Astros' losing streak extended to five games
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 10-6 loss
Jun 20, 2019, 10:18 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
Riding a four-game losing streak into New York, the Astros were hoping to snap out of their funk and have a more typical game hopefully ending in a win. That would be a tall task against the strong Yankees in the first of four games over this weekend. Here's a recap:
Final Score: Yankees 10, Astros 6.
Record: 48-28, first in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Nestor Cortes Jr. (2-0, 4.09 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Framber Valdez (3-3, 3.61 ERA).
1) Framber fumbles the fourth
After looking sharp through the first three innings, Framber Valdez struggled in the bottom of the fourth, allowing a solo home run to start the inning, putting the next two on base, then allowing a three-run homer to blow the game open. He'd get just one out into the frame before A.J. Hinch made the call to the bullpen. Valdez's final line: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 2 HR.
The reason he'd end up with five earned runs was the result of Chris Devenski coming out in relief and allowing a two-run home run, one of those belonging to Valdez. That gave New York a 6-0 lead, and after a brief rain delay, Devenski would finish the inning.
2) Astros get some runs of their own
Houston was able to trim the six-run lead at the time to four runs on back-to-back solo home runs by Jake Marisnick and Alex Bregman to make it a 6-2 game in the top of the fifth. After New York added two runs to put their lead back at six, Yordan Alvarez delivered a solo home run to trim the lead again to 8-3 in the top of the sixth.
Yordan Alvarez HR. His 5th of the season. #Astros #TakeItBack pic.twitter.com/hYUo9gcYfo
— AT&T SportsNet SW (@ATTSportsNetSW) June 21, 2019
They would threaten to trim the lead further later in the game, but would come up short on an RBI-single from Josh Reddick to make it 10-4, then two runs in the top of the ninth, one on Marisnick's second home run of the night to make it 10-5 then an RBI-double by Alvarez to make it 10-6.
3) Long bullpen night
Josh James was next out of the bullpen for the fifth inning with Houston hoping he could provide a lengthy appearance to save some of the other relievers from having to get extended in the first game of the series. Instead, James would struggle to complete just one inning, allowing a two-RBI double to make it an 8-2 Yankees lead.
Hector Rondon pitched the bottom of the sixth, striking out the side in order. Rogelio Armenteros was next out of the bullpen but would make a mistake to newly acquired Edwin Encarnacion who blasted a two-run home run to make it a 10-3 game. Armenteros would get through that inning and also work around loading the bases in the bottom of the eighth to complete that inning as well.
Up Next: The weekend series will continue tomorrow with first pitch of the second of four games at 6:05 PM. The expected pitching matchup is Brad Peacock (6-4, 3.67 ERA) for the Astros going against James Paxton (4-3, 3.93 ERA) for the Yankees.
The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.
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Now that spring training is officially underway, we're able to make some observations about how the Astros 2025 roster is taking shape.
Houston's starting rotation is basically set, but we got to see Hayden Wesneski make his first start in an Astro uniform. Wesneski pitched two innings against the Mets on Tuesday, allowing one run with three strikeouts.
He's working on a curveball that's a new pitch for his repertoire, and he saw some success with it. Hopefully, adding this pitch will help keep batters off balance (especially left-handed hitters) and help elevate his game. Which is nothing new for the Astros, who have a history of helping pitchers get to the next level.
Forrest Whitley also looked good, pitching a clean inning and finishing off his final hitter with a 97 mph fastball. Whitley finally realizing his potential in the big leagues could be a huge deal for the Astros, as they're looking to lighten the workload for Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader this season.
Hader in particular could benefit from this adjustment, as he was much worse when pitching in non-save situations last season. An easy fix with Hader could be trying to limit his workload to mostly save situations. That way, you get the most out of him and achieve the goal of him pitching less innings this year.
The Houston Chronicle's Matt Kawahara wrote about Hader's struggles pitching when games were tied or Houston was trailing.
“Hader converted 34 of 38 save chances but faced more batters in non-save situations (142) than in save situations (136), a sharp pivot from his previous few seasons. Opponents slugged .271 against him in save situations and .411 in non-save situations, while his ERA was more than two runs higher (4.98) in the latter.”
And while it's easy to say “suck it up, you're getting paid a fortune to pitch,” if he's not having success in those situations, and you're looking to back off his workload, this seems like an obvious way to pivot. He's under contract for another four seasons, so the Astros are right to want to be careful with him.
Astros plate discipline
Manager Joe Espada has made it very clear that he would like his offense to see more pitches this season. And we're seeing a stark difference in the approaches from the newly acquired players (Isaac Paredes, Christian Walker) and Houston's returning hitters.
Keep in mind, Paredes was first in pitches per plate appearance last season, and Walker was 10th.
So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Paredes and Walker both worked a full count in their first at-bats on Tuesday, while Mauricio Dubon, Yainer Diaz, and Chas McCormick swung at every pitch in their first at-bats.
Hopefully the new blood in the clubhouse will rub off on the rest of the Astros lineup, which is full of free swingers, especially with Alex Bregman now playing for Boston.
Which is why we're so excited about Cam Smith's early results. While we're super pumped about his two home runs on Tuesday, we're equally impressed that he walked in his first two at-bats this spring. If anyone would naturally be jumping out of their shoes to make a strong first impression, you would think it's the guy that was traded for Kyle Tucker. But Smith was patient, and he was rewarded for it.
What is Dana Brown saying privately?
Just last offseason, Brown was talking about extending Tucker and Bregman while also signing Hader to a shocking 5-year, $95 million deal. Plus, the team signed Jose Altuve to a whopping $150 million extension. Fast-forward one year and Tucker has been traded, Bregman left in free agency, and Ryan Pressly was dealt in a salary dump. Safe to say, his vision for the ball club has changed drastically in one season. Welcome to baseball economics under Jim Crane!
We're just scratching the surface on everything covered in the video above. Be sure to hit play to watch the full conversation!
The countdown to Opening Day is on. Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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