PHILLIES LEAD THE SERIES 1-0
Houston Astros fumble 5-0 lead to fall in Game One of the World Series
Oct 29, 2022, 1:31 am
Justin Verlander's struggles continue in the World Series. Photo by Elsa/Getty Images.
Justin Verlander
For the second straight year, the World Series was back in Houston. For the fifth time in franchise history, the Astros opened the Fall Classic with a loss in Game One.
It was a solo home run by J.T. Realmuto that was the final nail in the coffin for Houston, and lifted the Philadelphia Phillies over the Astros 6-5 in the opening game.
The Houston Astros turned to ace pitcher Justin Verlander for Game One to start the Fall Classic on the right note. Through the first three innings, it went as perfectly as it could for the Astros, which makes the loss sting a whole lot more. Verlander went through the Phillies order with no issues. He did not even give up a single hit.
Kyle Tucker got things rolling on offense for Houston. He hit a solo home run in the second inning, and then after a couple more base hits by Yuli Gurriel and Chas McCormick, Martin Maldonaldo made it 2-0 with a ground ball to center that brought Gurriel home.
Tucker continued to be an offensive force for the Astros when he launched another bomb, this time a three-run homer that made it 5-0 in favor of Houston in the third.
Then the tide turned against Verlander. An innocent single by Rhys Hoskins with one out was the Phillies’ first hit of the game. With two outs, a red-hot Bryce Harper singled in the fourth inning.
He was followed by Nick Castellanos, who also singled and brought Hoskins home. It was Alec Bohm that hit the first major punch to the Astros with a double that brought Harper and Castellanos home to score as well and made it 5-3 Astros.
In the fifth, Brandon Marsh doubled to left. Kyle Schwarber walked, and after a pop out by Hoskins, it was Realmuto who made it a brand new game for Philadelphia with a rocket fly ball that brought Marsh and Schwarber around to score and tied the game at five.
Verlander pitched 5.0 innings, allowed five earned runs, six hits, walked two batters and struck out five. Philadelphia starting pitcher Aaron Nola went only 4.1 innings, also allowing five earned runs, six hits, two walked batters and also had five strikeouts.
Luis Garcia was the losing pitcher. He gave up the home run to Realmuto in the 10th.
The Astros will turn to Framber Valdez in Game Two. Philadelphia will turn to Zack Wheeler.
For Houston, Jose Altuve’s postseason hitting struggles continued. In five at-bats, his lone hit came on a soft fly ball that found open space between the Phillies outfield and infield in the ninth.
Yordan Alvarez went 0-for-4. Tucker was the Houston player of the game. He hit two home runs in five at-bat appearances.
Houston had a final chance at tying or potentially stealing the win late with both Alex Bregman and Gurriel getting on base in the bottom of the 10th, but Aledmys Díaz grounded out and that was the game.
Up next: The Astros play Game 2 against the Phillies at 7 PM on Saturday night.
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
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.