Let's have an honest discussion about the Houston Astros' start to the season
REAL TALK
18 April 2022
Sure, it's early. But the Astros haven't been able to hit out of the gates. I get it. And there's several possible excuses/reasons as to why: They opened the season on a long road trip. They didn't have a full spring training. They haven't had their full Opening Day lineup since...Opening Day. Some of their players are notorious for starting slow.
Whatever the case, there's no arguing this: the Astros' bats have been bad. They slashed .208/.289/.372 to open the year, averaging just 3.4 runs per game. They're hitting .191 with runners in scoring position. Only 6 teams have a lower batting average than Houston right now. And of their 31 total runs thus far, 8 came in one inning against the Angels.
Is it time to panic? No. Not yet. But given this team has made 5 straight ALCS appearances, let's hold them to the standard they hold themselves too. All season! Be sure to check out the video above as Vanessa and Gallant share their thoughts on Houston's slow start to the season with their bats.
José Ramírez homered for a third straight game, Angel Martínez also went deep and the Cleveland Guardians got a 4-2 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday night to complete a three-game sweep.
It’s the first time the Guardians, who entered the series on a 10-game skid, have won three in a row since a four-game winning streak from May 21-24.
Slade Cecconi (4-4) allowed five hits and two runs with a career-best nine strikeouts in 7-plus innings for the win. Paul Sewald pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save.
Martínez homered for a second straight at-bat with his shot to the Crawford Boxes with one out in the first inning. His grand slam with two outs in the 10th inning Tuesday night lifted Cleveland to a 10-6 win.
Four pitches after Martinez’s homer Wednesday, Ramírez also connected off Brandon Walter (1-2) to make it 2-0. Walter settled in after that, retiring the next 17 batters, with seven strikeouts before Bennett Sousa took over to start the seventh.
Ramírez and Carlos Santana hit consecutive singles with no outs in the inning before David Fry walked to load the bases. Johnathan Rodríguez then singled to score two and extend the lead to 4-0.
The Astros had managed just four singles when Taylor Trammell walked with no outs in the eighth and scored on a double by Mauricio Dubón that cut the lead to 4-1. There were two outs in the inning when Jose Altuve’s RBI double made it 4-2.
The AL West-leading Astros went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position to cap this disappointing series which came after they swept the Dodgers in Los Angeles over the weekend.
Key moment
Martínez and Ramírez had back-to-back homers in the first.
Key stat
Ramírez, who dropped out of next week’s All-Star game Wednesday to rehab a nagging Achilles injury, has four homers and seven RBIs this month.
Up next
LHP Logan Allen (5-7, 4.07 ERA) will start for Cleveland in the opener of a four-game series against the Chicago White Sox Thursday night. The Astros are off Thursday and haven’t announced their rotation for their weekend series against the Rangers.
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