Houston's season is in serious jeopardy
Another dreadful inning hands Rays a commanding 3-0 ALCS lead over Astros
Oct 13, 2020, 11:40 pm
Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
Jose Altuve after another costly error
Sitting in a 2-0 hole starting the day, the Astros had to get something together to make this ALCS competitive with the Rays and get into the win column. They would flip around and play as the home team on Tuesday night, providing at least a subtle change to help put the previous two games in the rear-view mirror.
Unfortunately, the Astros would suffer the same result in Game 3 as the previous two, with the Rays capitalizing on costly errors to get the win and go up 3-0 in the series:
Final Score: Rays 5, Astros 2.
Series: TB leads 3-0.
Winning Pitcher: Ryan Yarbrough.
Losing Pitcher: Jose Urquidy.
Altuve homers then commits another mammoth error
Altuve gets the @Astros on the board early. pic.twitter.com/q5w9ZjFWWm
— MLB (@MLB) October 14, 2020
For the second time in three games, Jose Altuve started the scoring with a solo home run in the first inning. That provided Jose Urquidy with a lead to work with, which he would hold very well over the first five innings. Urquidy allowed just three hits over the first five innings, keeping the Rays off the board and looking impressive in the process. He allowed a leadoff single in the top of the sixth, then induced what should have been a double-play groundball. It instead would go down as Altuve's third error in the last two games, both extremely costly.
Houston would move to their bullpen to try and get out of the jam, bringing in Enoli Paredes, who had been electric on the mound to this point in the postseason. That changed in this game, as he would load the bases on a single before allowing a two-RBI single to put the Rays ahead 2-1. The damage didn't stop there, as Paredes would hit a batter to load the bases again, then hit the next batter on the very next pitch, making it 3-1. The Astros would try another reliever, Brooks Raley, but he too would be unable to stop Tampa Bay's momentum, allowing a two-RBI double to push the lead to 5-1 before he would put an end to the dreadful inning for Houston.
Tampa Bay takes commanding 3-0 series lead
Michael Brantley would try and shift the momentum back Houston's way in the bottom of the inning, taking the first pitch deep to cut it to a 5-2 lead. Josh James was next out of the Astros' bullpen for the top of the seventh, a quick 1-2-3 frame to keep it a three-run game. Still 5-2 in the top of the eighth, James would get another quick inning, retiring the Rays in order.
Jose Altuve would attempt to start a rally in the bottom of the eighth, reaching base on a leadoff single, followed by a single by Michael Brantley to bring the tying run to the plate. Carlos Correa would win a lengthy at-bat, getting an infield single to load the bases, still with one out. Tampa Bay's defense would come through again, though, with two great plays to strand all three runners. Despite bringing the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, Houston would add no runs, as Tampa Bay would close out the win to go up 3-0 in the ALCS, a deficit that only one MLB team has ever come back from to advance.
Up Next: ALCS Game 4 will be another 7:40 PM Central start on Wednesday. Tampa Bay will have Tyler Glasnow (2-0, 4.05 ERA in the postseason) on the mound while Houston will hope to get a better start from Zack Greinke, who sits 0-0 with a 5.19 ERA after his two starts in the playoffs, exiting both before reaching five innings.
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The phrase most associated with the late former Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders’ owner Al Davis was “Just win baby.” One has to think Al would strongly approve of the Houston Astros. Going to the fifth inning Sunday against the Mariners the Astros were facing a 3-0 deficit and staring at the prospect of being swept out of Seattle and having their American League West division lead slashed to just two games. Now after roaring from behind with 11 unanswered runs to take the series finale in the Emerald City, and then sweeping three games from the Diamondbacks in Phoenix, the Astros stand six games up with 60 games to go. So, if the Astros play just .500 ball the rest of the way (which would have them finish with 90 victories), the Mariners have to play .600 ball to catch them. If somehow the Astros are to maintain their season long win pace to the finish line they’d close with 95 wins, and the race is already over unless someone thinks the M’s are poised to uncork a finishing kick of 41-19 or better. It’s quite a pleasing perch from which the Astros survey the standings. Coupled with the freefalling Detroit Tigers having dropped nine of their last ten games, the Astros amazingly start this homestand sporting the best record in the entire American League. On the homestand they follow four games against the team with the second-worst record in the American League (Athletics) with three versus the team with the second-worst record in the National League (Nationals). I know, I know. There is fear of the Astros playing down to the competition, but that is not the way to look at it. A bad Major League team can beat a good team in a series at any time. If it happens it happens, but it wouldn’t mean it happened only because the Astros didn’t take their opponent seriously. This isn’t the NBA.
Trade deadline looming
Of course, It hasn’t been all good news with Isaac Paredes badly injuring a hamstring Sunday. Paredes could be back in three weeks (doubtful), he could miss the rest of the season. GET WELL SOON JEREMY PENA! Lance McCullers’s latest Injured List stint could be considered addition by subtraction for the Astros’ starting rotation. Whether impacted by his blister issue, Lance was lousy in four of his last five starts. So, one week from the trade deadline, if general manager Dana Brown has the ammo to get one deal done, where does he make the upgrade? The left-handed hitter everyone knows the Astros can use regardless of Yordan Alvarez’s status is a natural priority. With the Astros’ weak farm system it would seem difficult for Brown to put forth the winning offer for the top bats that could be in play. That probably rings even truer now, since if he wasn’t already untouchable, Brice Matthews may have cemented untouchable status by darn near winning the first two games of the Diamondbacks series by himself. Matthews is going to struggle mightily to hit for a good average if he can’t make notable improvement in the contact department, but the power is obvious, as is the athleticism in the field. The 23-year-old Matthews and 22-year-old Cam Smith (though presently mired in a three for 36 slump) are the clear (and right now only) two young shining beacons for the lineup’s future.
You can't have enough pitching
While Brandon Walter has been a revelation, a starting pitcher would make sense unless the decision is to hope Spencer Arrighetti and/or Cristian Javier can contribute meaningfully upon return to the big leagues, likely sometime next month. Going after a reliever or two may make more sense in terms of availability and transaction cost. Overall the Astros’ bullpen has been excellent, but Bryan Abreu is the only trustworthy right-handed option for Joe Espada. Back to Walter. Barely two months ago no way Walter himself would have believed he’d be where he is now. Nine starts since being summoned basically out of desperation, Walter has a 3.35 earned run average, and a stunning 13 to one strikeout-to-walk ratio with his 52 strikeouts against a measly four walks allowed in 53 2/3 innings. Walter has pitched fabulously in seven of his nine starts. He only has two wins, but that’s because in five of the six Walter starts the Astros didn’t win the game they failed to score more than two runs. Walter turns 29 years old in September. His only prior big league experience was 23 innings in relief with a 6.26 ERA for the Red Sox two years ago. The Bosox released him last August, the Astros signed him basically as minor league depth. Look at him (and the Astros) now.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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