Houston Astros Drop Second-Straight Contest to Atlanta Braves

The Atlanta Braves went shot-for-shot with the Houston Astros in extra innings Saturday, downing the road opponent 5-4 in the 11th frame.

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Astros had a win in the palm of their hands twice in extra innings Saturday against the Atlanta Braves. But to complement a pitcher's duel, the Braves walked-off the Astros in the 11th inning following some lucky hits against the road club.

Cristian Javier worked six innings in his Saturday start. The righty allowed only run — a home run from rookie Vaughn Grissom in the fifth inning — to his two hits and one walk.

Javier punched out eight batters, battling the rubber with rookie Spencer Strider. Strider threw six innings of his own, surrendering one run on three hits and two walks to his nine strikeouts. The only run yielded was on a Jeremy Peña opposite-field home run — the rookie's first long ball since July 25.

The two put on the show which was topped off by late-game magic on the Braves' part. Houston jumped on the board first in extras on an RBI-single from the slumping Jake Meyers.

Yuli Gurriel doubled in a second run to give the Astros a 3-1 lead, heading into the bottom of the frame. Gurriel's double marked his 200th of his career, tying Bregman — who reached 200 in Chicago — for the fastest player to reach the feat in Astros history with 765 games played.

But from there, Atlanta was never out of the fight, finding its first run on a Michael Harris II double to score Guillermo Heredia. Former Astros outfielder Robbie Grossman tied the contest up with a single to score Harris before the inning came to a close. 

In the top of the 11th, a Jeremy Peña groundout drove home Alex Bregman from third base to give the Astros yet another lead in the top of a frame. But with a stroke of unluckiness on Ryne Stanek's part, the Braves knocked back-to-back RBI-hits with .110 and .130 expected batting averages, respectively, to score the tying and winning runs.

Stanek didn't record an out, allowing Matt Olson to double home a run on a check swing through the shift and pinch hitter Travis d'Arnaud walk-off the Astros for a Braves' series win.

Houston looks to counter a series sweep starting at 12:35 p.m. Sunday. José Urquidy takes the mound against former Astros right-handed pitcher Charlie Morton.

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