Javier's gem wasted as Astros drop extra inning nail-biter

The Astros' first experience with the 2020 season's new extra innings rules did not go very well.

Despite being handed a runner to start the bottom portion of the inning four times, the Astros would only manage to scrape across one run in response to the Dodgers' own score in the same inning, eventually losing to Los Angeles by a score of 4-2.

It was a low-scoring affair to begin with. Dodgers' righty Dusty May and Astros' young starter Christian Javier would duel to begin the game, though it was Javier who would dazzle in his first start -- the 23-year-old would finish his line with eight strikeouts across five and two-thirds innings, to go along with only two hits and one earned run allowed on a solo shot by Corey Seager.

Unfortunately, the Astros would have a hard time backing Javier up, scratching across only a single run in regulation off of a Myles Straw infield single that scored Michael Brantley in the bottom of the second inning.

Both teams wouldn't score again for eight more innings, even as they entered extra innings, which now features the new rule that places a runner at second base at the start of each half inning for both teams. Neither would capitalize on the opportunity in the tenth, due to clean innings from relievers Scott Alexander and Roberto Osuna.

The Dodgers would score in the eleventh, however, on a Mookie Betts double with two outs that drove in Enrique Hernandez. Cy Sneed wouldn't allow another run in the inning, but the run put his team down one.

Fortunately, as he had done all series against L.A., Carlos Correa would deliver with a single that would score pinch runner Jack Mayfield, tying the game. With no outs and a runner on second, however, the Astros would again be unable to drive home the winning run, sending the game further into extras.

The team's lethargy at the plate would end up costing them, after an Edwin Rios two-run homer in the top of the thirteenth inning established a 4-2 deficit that felt insurmountable for the offense. That unfortunate fact would hold true after a scoreless bottom half of the inning, sealing the loss and subsequent sweep of the Astros.