Houston Sports Round Up: An Almost Winning Weekend

HOUSTON, TX — It was almost a total winning weekend for the Houston area franchises, and it all started with Houston Rockets winning their final preseason game on Friday night with the Rockets downing the Memphis Grizzlies 121-103.

The Rockets, who finished the preseason with a 4-1 mark, and played every game as if it were the regular season. All of the Rockets’ wins were double-digit victories and helps get the players in sync for the regular season. The 2018-19 regular season gets underway on Wednesday when the Rockets travel to New Orleans to face the Pelicans for a 7 p.m. tip off.

The Houston Texans continued the H-Town win streak with an ugly 20-13 win over the Buffalo Bills at NRG Stadium on Sunday. The Texans, who continue to look disorganized on the offensive line, allowed quarterback Deshaun Watson to be sacked six times, and the Texans still managed to hold a 10-0 lead at halftime.

The lead evaporated in the second half with the Bills kicking two field goals in the third quarter and then taking a 3-point lead in the fourth quarter on a Nate Peterman touchdown pass.

The Texans would tie the score with a Ka'imi Fairbairn field goal, and for Texans fans, it looked like the game would go into overtime.

But with just over a minute left in regulation, cornerback Jonathan Joseph intercepted Peterman and scampered 28-yards into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown. The Texans win and subsequent losses by the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans created a logjam of 3-3 teams vying for first place in the AFC South. The Texans travel to Jacksonville their next game on Sunday.

The winning continued Saturday when the Houston Astros who were fresh off a 3-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians in the ALDS, defeated the Boston Red Sox in game one of the American League Championship Series. The Astros took the first game 7-2 after a wild ninth inning on Saturday.

Nursing a 1-0 lead, the Astros hoped to expand their lead to 2-0 before heading. The Red Sox had other ideas and took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning. The Astros came back and tied the score in the second inning on a Carlos Correa double that scored two RBIs.

The Astros took the lead in the third inning when Marwin Gonzalez slammed a two-run homer in the third inning, extending the lead to 4-2.

The Sox would come back with Jackie Bradley doubled, and drove in three runs to take a 5-4 lead. From there, it was all Red Sox, who relied on their bullpen and the erratic pitching of Astros pitch Lance McCullers Jr to build their lead to 7-4.

Jose Altuve would drive in a run in the ninth inning to make the score 7-5. The Astros and Fred Sox will play game three of the ALCS on Tuesday at Minute Maid Park. The Astros Dallas Keuchel takes the mound against the Red Sox Nathan Eovaldi.

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