Astros drop series finale to Boston
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 4-1 loss
May 26, 2019, 4:16 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
After the thrilling walk-off win on Saturday night, the Astros had Justin Verlander on the mound Sunday looking to sweep this series and make it a 5-1 season series with the Red Sox. Here's a rundown of the game:
Final Score: Red Sox 4, Astros 1
Record: 35-19, first in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Eduardo Rodriguez (5-3, 5.04 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Justin Verlander (8-2, 2.38 ERA).
1) Correa picks up where he left off
After driving in the winning run with a walk-off RBI-single the night before, Carlos Correa gave Houston their first run of the day in the bottom of the first inning with an RBI-single. That run would be the only one of the game for Houston, though, as they'd get just four hits during the afternoon.
2) Good, but not good enough for Verlander
Justin Verlander brought his 8-1 record and 2.24 ERA to the mound on Sunday but would have a mediocre start by his standards. Verlander allowed a couple of runs by his own doing, one on a sac fly in the third after a runner made it to third after a couple of wild pitches, Verlander's first of the year.
Boston took the lead in the fourth on a solo home run, then later would make it 3-1 by scoring on a couple of defensive errors for the Astros, giving Verlander three earned runs on the day. His final line: seven innings pitched, six hits, three runs, zero walks, and six strikeouts. The strikeouts moved him over 2,800 in his career, ending his day at 2,801 which is just two away from Cy Young who has 2,803 at number 22 on the all-time leaderboard.
Josh James was first out of Houston's bullpen and pitched a scoreless eighth, then Framber Valdez pitched the ninth during which Boston would extend the lead to 4-1 which would go down as the final score.
3) Diaz exits with yet another leg injury
Aledmys Diaz would exit the game after crossing home in the first inning, tweaking his hamstring and making yet another Houston player to go out with a leg issue. Tyler White would come in to cover first base allowing Yuli Gurriel to move to second, then later in the game Tony Kemp would pinch-hit and move to second and Gurriel back to first. It's unclear so far how much time Diaz will miss.
This injury would come just one day after catcher Max Stassi left a game with a knee issue, resulting in the call-up of Garret Stubbs to take over the second catcher's spot behind Robinson Chirinos.
Up Next: With this series in the books the Astros will finish this homestand with a three-game series with their old NL-Central rivals, the Cubs. They'll start the series with a Memorial Day game which will get started at 1:10 PM and feature pitchers Gerrit Cole (4.5, 4.11 ERA) for Houston and Cole Hamels (4-0, 3.38 ERA) for Chicago.
The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.
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It’s May 1, and the Astros are turning heads—but not for the reasons anyone expected. Their resurgence, driven not by stars like Yordan Alvarez or Christian Walker, but by a cast of less-heralded names, is writing a strange and telling early-season story.
Christian Walker, brought in to add middle-of-the-order thump, has yet to resemble the feared hitter he was in Arizona. Forget the narrative of a slow starter—he’s never looked like this in April. Through March and April of 2025, he’s slashing a worrying .196/.277/.355 with a .632 OPS. Compare that to the same stretch in 2024, when he posted a .283 average, .496 slug, and a robust .890 OPS, and it becomes clear: this is something more than rust. Even in 2023, his April numbers (.248/.714 OPS) looked steadier.
What’s more troubling than the overall dip is when it’s happening. Walker is faltering in the biggest moments. With runners in scoring position, he’s hitting just .143 over 33 plate appearances, including 15 strikeouts. The struggles get even more glaring with two outs—.125 average, .188 slugging, and a .451 OPS in 19 such plate appearances. In “late and close” situations, when the pressure’s highest, he’s practically disappeared: 1-for-18 with a .056 average and a .167 OPS.
His patience has waned (only 9 walks so far, compared to 20 by this time last year), and for now, his presence in the lineup feels more like a placeholder than a pillar.
The contrast couldn’t be clearer when you look at José Altuve—long the engine of this franchise—who, in 2024, delivered in the moments Walker is now missing. With two outs and runners in scoring position, Altuve hit .275 with an .888 OPS. In late and close situations, he thrived with a .314 average and .854 OPS. That kind of situational excellence is missing from this 2025 squad—but someone else may yet step into that role.
And yet—the Astros are winning. Not because of Walker, but in spite of him.
Houston’s offense, in general, hasn’t lit up the leaderboard. Their team OPS ranks 23rd (.667), their slugging 25th (.357), and they sit just 22nd in runs scored (117). They’re 26th in doubles, a rare place for a team built on gap-to-gap damage.
But where there’s been light, it hasn’t come from the usual spots. Jeremy Peña, often overshadowed in a lineup full of stars, now boasts the team’s highest OPS at .791 (Isaac Paredes is second in OPS) and is flourishing in his new role as the leadoff hitter. Peña’s balance of speed, contact, aggression, and timely power has given Houston a surprising tone-setter at the top.
Even more surprising: four Astros currently have more home runs than Yordan Alvarez.
And then there’s the pitching—Houston’s anchor. The rotation and bullpen have been elite, ranking 5th in ERA (3.23), 1st in WHIP (1.08), and 4th in batting average against (.212). In a season where offense is lagging and clutch hits are rare, the arms have made all the difference.
For now, it’s the unexpected contributors keeping Houston afloat. Peña’s emergence. A rock-solid pitching staff. Role players stepping up in quiet but crucial ways. They’re not dominating, but they’re grinding—and in a sluggish AL West, that may be enough.
Walker still has time to find his swing. He showed some signs of life against Toronto and Detroit. If he does, the Astros could become dangerous. If he doesn’t, the turnaround we’re witnessing will be credited to a new cast of unlikely faces. And maybe, that’s the story that needed to be written.
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