After six tries, the Astros finally defeat Tigers 7 to 5
W: Ambriz (1-2)
L: Alburquerque (0-1)
SV: Veras (5)
contributed by Sphinx Drummond
I think this sentiment has already been expressed more eloquently but it bears repeating, winning feels great. But the wins are getting less frequent. Each one must be savored and enjoyed, for one never knows when the feeling will return. The Astros have slipped from winning one out of every three games to one out of every four.
The Astros play a lot of day games on Wednesdays. With 40,315 on hand in Detroit, it was a nice day, sunny and 82 degrees. The city of Detroit is crumbling while Houston is thriving. A quarter or more of Detroit homes sit vacant. They can’t build them fast enough in Houston. What Houston is to Detroit, the Tigers are to the Astros.
The Astros got the scoring started in the 2nd inning on Carlos Corporan’s solo homer, his third home run of the year. Alas, the lead was short lived as the Tigers scored four runs in their half of the second, three off of Avisail Garcia’s home run.
The Astros notched four runs themselves in top half of the fourth, topped by J. D. Martinez’s third homer of the year, a three run shot over the left center field wall. Detroit added a run in the sixth inning to tie the game and lead up to dramatic ninth inning finish.
In the top of the ninth, after Martinez walked, he was taken out for pinch runner Brandon Barnes. Next batter, Corporan doubles in Barnes. Corporan was then removed for pinch runner Trevor Crowe who moved to third on Jimmy Paredes sacrifice bunt, and then scored on Matt Dominguez’s sacrifice fly to right field, making the score 7 to 5 in favor of the Astros.
Jose Veras came in to close the game but not without difficulty. After getting the first batter Kelly to ground out, he walked Brayan Pena, then got Andy Dirks to pop out to short. Omar Infante, the next batter, was walked. Then Veras hit Torii Hunter with a pitch to load the bases for the best hitter in baseball. The mighty and powerful Miguel Cabrera. He hit a long fly ball, it was caught for the last out by Barnes in center.
The Game was over. The Astros won!