The Houston Astros were unable to snap their losing streak and were unable to avoid a series loss to the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night. After a 4-3 loss, they will have to try to avoid the four-game sweep and a sixth straight loss on Thursday.
The game got off to a typically ignoble start, as Armando Galarraga balked in Bryce Harper for the first Nationals run. Justin Maxwell managed to hit an RBI single in the bottom of the first to tie things up, but Nats starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez hit a two-run homer in the second inning to put Washington back on top, 3-1.
Carlos Corporan hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning to get one of those runs back for the Astros. The score stayed at 3-2 until the seventh inning, when Ryan Zimmermann scored on a throwing error by third baseman Matt Downs.
Ben Francisco hit an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to bring the Astros back to within a run, but Downs struck out swinging with runners on second and third to end the game.
Read more on the Astros at The Crawfish Boxes and SB Nation Houston. Head over to Federal Baseball and SB Nation DC for more on the Nationals. Baseball Nation is your source for news and analysis around Major League Baseball.
