innings. That loss put the team’s record at 26-33 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Kai-Wei Teng was Houston’s starting pitcher, and he had a solid start. Through the first two innings, Teng struck out three Brewer batters before allowing a base runner. Milwaukee’s Jake Bauers walked and advanced to third on a Garrett Mitchell single in the second inning, but was tagged out at home plate on a fielder’s choice to keep the game scoreless through one and a half innings.
Cam Smith put the first run on the board at the top of the second when he hit a nearly 420-foot solo home run over the left-center field wall. That hit came with two outs to spare and against Milwaukee’s starting pitcher, Coleman Crow.
The Brew Crew tied the game at the top of the third when David Hamilton led off the inning with a moonshot into the Crawford Boxes.
Houston put up a three-spot at the bottom of the fourth, and it began with Yordan Alvarez drawing a walk. Christian Walker hit into a third base fielder’s choice, but the throw to second was inaccurate, turning into a throwing error, and Alvarez put runners on the corners with no outs. Smith hit an RBI double before getting tagged on a grounder by Braden Shewmake. Meyers then hit an RBI double into left field, and Nick Allen’s sacrifice fly put the Astros ahead 4-1.
Milwaukee fought back on its next time at the plate. Christian Yelich drew a walk with two outs, and Jackson Chourio hit a two-run bomb into center field to cut it to a one-run game. The Brewers also made a pitching change from Crow to DL Hall to begin the bottom of the fifth. Hall struck out Taylor Trammell and Isaac Paredes before forcing Alvarez to ground out to complete a three-up-three-down inning for the Stros.
The Astros also made a pitching change, doing so at the top of the sixth, bringing in Steven Okert to relieve Teng. Teng’s final stat line was seven strikeouts, three hits, three runs, and four walks in five innings on the mound. Okert also only faced three batters; he hit Mitchell with a pitch, but Mitchell was picked off trying to steal second, and Luis Rengifo struck out to end the inning.
Houston tried to extend its lead in the sixth when Smith and Shewmake drew walks. Any chance of putting another run on the board was nullified when Meyers hit into a ground-out double-play to end the inning.
The Brew Crew did tie the game in the eighth after Houston went deeper into its bullpen. Bryan Abreu started the inning on the mound and walked the first two batters he faced, with both advancing on a William Contreras flyout. That caused Astros skipper Joe Espada to take out Abreu for Bryan King. Bauers hit a sacrifice grounder that scored a run and made it a 4-4 game after the mid-inning pitching change.
King stood strong through the ninth inning, holding Milwaukee to just one hit by Sal Frelick and no runs scored. This kept the door open for Houston to walk it off at the bottom of the frame.
The Brewers brought in Abner Uribe, and Jeremy Pena pinch-hit for Shewmake to open the inning. Pena reached first on an infield throwing error. and advanced to second after Meyers snuck a single into left field past Rengifo at third base. Allen’s sacrifice bunt down the third base line put both runners in scoring position. The prime opportunity to score was wasted as Bryce Matthews struck out looking, and Paredes popped up in the deep infield, forcing the game into extra innings.
The Brewers scored one run in the 10th to take the lead. Yelich was the runner on second, and he made it home after a pair of sacrifice flies by Chourio and Brice Turang. Zach Dezenzo was the Astros’ base runner and got to third, but couldn’t score with Alvarez and Smith both striking out.
That finalized a 5-4 extra-inning loss for the Astros, their 33rd of the season.
BIG NUMBER: 2
Houston recorded just two hits in the final six innings of the ball game. Despite that, the team had plenty of chances. to either extend their lead or get a walk-off win in the final few innings, putting multiple runners in scoring opportunities. The Astros couldn’t capitalize on those opportunities.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jackson Chourio
Chourio did enough offensively in the early stages of the game to help his team win. His final stat line was two hits and a two-run home run on four at-bats that secured a 5-4 extra-innings loss for the Astros.
UP NEXT: Game two between the Houston Astros and Milwaukee Brewers is scheduled for Saturday, May 30th. First pitch from Daikin Park is scheduled for 3:10 PM, and the action can be heard on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette and 104.1 Lake Charles.