Astros Walk-Off Dodgers-Sweep Series Against NL West Leaders

Still, the play was close enough that the Astros asked for the play to be reviewed under baseball’s replay system. The Astros have seen a decline in scoring as of late, averaging 2.8 runs during the last 10 games compared to their season average of 4.3 runs per game.

“We just have to get it together”, he said.

“Things that make me think he’s going to be good is his attitude is good”.

Astros closer Luke Gregerson (7-2) earned the win with a scoreless 10th.

The Dodgers were swept by the Astros for the first time since May of 2008 and have dropped a season-high five straight overall.

Has Mike Fiers been hanging out with Michael Pineda?

Francisco Liriano (9-6) gave up two unearned runs and struck out five in 51/3 innings to win his fifth straight decision. Kershaw is 5-0 with an 0.82 ERA in his last seven starts.

“I hope we’re panicking a little bit”, he said. “I think a lot of guys use [pine tar]”, he told reporters on Saturday, explaining that it was a non-issue to him. Maybe that’s better to say than panic.

“I feel like we’ve got to start playing with a sense of urgency”, Kershaw continued. Even now, I still think about it all the time.

One pitch later, Utley scored on a sacrifice fly to centerfield by third baseman Justin Turner.

Scott Kazmir pitched six solid innings, and Jose Altuve and Luis Valbuena homered to help Houston win a matchup of division leaders.

Kershaw shoved through eight innings, striking out 10 Astros without allowing a walk. He was sent down to Double-A and has thrown a total of three innings the last 20 days – an effort by the organization to limit the workload of their 21-year-old pitcher.

Jonathan Lucroy had three hits and drove in a run, and rookie Jimmy Nelson allowed two runs in 5 1-3 innings against Washington, which fell one game below.

CHICAGO (AP) – Kris Bryant and Miguel Montero had consecutive RBI doubles in the sixth as the Chicago Cubs extended Shelby Miller’s winless skid to 16 games with a victory over the Atlanta Braves.

A double by Ellis came with one out in the fifth inning and two wild pitches by McCullers with two outs allowed him to score and extend the lead to 2-0. While the Dodgers’ offense has gone missing, the Astros are leading the majors in home runs and have nine players with at least 10 blasts. Carlos Gomez and Carlos Correa followed with singles, with Altuve scoring on the second to cut the lead to 2-1.

With Evan Gattis at the plate and Kershaw directing his attention to Correa at first base, Gomez tried to steal home. The Astros challenged the call but it was confirmed. He also struck out looking in the ninth, and was ejected for arguing balls and strikes, though the argument appeared to consist of Puig dropping the bat and putting his hands on his hips. Springer landed on the DL on July 2 with a right wrist fracture…. It was the most amount of pitches he had thrown in a game, and the first time he threw at least 100 pitches this month.

It was the Dodgers’ first hit in 13 1-3 innings since Kike Hernardez’s two-out double in the eighth inning of Wednesday’s game at Oakland.

With the Dodgers swept by the Houston Astros in a three-game series and extending their losing streak to a season-long five games, Kershaw implored for a shift in the team’s mentality.