Houston falls to Minnesota
Garcia's winning streak ends as Twins even series with Astros
Jun 12, 2021, 9:39 pm
Luis Garcia's winning streak came to an end Saturday night at the hands of the Twins. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images
Luis Garcia's winning streak came to an end Saturday night at the hands of the Twins.
After getting a late rally to power past the Twins in the opener, the Astros hoped to keep that momentum alive going into Saturday's middle game to secure the series win. Instead, the Twins grabbed the momentum, putting up enough runs against Luis Garcia to even the series.
Final Score: Twins 5, Astros 2
Astros' Record: 36-28, second in the AL West
Winning Pitcher: Jose Berrios (7-2)
Losing Pitcher: Luis Garcia (5-4)
Garcia runs into trouble to end his winning streak
After three scoreless innings on both sides, Minnesota would figure out Luis Garcia in the bottom of the fourth. They started the scoring for the evening with a two-out RBI double, then knocked Garcia out of the game in the bottom of the fifth with another RBI double followed by a two-run homer to go in front 4-0. That snapped Garcia's streak of five straight games in which he recorded a win, leaving this one in line for the loss, hoping for his offense to bail him out. His final line: 4.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HR, 84 P.
Astros launch a couple of homers but come up short to even the series
Oppo 🌮 for King Tuck! 👑#VoteTucker 🌟 https://t.co/dFd8aFPwNc pic.twitter.com/55VR6cxFv4
— Houston Astros (@astros) June 13, 2021
Blake Taylor came in from the bullpen as Houston's first reliever, finishing the fifth for Garcia, then returned for a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth, retiring all five batters he faced. Houston cut the lead in half in the top of the seventh, getting back-to-back solo homers by Kyle Tucker and Robel Garcia, making it 4-2 when Brooks Raley took over on the mound in the bottom of the inning.
Minnesota put one run back on the board against him, getting a leadoff double then later an RBI single. Raley would face four batters while getting two outs before being lifted for Nivaldo Rodriguez. Rodriguez issued a four-pitch walk to his first batter, then hit the next with a pitch to load the bases, but Michael Brantley would make a great catch to save some runs to end the inning and strand all three runners.
Rodriguez walked and hit another batter in the bottom of the eighth but had solid defense behind him again to get through a scoreless frame to keep it 5-2. That score would go final, though, as Houston would get turned away at the plate in the top of the ninth, evening the series and setting up a rubber match on Sunday in the finale.
Up Next: The finale of this three-game series between the Astros and Twins, as well as Houston's last game of the road trip, will start at 1:10 PM Central on Sunday. Framber Valdez (2-0, 1.47 ERA) will go up against Michael Pineda (3-3, 3.46 ERA).
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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.