Astros lose to the Brewers to split the series
Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 4-2 loss
Sep 3, 2019, 9:21 pm
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
After winning the opener of the two-game series with the Brewers on Labor Day, the Astros looked to make it a mini-sweep with a win on Tuesday night. Here is a recap of the game:
Final Score: Brewers 4, Astros 2.
Record: 90-50, first in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Jordan Lyles (10-8, 4.46 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Zack Greinke (14-5, 3.09 ERA).
1) Springer goes down hard with an injury
The Astros experienced a scary moment in the bottom of the fifth inning. Tracking a ball deep into center field, George Springer lept and made an incredible catch for the final out of the inning.
However, during the catch, he would fall back and hit his head, hard, against the center-field wall, and although he would complete the play, would stay on the ground in obvious pain for quite some time. He was attended to for several minutes before eventually, they would bring the cart out, which he would stand and get into before being taken off the field. Hopefully, Springer was simply shaken up and avoided anything serious.
2) Greinke gets tagged in the third
Zack Greinke had one bad inning on Wednesday, and it came in the third. After allowing just one hit in each of the first two innings, the Brewers were able to back-to-back one-out singles in the bottom of the third before a two-out RBI-single followed by a three-run home run which pushed Milwaukee in front 4-1.
He was able to recover over the next three frames, allowing just two other hits while keeping the Brewers from adding any more runs to their lead. Greinke's final line: 6 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 1 HR.
3) Houston unable to mount a comeback
Meanwhile, the Astros had gotten two runs on the board; one in the top of the second on an RBI-single by Josh Reddick which gave them a 1-0 lead at the time, then a solo home run by Alex Bregman in the top of the sixth which made it a two-run game at 4-2.
Starting September strong. #TakeItBack pic.twitter.com/SfxKOMyhpJ
— Houston Astros (@astros) September 4, 2019
With Greinke's night done after six innings of work, Houston turned to their bullpen starting with Chris Devenski in the bottom of the seventh. Devenski was able to erase a two-out double to complete the inning. Cionel Perez made his first appearance since June, having been down in the minors until being brought back up when rosters expanded over the weekend. He started the bottom of the eighth but would allow a leadoff walk before a pinch-hitter caused A.J. Hinch to move to another pitcher.
Joe Biagini was the new pitcher and would get a double play to erase the leadoff walk before getting out of the inning. The Astros were unable to mount a comeback, though, coming up empty late in the game to allow the Brewers to split the two-game series.
Up Next: Houston will travel home for a day off on Wednesday. They'll resume play on Thursday at home with the opener of a four-game series against the Mariners at Minute Maid Park. That game will get underway at 7:10 PM and the expected pitchers are Marco Gonzalez (14-11, 4.30 ERA) for the Mariners going opposite of Wade Miley (13-4, 3.06 ERA) for the Astros.
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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