ASTROS REPORT
Astros take care of business against solid foes, going 4-2 for the week
May 21, 2018, 6:00 am
Justin Verlander continues to dominate. Elsa/Getty Images
The Astros had two much tougher opponents this week than the week prior, giving them a test to see if they are still the team to beat this year. Here's how they did:
Monday, May 14th: 26-16 Astros (McCullers Jr.) vs. 24-16 Angels (Andrew Heaney)
The week got off to a slow start for the Astros on Monday night in Los Angeles. After seemingly reviving the offense last week, the Astros were only able to get one across in this game which came on an RBI single by Max Stassi in the top of the third. That tied the game 1-1 at the time after an RBI from former-Astro Luis Valbuena in the bottom of the second for Los Angeles off Lance McCullers Jr. McCullers had a decent night, but allowed two runs, the first to Valbuena then the other to Justin Upton in the bottom of the sixth. The second run would be the difference maker with Houston's offense unable to crack Andrew Heaney who went 8 strong innings only allowing one run before Justin Anderson shut the door with a save in the ninth for the Angels. The win put the Angels in the lead of the AL West via win percentage.
Final Score: Astros 1, Angels 2
Tuesday, May 15th: 26-17 Astros (Gerrit Cole) vs. 25-16 Angels (Jaime Barria)
The Angels looked to be getting the better of the Astros again well into Tuesday's game, including getting the better of Gerrit Cole. Cole had a rough start by his standards, which started in the bottom of the first after he walked Mike Trout to set up Justin Upton for a two-run home run to put the Angels up 2-0 early. Los Angeles locked up with Cole for a lot of longer at-bats, driving his pitch count up early before Rene Rivera hit the second home run of the night for the Angels in the fifth inning. Cole would finish the inning, but with his pitch count at 98 already ended his night there. He left with a 3-1 deficit, the one Houston run coming on an RBI single from Brian McCann in the top of the fourth. Jaime Barria had a very strong game, making it two straight nights the Astros were unable to mount much offense against an Angels starters. Things shifted in the top of the eighth once Los Angeles went to their bullpen with the Astros able to load the bases to bring up Jose Altuve. Altuve was due for something big after going hitless in the Rangers series the last weekend, and he came through with a bases-clearing double to give the Astros a 4-3 lead and get Cole off the hook. Houston added another insurance run in the top of the ninth on an error by the Angels and was able to hold on to their lead thanks to another solid night of bullpen work including two strong innings from Collin McHugh, a good eighth inning from Will Harris, and another strong save from Ken Giles.
Final Score: Astros 5, Angels 3
Wed., May 16th: 27-17 Astros (Verlander) vs. 25-17 Angels (Garrett Richards)
Wednesday night's game was a masterful showcase of Justin Verlander's dominance as a starter. Verlander not only threw a complete game shutout, he did so with 118 pitches, giving up just five hits and only one walk, which came in the ninth inning. He struck out seven, surpassing the 2,500 strikeout milestone for his career. Though he cruised for much of the game, completing it wasn't easy, including having to get out of a jam in the eighth when the Angels had runners on second and third with just one out, followed by runners on first and second in the ninth. Like he does best, he hunkered down and got through both innings, securing his fifth win of the season. Though not as special of a night, Garrett Richards for the Angels had a strong performance as well, going seven innings in the start for Los Angeles. His biggest mistake came when Evan Gattis continued his recent hot streak by hitting a two-run homer in the top of the second, giving Houston the 2-0 lead they'd take all the way to the end.
Final Score: Astros 2, Angels 0
Friday, May 18th: 21-21 Indians (Mike Clevinger) vs. 28-17 Astros (Charlie Morton)
Charlie Morton followed up his 14 strikeout performance in his last start with another strong start on Friday night against Cleveland. Though he only struck out eight batters this time, he still went seven strong innings. Morton allowed just one hit through the first six innings before allowing a solo home run to Edwin Encarnacion in the seventh for his one and only run. That home run tied the game 1-1 at the time after George Springer hit a solo home run of his own in the bottom of the third off Mike Clevinger who was also having a strong night. Clevinger struggled in the bottom of the seventh, though, issuing back-to-back walks to leadoff the inning before an RBI ground-rule double to Tony Kemp, who had just been called up in place of Jake Marisnick, broke the tie and gave the Astros a 2-1 advantage. Houston added one more before that inning was over, then extended the lead to 4-1 with a sac fly from Evan Gattis in the bottom of the ninth. They'd hold on to that 4-1 lead after a tough eighth inning from Chris Devenski then the save by Ken Giles.
Final Score: Indians 1, Astros 4
Saturday, May 19th: 21-22 Indians (Corey Kluber) vs. 29-17 Astros (Dallas Keuchel)
After looking to be back in control of his game, Dallas Keuchel had a rough game against the Indians on Saturday night. Most of the damage he allowed came right off the bat in the top of the first inning with Cleveland getting a quick three runs on a solo home run by Michael Brantley then two RBI doubles. Keuchel did settle in after the rough first inning, getting through the next few innings without trouble, but would end up letting a leadoff walk in the top of the fifth result in the fourth run for the Indians after a couple of groundouts moved the runner to third before scoring on an infield single. Keuchel's night was done after a short five-inning start and Joe Smith was first out of the bullpen for Houston, but he too would have trouble, allowing a solo home run to Yan Gomes to extend Cleveland's lead to 5-0. After holding Houston's offense in check for most of the game, Carlos Correa was finally able to do some damage against Corey Kluber in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run homer to trim the lead to three runs. Alex Bregman would follow with a solo home run in the eighth, then Marwin Gonzalez with a solo shot of his own in the ninth, but Houston would come up one run short in the failed comeback.
Final Score: Indians 5, Astros 4
Sunday, May 20th: 22-22 Indians (Carlos Carrasco) vs. 29-18 Astros (McCullers Jr.)
It was a pitcher's duel early in the rubber game in the primetime slot Sunday night. Lance McCullers Jr. looked dominant, keeping the Indians without a baserunner until the sixth inning when he allowed his first hit. McCullers went on to finish seven strong innings allowing just one hit, two walks and striking out eight. Although the run support for him was missing most of the night, Brian McCann finally came through for the Astros in the bottom of the seventh with a two-run home run to put the first runs on the board. With McCullers' night done, Will Harris came in to start the eighth, getting two outs before Chris Devenski finished the inning. Josh Reddick extended Houston's lead to 3-0 with an RBI ground-rule double in the bottom of the eighth, sending the game to the top of the ninth. Devenski started the ninth, but after a double and long flyout was pulled in favor of Ken Giles who came was able to get the save despite conceding a run on a groundout.
Final Score: Indians 1, Astros 3
Summary: The Astros put together a strong 4-2 week and won both series against challenging opponents in the Angels and Indians. They did so by continuing to have dominating starts from their rotation, timely hits and run support, and solid bullpen work from their key guys. There is still some shifting around that will happen as the season progresses, as evidenced by Tony Kemp taking Jake Marisnick's place on the roster and Derek Fisher going on the DL allowing J.D. Davis to come back up after crushing it in triple-A. I still think the offense has some work to do, I don't think we've seen them truly get into their groove and feed off of each other quite like we saw last year, but I think that's just a matter of time. All in all, I think this team can scathe by just fine with what they have and how they are performing now, but will likely need to step up in a few areas if they expect to beat the likes of Boston, New York, or even Cleveland in the playoffs. Like we've all said and heard though, anything is possible with this starting rotation being as dominant as they are.
MVP of the Week - Justin Verlander
I'd be remiss if I didn't recognize the brilliance we saw from Justin Verlander on Wednesday night. Verlander did what he has done best since putting on the Astros uniform: he went out and pitched like an ace. With the complete game shutout, Verlander lowered his ERA to an unreal 1.05 which is best in the league, paired with a 0.71 WHIP. Verlander is looking like the dominant pitcher that won the MVP and Cy Young in 2011, and he may be on his way to more accolades like that if he can keep this dominant pace.
This Week:
- Tue-Wed: (24-24) Giants @ (30-18) Astros
- Thu-Sun: (30-18) Astros @ (22-23) Indians)
The Astros have a bit of a weirdly scheduled week, getting Monday off before a two-game interleague series with the Giants here in Houston. Then, the Astros will head to Cleveland for four more games with the Indians who they just faced this past weekend, ending their seven-game regular season matchups. The Giants have been pretty much what their record says, a .500 team, and have a 10-14 record on the road. With Cole and Verlander starting those two games, they should both be winnable games. Like we saw this weekend with Cleveland, they're much better than their record indicates, meaning the four-game series this weekend could be tough. Look for the Astros to keep the train moving and work through a winning week.
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Through 20 games, the Houston Astros have managed just six wins and are in last place in the AL West.
Their pitching staff trails only Colorado with a 5.24 ERA and big-money new closer Josh Hader has given up the same number of earned runs in 10 games as he did in 61 last year.
Despite this, these veteran Astros, who have reached the AL Championship Series seven consecutive times, have no doubt they’ll turn things around.
“If there’s a team that can do it, it’s this team,” shortstop Jeremy Peña said.
First-year manager Joe Espada, who was hired in January to replace the retired Dusty Baker, discussed his team’s early struggles.
“It’s not ideal,” he said. “It’s not what we expected, to come out of the shoot playing this type of baseball. But you know what, this is where we’re at and we’ve got to pick it up and play better. That’s just the bottom line.”
Many of Houston’s problems have stemmed from a poor performance by a rotation that has been decimated by injuries. Ace Justin Verlander and fellow starter José Urquidy haven’t pitched this season because of injuries and lefty Framber Valdez made just two starts before landing on the injured list with a sore elbow.
Ronel Blanco, who threw a no-hitter in his season debut April 1, has pitched well and is 2-0 with a 0.86 ERA in three starts this season. Cristian Javier is also off to a good start, going 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA in four starts, but the team has won just two games not started by those two pitchers.
However, Espada wouldn’t blame the rotation for Houston’s current position.
“It’s been a little bit of a roller coaster how we've played overall,” he said. “One day we get good starting pitching, some days we don’t. The middle relief has been better and sometimes it hasn’t been. So, we’ve just got to put it all together and then play more as a team. And once we start doing that, we’ll be in good shape.”
The good news for the Astros is that Verlander will make his season debut Friday night when they open a series at Washington and Valdez should return soon after him.
“Framber and Justin have been a great part of our success in the last few years,” second baseman Jose Altuve said. “So, it’s always good to have those two guys back helping the team. We trust them and I think it’s going to be good.”
Hader signed a five-year, $95 million contract this offseason to give the Astros a shutdown 7-8-9 combination at the back end of their bullpen with Bryan Abreu and Ryan Pressly. But the five-time All-Star is off to a bumpy start.
He allowed four runs in the ninth inning of a 6-1 loss to the Braves on Monday night and has yielded eight earned runs this season after giving up the same number in 56 1/3 innings for San Diego last year.
He was much better Wednesday when he struck out the side in the ninth before the Astros fell to Atlanta in 10 innings for their third straight loss.
Houston’s offense, led by Altuve, Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker, ranks third in the majors with a .268 batting average and is tied for third with 24 homers this season. But the Astros have struggled with runners in scoring position and often failed to get a big hit in close games.
While many of Houston’s hitters have thrived this season, one notable exception is first baseman José Abreu. The 37-year-old, who is in the second year of a three-year, $58.5 million contract, is hitting 0.78 with just one extra-base hit in 16 games, raising questions about why he remains in the lineup every day.
To make matters worse, his error on a routine ground ball in the eighth inning Wednesday helped the Braves tie the game before they won in extra innings.
Espada brushed off criticism of Abreu and said he knows the 2020 AL MVP can break out of his early slump.
“Because (of) history,” Espada said. “The back of his baseball card. He can do it.”
Though things haven’t gone well for the Astros so far, everyone insists there’s no panic in this team which won its second World Series in 2022.
Altuve added that he doesn’t have to say anything to his teammates during this tough time.
“I think they’ve played enough baseball to know how to control themselves and how to come back to the plan we have, which is winning games,” he said.
The clubhouse was quiet and somber Wednesday after the Astros suffered their third series sweep of the season and second at home. While not panicking about the slow start, this team, which has won at least 90 games in each of the last three seasons, is certainly not happy with its record.
“We need to do everything better,” third baseman Alex Bregman said. “I feel like we’re in a lot of games, but we just haven’t found a way to win them. And good teams find a way to win games. So we need to find a way to win games.”