'Stros walk off Rangers in wild extra-inning bout

Photo courtesy of David J. Phillip/AP Photo

The wildest game of the year (so far) fell in the Astros' favor.

An eleven-inning showdown in the first of four games against the Texas Rangers ended on a walk-off wild pitch on Thursday night, giving The Astros a 4-3 victory.

The Astros began the game trailing after the first pitch was hit for a home run by Texas' Willie Calhoun, but Houston was quick to rebound. José Altuve would pull a ball past third baseman Charlie Culberson for a bases-loaded double, putting Houston up 3-2.

Unfortunately, that would be all of the runs Houston would score in regulation. Despite notching eight hits and three bases on balls against Rangers' starter Mike Foltynewicz, Houston would fail to produce any big hits with men on base. Through five innings, Houston had already gone 2-14 with runners in scoring position.

Houston had a runner on base for all but seven of the first nine innings. They had a runner in scoring position in each of the first six innings. The Astros finished the game going a dismal 2-18 with runners in scoring position.

After a shaky start to the game, which saw the Rangers score a run in each of their first three innings, Cristian Javier managed to rebound and settle down for the remainder of his start. Javier would allow only one hit during the following four innings, striking out three in the process. He finished with a line of 7.0 IP, four hits, two walks, three runs allowed, and six strikeouts.

The Rangers' pitching staff also settled in after Foltynewicz was pulled. With no runs scored and the score locked at three apiece, the game went into extra innings. It was Houston's second extra-inning game of the year, their first of which coming in a win against the Angels on April 22.

Despite Rob Manfred's extra-inning rule that places a runner on second base to begin extra periods, both teams failed to score in the tenth. Bryan Abreu tightroped his way out of a jam, thanks to a sensational double play from Alex Bregman, to put Houston in a great chance to walk off Texas in their half of the inning.

The Astros were in prime position to do so. Carlos Correa grounded out to move the pinch-running Chas McCormick over to third base, before the Rangers intentionally walked both Kyle Tucker and Aledmys Díaz to get Myles Straw to the plate. Credit to Straw, who did his job by lifting a fly ball into right field for a chance to win.

Unfortunately, waiting in right field was Joey Gallo, with one of the strongest arms among all outfielders in the majors. And he launched a strike to nail McCormick at home plate.

Houston received another blessing, however, when Brooks Raley, who had struggled on the mound in his last few appearances, put up a clutch zero against the heart of the Rangers' order. Once again, Houston was given a golden chance to walk off Texas.

Similar to the tenth inning, Castro bunted the lead runner Straw over to third, while intentionally walking two batters -- José Altuve and Alex Bregman -- to load the bases. Michael Brantley had struck out between the two walks, leaving the pinch-runner Chas McCormick to hit for Yordan Álvarez with the game on the line.

As it turned out, he wouldn't even need to swing the bat -- a wild pitch from Rangers' reliever Brett Martin skipped away, allowing the speedy Straw to sprint home plate for the walk-off winner.

"That was kind of what we were hoping for," Baker said postgame. "You keep flirting with the bases loaded and there’s a lot of things that can happen for you -- a hit batsman, a wild pitch, a base hit, an error."

"I slid in and I saw the guys walking out [of the dugout]," Straw said. "I looked for Yuli [Gurriel] because I know he usually gets me with the ice bucket or the bubble gum out there and sure enough he got me with the bubble gum. It was a good team win."

A good win indeed for the Astros, who moved to 21-17 with the win and took the first of four games at home against Texas. They'll look to win their fourth game in a row with Zack Greinke on the mound, squaring off against Texas' Wes Benjamin. First pitch is scheduled for 7 PM CT.