Matt Dominguez Lifts Houston Astros to 6-1 Win

The Houston Astros entered the finale on Thursday against the Atlanta Braves really needing a win. Their last 10 games have seen them win just twice. Fortunately, Matt Dominguez and Jarred Cosart are co-players of the game in the efforts to thwart getting swept at home.

Cosart entered the day game with a 7-5 record and a 3.78 ERA. Personally he brought a three-game winning streak to the table. But B.J. Upton singled prior to scoring on a sac fly from Tommy La Stella. Upton benefited from stealing second base and advancing on a throwing error by Jason Castro.

From that point until the 7th inning, Cosart appeared to be in complete control. Cosart limited his work to 74 pitches through 6 innings. When ideas of a complete game started circulating he ran into some trouble in the 7th inning. Evan Gattis led off the inning with a double that was followed by a walk to Jason Heyward. But Cosart managed to induce an infield fly out as well as striking out Chris Johnson and inducing a ground out to get out of the mini-jam.

That was the end of the day for Cosart as Josh Zeid came on to begin the top of the 8th. Zeid was perfect for 2/3 of an inning and gave the ball to Tony Sipp. Tony almost was able to close out the game, but a walk to Heyward gave way for the return of Jose Veras. Justin Upton would strike out swinging to end the game.

Cosart recorded his 8th win with a final line of: 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

Cosart received 6 runs in support of his outing. The large blow came when Matt Dominguez connected on a 3-run homer to left-center, off of a pillar, in the bottom of the fifth inning.

The Braves starter, Mike Minor, took the loss as he yielded 5 runs while giving up 7 hits in his 6 innings of work.

Jose Altuve, the American League’s leader in hits, stolen bases, and batting average, recorded two singles and a pair of stolen bases. Jon Singleton had a multi-hit game as well. George Springer extended his record for an Astros rookie with his 15th home run prior to the All-Star break.