Astros bully the Rangers again
Jose Siri, Astros unload on Rangers in 15-1 win in Arlington
Sep 13, 2021, 11:03 pm
Jose Siri's tremendous 5 RBI night at the plate was part of a barrage of runs by the Astros against the Rangers Monday night. Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images
Jose Siri's tremendous 5 RBI night at the plate was part of a barrage of runs by the Astros against the Rangers Monday night.
After taking two of three to get a series win over the Angels at home on Sunday, the Astros picked up a four-game series with the Rangers in Arlington to finish the season series on Monday. Houston ran away with it, punishing Texas' pitching along the way to a lopsided win.
Final Score: Astros 15, Rangers 1
Astros' Record: 84-59, first in the AL West
Winning Pitcher: Cristian Javier (4-1)
Losing Pitcher: Spencer Howard (0-4)
Houston blows it open early
The Astros poured it on against the Rangers early in this opener, getting multi-run innings in the first two innings. They went up 3-0 before Texas could get to the plate in the top of the first, putting two on base to set up an RBI ground-rule double by Yuli Gurriel, then later a two-RBI double by Carlos Correa. They extended that to a 7-0 advantage in the top of the second, with a two-RBI double by Jose Altuve and a two-run 401-foot homer by Yordan Alvarez, blowing it open.
Odorizzi exits with injury
Meanwhile, the Astros took a hit on the other side of the ball in the bottom of the second. After a scoreless first, Odorizzi ran to first to make a play for the first out of the second but would injure himself on the play, ultimately coming out as Cristian Javier would quickly enter from the bullpen. Javier did well to eat up some innings, despite allowing a run in the bottom of the third, making it through the fourth to hand it to Houston's next reliever.
HEY SIRI, SHOW ME A ROCKET. 🚀#ForTheH pic.twitter.com/OD6AyJnhMg
— Houston Astros (@astros) September 14, 2021
Meanwhile, Houston kept scoring, taking advantage of a hit batter in the top of the third with a two-run homer by Jose Siri, his first in the majors to make it 9-0 before the Rangers got their run in the bottom half. After Phil Maton came in and tossed a scoreless bottom of the fifth, the Astros tacked on four more runs in the top of the sixth, two on a homer by Alex Bregman, then two more RBI for Siri, who provided a two-out single to give him four RBI on the night and extending the lead to 13-1.
Astros win big in Arlington
Make it 30 for Yordan! pic.twitter.com/D2Io8PXJnz
— MLB (@MLB) September 14, 2021
Maton stayed on the mound and provided a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth, then in the top of the seventh, Yordan Alvarez would launch his 30th homer of the year, this one a 422-foot opposite-field bomb to make it 14-1. Blake Taylor was Houston's next reliever, retiring the Rangers in order in the bottom of the seventh.
Jose Siri struck again in the top of the eighth, getting his fourth hit, second homer, and fifth RBI of the night with a solo shot to extend the lead to fourteen runs. Brooks Raley took over out of the bullpen in the bottom of the inning, erasing a leadoff single to send the game to the final inning. In the bottom of the ninth, Yimi Garcia would end the lengthy, lopsided game as Houston would continue to reduce their magic number.
Up Next: The second of this four-game series will be another 7:05 PM Central start on Tuesday. Zack Greinke (11-5, 3.66 ERA) is slated to return from the COVID IL and make his first start since August 29th for the Astros, while Jordan Lyles (8-11, 5.43 ERA) will be on the mound for the Rangers.
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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.