Astros vs. Braves Game Highlights (9-12-25) - MLB Highlights

Things are real right now. 15 games to go and it's a dead heat on top of the AL West. Yeah, you couldn't ask for anything more exciting. I know we've been spoiled in the past with the Astros having some big leagues and we start counting down numbers. Not happening this season. It is tight at the top. Mariners and Astros tied with a record. Rangers trying to creep up two games back. But this is where the excitement begins. Three more games here in Atlanta before we have a big test for these Astros when we get home. On the mound, Hurston Waldrop, 23 years old, 6'2, 210 out of Thomasville, Georgia. He is a perfect 4-0 with a 133 ERA in seven starts for the Braves. What a start for Hurston Waldrop. Three pitches and he sets down the veteran Carlos Correa. One out and nobody on for Jordan Alvarez. Sitting 4-15 in 15 games since coming off the injured list. On a couple of bounces, Matt Olsen is there and he flips to Hurston Waldrop, two down. There's Jose Altuve. Just two hits in his last 33 at-bats. Here it is from Waldrop. And he swings and sends a little flare into shallow center. Drifting back, Kim. And the Braves shortstop in shallow center field. Ranges back of the infield cutout and catches the little flare. And it's a 1-2-3 start for Hurston Waldrop. Well, it's a bullpen game for the Astros after Luis Garcia's injury and Jaden Murray is going to get the start for the Astros today. Murray, a rookie, has been really impressive in his first two outings. Hasn't allowed a base runner. Zach Cole is on the roster and in the lineup today, batting eighth and playing in left field. A guy who really has seen his stock rise this year with the year he was having a double-A and now a triple-A. And that's lined in the left field fairly deep. Racing back on it is Cole. And he leaps and makes the catch and crashes into the low wall in front of the bullpen. So, Zach Cole in his big league debut gets tested here in the first inning and able to make an outstanding catch on a ball to deep left. Baldwin, the favorite for National League Rookie of the Year. And that's pulled on one hop, snared by Walker. A head high bounce at the end takes it to first himself. And that's out number one. Baldwin put a pretty good swing on that one. One hopped it over there to Christian. You see him start low and then end up high. And that's a good way to do it. Another ground ball. Altuve behind second base will make the play. And that's a good throw to end the inning. Jaden Murray looking good in his first big league start. This Astros team, this offense, really needs somebody to maybe run into one every once in a while. And that's what Zach Cole has been doing in triple-A. First pitch swinging and whacks it. Right field, did he? He did. Six rows deep over the wall. Zach Cole, the first pitch he sees as a major leaguer. And he takes him deep for a two-run homer. How do you like that? That young man is living every child's dream. First pitch he sees in the big leagues goes deep. What a great moment for Zach Cole and his family. Nacho Alvarez, diving stop from one. He was about ten feet back of the bag. Dove to his right. Had just enough time to get on his right knee and fired all the way across in the air from a knee. Murray's looked good. This is probably it for him. He set at the belt. Here's the pitch. Breaking ball. Popped him up. Shallow left field. Correa barely on the grass. Third baseman puts it away. And that's the third out of the inning. So, Murray does a great job. Three scoreless. We'll go to the fourth inning now. In Atlanta, Georgia, Astros lead 2-0. Hitting 108 in September. Jose. Ground ball towards the hole. And that's through. Jose needed to see that one get through. Altuve, just his third hit in his last 35 at-bats. That has to feel good for Jose as the leadoff baserunner here in the fourth. Christian Walker 0 for 1. And a line one over a leaping Ozzie Albies. Facing into center field. That'll bring up Jake Myers. And loops this one into right center field. That'll be down for a hit to score Altuve. Walker going first to third. It's a 3-0 Astros lead. Jake Myers delivers an RBI two-out single. Here's Zach Cole. Runners on the corners and two outs. Here's the 3-1. That's a hit. Hard and into left field. Base hit. Cole with another RBI. Astros lead 4-0. It's the Zach Cole Show. Three RBIs in his first two at-bats. Well, he's definitely providing that spark that Dana Brown told us this Astros offense needed. Unfortunately, all part of the process. You think about a young pitcher. There's going to be nights where it looks like you got this thing figured out and got them solved. And other nights like tonight and some of these last few starts for Hurston. So Correa at third. Sanchez at second. Caratini at first. Two outs for Christian Walker. A little punch shot into shallow center. Coming on Harris. A second. And he will catch. It's a first base umpire. Clint Bondrack. I think he trapped it. To end the inning. For now, it's called an out. Two runs scored if it's a trap. They're checking. Well, the Astros have to review this for sure. Here's Dambolino. The right fielder did not make the catch. So nobody made the catch, and that's going to be the end of the night for Hurston Waldrop. Two outs top of the fifth. The batter is Jake Myers, and he grounds the first pitch through the left side for a base hit. Jake Myers is two for two. Drives in his second run of the ball game, and it's 7-0 Astros. So here is Cole. And he's got a chance to set an Astros franchise record for the most RBIs in a debut. Ground ball up the middle, and that's going to get through for a base hit. Around third. Walker, he will score. The ball is bobbled for a moment in center by Harris. Myers stops at third. Zach Cole goes into second base, and it's 8-0 Houston. Zach Cole sets a franchise record with his fourth RBI in his big league debut, and the Astros lead it 8-0. He's three for three with four runs batted in. Here's Dubon. Three-two. And that is hit sharply and through the left side, a base hit. Myers scores. Cole around third and coming home. He'll score without a throw. Two-run single for Mauricio Dubon, and it's 10-0 Astros. With good numbers against Dane Dunning, he's eight for 17, and he's also walked six times. Drills this one high and deep to left field. Forget about it. Off the façade of the second deck, right off the Hank Aaron Terrace, and now Tuve has number 25 on the year, and the Astros lead this game 11-0. So, two out, nobody on for Ronald Acuna, Jr., who's one for two with a single. Deep to left here for Acuna, and it's gone into the bullpen to get the Braves on the board. Ronald Acuna, Jr., his 16th homer of the year. It was a line shot. And here we go with Zach Cole. Boy, it's been a night he'll never forget in Atlanta. First pitch, he saw a two-run homer to right center field. Also, a couple of run-scoring singles. He's three for three as a big leaguer. Dunning, a slide step, and he got him. Strike three, a slide step change-up. He probably has never seen that. He finally got Zach Cole out. He's human. As he strikes out here against Dane Dunning, Cole retired for the first time in his big league career. Eli White's going to pinch hit for Matt Olsen. Yes, Brian Snedeker will start to get some of his regulars off their feet. Eli White off the bench and into the seats. A pinch hit two-run homer. Eli jumping on a first-pitch four-seam fastball just 91 miles an hour. And what we knew about Colton Gordon has held true. Home run issues, and he's given up two now since he is coming out of that Astros bullpen. Eleven to three Astros, two out, no one on for the Braves, last of the night. And that is strike three, Cole, on the outside corner, and that is the ball game. All Astros tonight in Atlanta as they defeat the Braves 11 to three.