Tough loss for Houston
Astros force extras before Rangers walk it off in series opener
May 21, 2021, 11:21 pm
Tyler Ivey made his MLB debut Friday night. Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images
Tyler Ivey made his MLB debut Friday night.
After starting this road trip with a 2-1 series win over the Oakland A's to regain the lead in the AL West, Houston returned to Texas to face another division opponent: the Rangers at Globe Life Field. After trailing most of the game, the Astros would tie the game late, forcing extra innings, but the Rangers would pull out the win in the tenth to hand Houston the loss.
Final Score (10 innings): Rangers 7, Astros 5
Astros' Record: 26-19, tied for first in the AL West
Winning Pitcher: Taylor Hearn (2-1)
Losing Pitcher: Bryan Abreu (2-3)
Tyler Ivey makes his debut
Making his major-league debut close to his hometown of Rowlett, Texas, Tyler Ivey tried to make it a memorable first start. While it wasn't an incredibly impressive outing, he could still provide his team some innings, though allowed a few runs. The first came on a solo home run by Brock Holt in the bottom of the third, then two more came in the bottom of the fourth on a two-RBI double by Adolis Garcia, bringing in two runners that reached on a walk and a single.
He returned in the bottom of the fifth, allowing a leadoff single before getting his last two outs as Dusty Baker would go to his bullpen to bring in Kent Emanuel to face some Texas lefties. Emanuel would allow an RBI single to his first batter, with the run charged to Ivey, making his debut line: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HR, 79 P.
Houston's offense starts slow before clawing back into it
Houston managed to bring in just one run over that span, getting runners on base to set up an RBI fielder's choice by Aledmys Diaz in the top of the second. Still down 4-1 in the top of the seventh, the Astros wasted a golden opportunity, getting the bases loaded against Texas' bullpen with Kyle Gibson finally out of the game but stranded all three runners.
After Emanuel finished the fifth, he returned for one out in the sixth before Joe Smith would finish that frame. Brandon Bielak was next out of the bullpen, tossing a scoreless bottom of the seventh. Houston clawed back into it in the top of the eighth, getting RBI hits from Carlos Correa and Jason Castro to get back within a run at 4-3. Jose Altuve then tied the game, getting an RBI single to extend his hitting streak to fifteen games and knot things up 4-4.
Astros go ahead, but Rangers walk it off
Brooks Raley entered to try and keep it a tie game in the bottom of the eighth. He did his job, retiring three batters on nine pitches to send things to the ninth. After getting two on base in the top of the inning but coming away empty, the Astros brought in Ryan Pressly in the bottom of the ninth to try and force extra innings, which he would do. Carlos Correa began the top of the tenth on second base as the free runner, and with one out, would score from there on a groundball turned error, putting Houston one run ahead and leaving runners on the corners.
They would strand those two runners and brought in Bryan Abreu in the bottom of the inning to try and finish things off. After a sac fly moved the free runner to third, Abreu would get a strikeout for the second out. A two-out walk brought Garcia to the plate for Texas, who would hit a walk-off three-run homer, handing Houston a loss to start this series.
Up Next: The middle game of this three-game set will be a 3:05 PM Central start on Saturday. Lance McCullers Jr. (3-1, 2.70 ERA) will look to get his sixth quality start in a row for the Astros, while the Rangers will send Jordan Lyles (2-3, 5.93 ERA) to the mound.
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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.