Morton solid, but Astros fall in 'weird game'

July 25th, 2018

DENVER -- The Astros lost to a minor knee injury, had an triple turned into an out because of fan interference and then allowed the tying run to score from third in the seventh on a popup that caught while falling into the dugout.
It was only fitting that a forgettable night at Coors Field ended abruptly when Charlie Blackmon drilled a walk-off homer to right-center field off in the ninth inning to send the Rockies to a 3-2 win in a game in which the Astros were held to one hit.
"We didn't get a lot of breaks go our way, but we didn't do a lot either," Astros manager AJ Hinch said. "We were pretty fortunate to be in the game at all, given the opportunities they had that we shut down throughout the game. We had a little bit of a flurry early, but couldn't get anything going. One hit is not going to win a lot of games, especially here. Definitely a weird game."

Astros starter Charlie Morton allowed one run -- on a leadoff homer to in the second -- and four hits, overcoming four walks in six innings. Morton walked a pair of batters with two outs in the sixth before striking out Garrett Hampson on his final pitch.
"That was huge," Morton said. "I've had some trouble here later in the game, so to get out of that without giving up a run was a pretty big deal."

Altuve had an RBI double and scored on a groundout in the fourth to give the Astros a 2-1 lead, but the All-Star second baseman left the game in the fifth with right knee discomfort. Houston's offense was stopped by , who allowed one hit in seven innings.
"They've got a really good team over there, and there's a reason why they've been on a run," Bregman said. "Jonathan Gray's tough. I remember facing him in college, and he punched me out three times. He's never fun to face. I thought we put up enough good at-bats to win the game. I thought we threw the ball great."
The Rockies tied the game in the seventh on a bizarre play. With the bases loaded and one out, hit a popup that Davis caught while falling over the Astros' dugout railing. While Davis' teammates pushed him back onto the field, tagged and scored from third after the throw home from Davis sailed high.

"I was just trying to stay focused and trying to make a play for McHugh, especially in that position, with Arenado up," Davis said. "If we can get him out on a pop fly like that, it would be huge. It was smart baserunning by Tapia and a simple wide throw by me."
SOUND SMART
It's the second time this season the Astros have been held to one hit (also May 11 vs. the Rangers).
HE SAID IT
"I didn't expect [Tapia] to tag up, and when he did, I thought we were fortunate, because he was going to be out by 20 feet," -- Hinch, on Tapia scoring from third on a popup in front of the third-base dugout
MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAY
Bregman hit a ball off the left-field wall to start the sixth and stopped at third with a triple. The Rockies challenged that a fan reached out and touched the ball as it came down toward the glove of . The call was overturned, and Bregman was ruled out.
"There is no possible way that a left fielder jumping backward into a wall is guaranteed to make the catch," a fuming Bregman said. "Changed the whole [expletive] game. We're up 2-1 at the time and I'm at third base. We need a fly ball to the outfield to get me in and it's 3-1."

UP NEXT
(8-8, 3.60 ERA) opens a brief three-game homestand when the Astros face the Rangers at 7:10 p.m. CT on Friday at Minute Maid Park. The left-hander has won his last four starts, posting a 1.30 ERA with 19 hits allowed in 27 2/3 innings. He's 5-0 with a 2.00 ERA over his last seven starts. (4-1, 7.18) starts for the Rangers.