Read the Astros side (the whole game, score included)
Arizona at Houston
This is Missed It. Arizona at Houston, Sunday, September 6, with the Astros. You missed it? Here's the whole game, as it happened.
Pregame
It's a fresh one here at home, and we've got the Arizona Diamondbacks in town. The Astros are looking to make some noise, and we've got a full nine innings ahead of us. Arizona's got the first crack at the plate, and we're ready to see what our guys can do with the bats. Let's get this one going.
Innings 1-3
Top of the first, and Arizona sends four batters to the plate. They don't get anything going, and we're out of the inning with the score still tied at zero. Now it's our turn. Bottom of the first, and we've got one out with nobody on. Yordan Alvarez steps in, and he doesn't waste any time. He gets a pitch he likes and sends it on a fly ball to right field. That ball is gone. It's a home run, and just like that, we're up one to nothing. The crowd is on its feet, and Yordan is rounding the bases like he owns the place. That's the kind of start we needed. One swing, and we've got the lead. Top of the second, and Arizona's not backing down. No outs, bases empty, and Corbin Carroll steps in. He hits a fly ball to center field. Daulton Varsho is tracking it, but it gets deflected by left fielder Nelson Velázquez. That ball drops, and Carroll is on second with a double. That's a tough break for us, but it's a momentum swing for them. They've got a runner in scoring position with nobody out, and you can feel the tension building. We need to bear down here. They manage to push a run across, and the game is tied at one. Bottom of the second, we send four batters up, but we can't get anything going. We're still knotted up at one. Top of the third, and this is where things get dicey. No outs, bases empty, and Geraldo Perdomo steps in. He hits a ground ball to right field, but it gets deflected by second baseman Jose Altuve. That ball finds grass, and Perdomo is on first. Another momentum swing for them, and you can feel the shift. Then Ketel Marte steps in and singles on a ground ball. But here's the thing: Perdomo is trying to advance, and he gets hit by the batted ball. He's out at second, and it's Altuve unassisted. That's a huge break for us. We get the out, and Marte is standing on first. But they're not done. Two outs now, and Nolan Arenado comes to the plate. He gets a pitch he can handle and sends it on a fly ball to left center field. That ball is carrying, and it's gone. A home run, and Ketel Marte scores. Just like that, it's three to one, Arizona. That one stings. We had a chance to get out of it, and they made us pay. Bottom of the third, we send four batters up, but we can't answer. We're down two, and we need to find something.
Innings 4-6
Top of the fourth, and Arizona sends three batters to the plate. We hold them scoreless, and the score stays at three to one. Bottom of the fourth, we send three batters up, and we can't get anything going. We're still down two. Top of the fifth, and it's the same story. Three batters for Arizona, no runs. We need to get something going on our side. Bottom of the fifth, three batters for us, and nothing. This is getting frustrating. We're getting chances, but we're not cashing in. Top of the sixth, and Arizona sends three more batters up. We hold them again, and the score remains three to one. Bottom of the sixth, we send four batters up, and we still can't push a run across. We're running out of time, and we need a spark.
The Stretch
So here we are, heading into the later innings, and we're down three to one. The play that turned this half around was Yordan Alvarez's home run in the bottom of the first. That gave us the early lead, and it felt like we were in control. But Arizona answered, and they've been the better team since. We need to find that same energy, that same swing, and get back in this thing. We've got the bats, and we've got the heart. We just need to put it together.
The Sequence
Top of the seventh, and Arizona sends five batters to the plate. We hold them scoreless, and the score remains three to one. We're still in this, but we need to make a move. Bottom of the seventh, and we've got something brewing. Two outs, two on, and Yordan Alvarez steps in. This is the moment. The crowd is on its feet, and we need a hit. He gets a pitch and pops it up to first baseman Tim Tawa in foul territory. That's the out. The inning is over, and we leave two runners stranded. That one hurts. We had the chance, and we couldn't cash in. Top of the eighth, and Arizona sends four batters up. We hold them again, and the score stays at three to one. Now it's our turn. Bottom of the eighth, and we've got life. One out, two on, and LaMonte Wade Jr. steps in. He gets a pitch he can handle and sends a line drive to left fielder Ryan Waldschmidt. That ball finds grass, and Jose Altuve scores. Christian Walker moves to second. It's three to two, and we're right back in this thing. The crowd is roaring, and we've got the momentum. Two outs now, two on, and Taylor Trammell steps in. This is the moment. We need a hit to tie it or take the lead. He gets a pitch and flies out to second baseman Ketel Marte. That's the out. The inning is over, and we leave two more runners stranded. We're down one, and we're running out of chances. Top of the ninth, and Arizona sends four batters up. We hold them scoreless, and the score remains three to two. Now it's our last chance. Bottom of the ninth, and we send three batters to the plate. We can't get anything going. The game is over. Final score, Arizona three, Houston two.
Wrap-up
And that's the ballgame. We came up short, three to two. We had our chances, and we just couldn't get that big hit when we needed it. It's a tough one to swallow, but we'll be back out there tomorrow. We're not going to hang our heads. We're going to keep fighting. That's what we do.
Outro
That was Arizona at Houston, from the Astros side. This has been Missed It. Every game, both sides, at missed it dot net. Produced by James Barrett.