Alvarez homers again as Astros overpower Brewers
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 10-8 win
Jun 11, 2019, 10:08 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
After winning the weekend series against the Orioles and being rewarded with a day off on Monday, the Astros picked up a quick two-game series with NL Central-leading Brewers on Tuesday night. Here's how the first of the two games went:
Final Score: Astros 10, Brewers 8.
Record: 46-22, first in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Brad Peacock (6-3, 3.42 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Freddy Peralta (3-3, 5.81 ERA).
1) Offenses trade blows
The Brewers and Astros went back and forth with offensive bursts early, starting with the Brewers getting a run off of Brad Peacock in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. Tyler White doubled them up in the bottom of the second with a two-run opposite-field home run, his second of the year, to give Houston a 2-1 lead, but Christian Yelich responded for the Brewers in the next inning with a solo home run of his own, tying the game 2-2.
Yuli Gurriel broke the tie in the bottom of the third, taking advantage of a leadoff double by Michael Brantley by hitting a two-run homer to put the Astros back in front 4-2. Milwaukee trimmed the lead to one run in the top of the fifth with a few more hits to make it 4-3, but the Astros would roar right back in the bottom of the inning with an RBI-triple from Micheal Brantley and RBI-single from Gurriel to double up the Brewers again at 6-3.
They weren't done in that inning, though, because next up was their newest teammate who provided another highlight.
2) Alvarez does it again
After striking out in his first two plate appearances in the game, Yordan Alvarez came to the plate with Gurriel on first in the bottom of the fifth. The momentum was in his favor, as both Gurriel and Brantley had plated runners in front of him.
He got hold of a 2-2 pitch low in the zone, golfing it with enough of his extraordinary power to get it over the right field wall to make it back-to-back games with a home run, the first Houston player in franchise history to get home runs in their first two games. That gave the Astros a commanding five-run lead at 8-3. Alvarez finished the night 1-for-3 with a walk and the homerun, keeping his average at .333 through two games.
3) Peacock and bullpen hold the lead
Brad Peacock didn't have a perfect night by any means, allowing a run right off the bat then two more through the first five innings, but given the big lead in the bottom of the fifth, he was able to get deep enough into the game to avoid taxing the bullpen for too many innings. Peacock's final line: 6.1 IP, 7H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 2HR.
Peacock's night ended one out into the seventh, and Will Harris took over to complete that inning with no damage allowed and one strikeout. Robinson Chirinos padded the lead further in the bottom of the seventh, hitting a two-run home run to extend the lead to 10-4 on Houston's fourth homer of the night.
Hector Rondon looked to get a quick inning with the large lead in the top of the eighth, but would instead load the bases then walk in a run before getting the final out, resulting in a call to bring in Ryan Pressly to clean up the mess. Pressly would get the last out of the eighth, then Chris Devenski would take over in the ninth.
Devenski would struggle after getting two outs, allowing a single then hitting a batter to set up a three-run home run to get the Brewers within two runs at 10-8, but Devenski would get the last out to close out the win.
Up Next: Houston and Milwaukee will wrap up this two-game series tomorrow night with the game starting at 7:10 PM. We'll get to see a good pitching matchup as Justin Verlander (9-2, 2.31 ERA) will look to lift the Astros over Brandon Woodruff (8-1, 3.87 ERA) and the Brewers.
The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.