Astros walk their way off to game-changing moments of the week
There has been very little to get excited about in Houston this season. The Astros have the worst record in baseball and are on pace for their second consecutive 100-loss season.
But on Friday night, there was finally some excitement at Minute Maid Park. Outfielders Steve Pearce and Brian Bogusevic combined to give the Astros their first walk-off win of the season, and the game-changing moment of the week.
The Astros, who had lost five in a row and nine of 10, started a rally against Milwaukee Brewers closer John Axford when Pearce singled home Tyler Greene to tie the game 3-3. Pearce advanced to third on a fly ball, bringing Bogusevic to the plate.
The light-hitting right fielder took a 3-1 pitch from Axford and lined it up the middle past a diving Rickie Weeks to score Pearce for a 4-3 victory.
It was Houston's first walk-off victory since last Sept. 26.
"It was a good feeling. They're fun and when you wait this long for one it's really fun," Bogusevic said. "It's been a long time since we've had some good things happen for us. We've played a lot of close games but haven't come out with wins."
"You could tell something good was going to happen," Pearce said. "You could see the body language of the pitcher, the crowd, and you could feel it coming."
As exciting as that was for the Astros, 24 hours later – they did it again. Scott Moore hit a bases-loaded RBI single with none out in the bottom of the 10th for a 6-5 win. It was another first for the Astros, their first extra-innings win of 2012. They were 0-11 in extras before Saturday's win.
"It was nice to do it in back-to-back nights," Houston manager Brad Mills said. "When you don't do it all season and you do it in back-to-back nights, that's really nice and everyone enjoys it."
Saturday's win was the Astros' sixth in 40 games. The last time they won back-to-back games was on June 26 and 27 against the San Diego Padres. The streak ended on Sunday when the Brewers avoided a sweep with a 5-3 win.
Josh Hamilton served notice last week that his prolonged slump is finally over.
The Texas Rangers star outfielder belted home runs Nos. 30, 31 and 32 last week – after going homer-less since July 30. He also batted .455 for the week with 10 hits and nine RBIs. He had a three-hit, four RBI game in Wednesday's 10-9 win over the Boston Red Sox.
Hamilton's 32nd home run on Sunday against the Detroit Tigers gave him the major-league lead again, one more than Adam Dunn of the Chicago White Sox. He also passed Detroit's Miguel Cabrera for the RBI lead with 99.
