Oakland takes the series against Houston
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 2 hits from the 3-2 loss
Sep 12, 2019, 10:50 pm
Oakland takes the series against Houston
Down 2-1 in this four-game series to the A's, and with the Yankees sweeping their doubleheader to move back ahead in the overall AL standings, Houston needed a win to get back on track on Thursday night. Here is a recap of the series finale with Oakland:
Final Score: A's 3, Astros 2.
Record: 95-53, first in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Homer Bailey (13-8, 4.76 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Justin Verlander (18-6, 2.58 ERA).
Many would have thought that having Justin Verlander on the mound Thursday night would mean a return to the norm in terms of holding opponents to few, if any, runs. Instead, it turns out that even Verlander isn't immune to the surging A's, as he would give up a run in the top of the first to put Oakland ahead 1-0.
In the third, a one-out single turned into a one-out two-run home run to put Oakland up 3-0 and put Verlander in a tough position. However, he turned things around to hold the A's scoreless through the rest of his six innings while having another double-digit strikeout start. His final line: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 11 K, 1 HR.
Houston threatened in the third, getting runners on second and third with no outs after a leadoff single and double. George Springer scored a run on an RBI-groundout to make it a 3-1 game, but Houston would not be able to trim the lead any further.
That would be their only run scored with Verlander on the mound, with Joe Smith taking over the 3-1 game in the top of the seventh and throwing a 1-2-3 scoreless inning. Josh James was next out of Houston's bullpen for the top of the eighth and worked around a two-out single to post a scoreless inning, striking out three to rebound from his recent terrible outing.
In the bottom of the inning, Jose Altuve pulled Houston within one run after a one-out solo home run to the train tracks to make it a 3-2 game. Houston would go on to load the bases with two outs, but Kyle Tucker would strike out to keep the A's in front.
Roberto Osuna would be tasked with the top of the ninth to get some work after several days off and put Oakland down in order, giving Houston one last chance to win the game. Robinson Chirinos worked a walk to lead off the bottom of the ninth before being pinch-run for by Myles Straw, who moved to second on a single by Yuli Gurriel. Unfortunately, though the Astros would get the tying run to third, they would be unable to beat Oakland, giving the A's the series win.
Up Next: Houston's remaining schedule lightens up after this series with Oakland. They'll start a three-game series with the Royals in Kansas City on Friday at 7:15 PM. The expected pitching matchup is Gerrit Cole (16-5, 2.73 ERA) on the mound for Houston going up against Danny Duffy (6-6, 4.71 ERA) for the Royals.
The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.
While holding one’s breath that for a change the Astros aren’t publicly grossly underestimating an injury’s severity with Jose Altuve having missed the last game and a half with “right side discomfort…”
The Astros averting a sweep vs. Oakland Thursday was in no way a must-win, but getting the win allowed a mini sigh of relief. The Astros are NOT in the process of choking. Could they collapse? Sure that’s possible. Also possible is that they’ve just been in one more ebb phase in a season of ebb and flow. They certainly have left the door ajar for the Seattle Mariners to swipe the American League West, but with the M's simply not looking good enough to walk through that door the Astros remain in commanding position. The Astros made a spectacular charge from 10 games behind to grab the division lead. But there was a lot of runway left when the Astros awoke June 19th 10 games in arrears. September 3 the Astros arose with a comfy six game lead over the M’s. With Seattle blowing a 4-1 eighth inning lead in a 5-4 loss to the Texas Rangers Thursday night, heading into Friday night the Astros' advantage is back up to four and a half games despite the Astros having lost six of their last nine games and having gone just 10-12 over their last 22 games. Not a good stretch but nothing freefalling about it.
While the Mariners have the remainder of their four-game series vs. the dead in the water Rangers this weekend, the Astros play three at the lousy Los Angeles Angels. The Astros should take advantage of the Halos, with whom they also have a four-game series at Minute Maid Park next weekend. Since the All-Star break, only the White Sox have a worse record than the Angels 19-31 mark (the White Sox are 6-43 post-break!). Two of the three starting pitchers the Angels will throw this weekend will be making their third big league starts. To begin next week the Astros are in San Diego for a three-game-set against a Padres club which is flat better than the Astros right now. That does not mean the Astros can’t take that series. The Mariners meanwhile will be still at home, for three vs. the Yankees.
There are some brutal Astros’ statistics that largely explain why this is merely a pretty good team and not more. As I have noted before, it is a fallacy that the best teams are usually superior in close games. But the Astros have been pathetic in close games. There used to be a joke made about Sammy Sosa that he could blow you out, but he couldn’t beat you. Meaning being that when the score was 6-1, 8-3 or the like Sammy would pad his stats with home runs and runs batted in galore. But in a tight game, don’t count on Sammy to come through very often. In one-run games the Astros are 15-26, in two-run games they are 10-14. In games that were tied after seven innings they are 3-12. In extra innings they are 5-10. The good news is, all those realities mean nothing when the postseason starts. So long as you’re in the postseason. In games decided by three or more runs the Astros have pummeled the opposition to the tune of 53 wins and 28 losses.
General Manager Dana Brown isn’t an Executive of the Year candidate, but overall he’s been fine this season. Without the Yusei Kikuchi trade deadline acquisition the Astros would likely barely lead the AL West. Brown’s biggest offseason get, Victor Caratini, has done very solid work in his part-time role. Though he has tapered off notably the last month and change, relief pitcher Tayler Scott was a fabulous signing. Scrap heap pickups Ben Gamel, Jason Heyward, and Kaleb Ort have all made contributions. However…
Dana. Dana! You made yourself look very silly with comments this week somewhat scoffing at people being concerned with or dismissive of Justin Verlander’s ability to be a meaningful playoff contributor. Brown re-sang a ridiculous past tune, the “check the back of his baseball card” baloney. Dana, did you mean like the back of Jose Abreu’s baseball card? Perhaps Brown has never seen those brokerage ads in which at the end in fine print and/or in rapidly spoken words “past performance is no guarantee of future results” always must be included. Past (overall career) performance as indicative of future results for a 41-year-old pitcher who has frequently looked terrible and has twice missed chunks of this season to two different injuries is absurd. That Verlander could find it in time is plausible. That of course he’ll find it? Absolutely not. His next two starts are slotted to be against the feeble Angels, so even if the results are better, it won’t mean “JV IS BACK!”
Presuming they hold on to win the division, the Astros’ recent sub-middling play means they have only very faint hope of avoiding having to play the best-of-three Wild Card Series. Barring a dramatic turn over the regular season’s final fortnight, Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown are the obvious choices to start games one and two. If there is a game three, it is one game do or die. Only a fool would think Verlander the right man for that assignment. No one should expect Brown to say “Yeah, JV is likely finished as a frontline starter.” But going to the “back of the baseball card” line was laughable. Father Time gets us all eventually. Verlander has an uphill climb extricating himself from Father Time’s grasp.
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