House of Houston
Fansided

Houston Astros: The 10 best wins of the 2017 seasonal first half

By Kenneth Cline

HOUSTON, TX - JULY 02: Carlos Correa #1 of the Houston Astros high fives Jake Marisnick #6 and Norichika Aoki #3 after the final out against the New York Yankees at Minute Maid Park on July 2, 2017 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - JULY 02: Carlos Correa #1 of the Houston Astros high fives Jake Marisnick #6 and Norichika Aoki #3 after the final out against the New York Yankees at Minute Maid Park on July 2, 2017 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 8
Next

#6 – May 11, 2017 – Astros 3, Yankees 2

NEW YORK, NY – MAY 11: Carlos Correa
NEW YORK, NY – MAY 11: Carlos Correa /

We’ve many games with our offense and some with our pitching. Of course, defense is key to every key. We’ve seen Springer catches and that famous middle infield of Altuve and Correa. But of all the defensive plays, one play stands out that won it for the Astros.

Against the Yankees in game one, the matchup between Keuchel and Michael Pineda lived up to the hype. Houston led 3-1 going into the ninth when the Yankees had a rally. With two on and two-out, Giles gave up a single to Gary Sanchez that appeared to tie the game after a run scored. But Jake Marisnick fielded the ball and fired a perfect strike to Brian McCann ending the game with a 3-2 win.

In a potential playoff series between these two clubs, you can almost imagine that both teams will be giving the same effort as Marisnick did right here to win the game. Everything about this throw was perfect from the launch to reaching the plate just in time to nick Jacoby Ellsbury. It’s just another reason why the Astros are in first place right now.

#5 – April 23, 2017 – Astros 6, Rays 4 (10 inn.)

ST. PETERSBURG, FL – APRIL 23: Jose Altuve
ST. PETERSBURG, FL – APRIL 23: Jose Altuve /

When you give up four runs in the first inning on the road, you either think something is wrong or just a bad inning. In the Astros case, it was just a bad inning as they fell behind 4-0 after the first inning to the Tampa Bay Rays. But like so many times when down, the Astros climb back as they overcame that four-run deficit.

Homers by Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa (2-run) cut the lead to 4-3 going into the ninth. With one out in the ninth and Yuli Gurriel as the tying run on third, Evan Gattis managed to hit a sacrifice fly deep enough to score Gurriel sending the game to extras.

All you need is one out in the tenth and two on base before a Brian McCann single put the Astros up 5-4 in a game they would go on to win 6-4.

I’ll keep on saying this until you get the point. The Astros offense is so good that anyone can step up and deliver. It’s not the Altuves, Correas, and Springers that can deliver all the time. Even the unsung heroes can step up. Everybody needs to step up for the Astros in order for them to go deep in October.

Home/Houston Astros