Houston loses in lopsided fashion
Padres unload on Astros early to hand Houston back-to-back losses
Aug 22, 2020, 10:51 pm
Houston loses in lopsided fashion
Astros George Springer
With their eight-game winning streak snapped the night before, the Astros returned to Petco Park on Saturday night looking for a win to even the series and set up a chance to win the series on Sunday. Here is how the middle game against the Padres unfolded:
Final Score: Padres 13, Astros 2.
Record: 15-12, second in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Zach Davies (4-2, 3.03 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Brandon Bielak (3-1, 4.37 ERA).
Jose Altuve stayed hot at the plate in the top of the first, hitting a one-out double to start the hitting for the night. He would advance to third after back-to-back walks after him, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Yuli Gurriel to put the Astros out front 1-0. The Padres responded with a hotter start, getting two solo home runs off of Brandon Bielak in the bottom of the inning to get a 2-1 lead. The Padres got after him again in the bottom of the second inning, getting a leadoff solo home run, then later a three-run home run to extend their lead to 6-1.
After the three-run shot, Bielak would throw a changeup that ran inside and hit Fernando Tatis Jr. on the backside, resulting in warnings to both teams. Both managers would take their time getting explanations, and meanwhile, Dusty Baker would make the call to end Bielak's night early and move to Humberto Castellanos. Bielak's short, final line: 1.1 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 4 HR. Castellanos would not fare any better once he came into the game, allowing a grand slam, San Diego's fifth in six games, to blow the game open at 11-1.
Niño and Wil and Manny and Hoz and Crone.
Carve another face into Mount Crushmore.#FriarFaithful pic.twitter.com/bjadv1Ij2n
— Slam Diego Padres (@Padres) August 23, 2020
Taylor Jones would notch his first major-league home run in the top of the fifth, a solo shot, making it 11-2. Castellanos was able to make it to one out in the fourth before the Astros would move on to their next reliever, Joe Biagini. Biagini was able to get into the seventh inning before the Padres would score again, getting a two-run home run by Trent Grisham, his third of the night, to make it an eleven-run game again at 13-2.
Cy Sneed was Houston's fourth pitcher of the night, coming on for the eighth and striking out the three batters he faced. Houston would obviously not make the miraculous comeback in the top of the ninth, making the 13-2 score final, and securing the series for San Diego.
Up Next: The series finale between the Astros and Padres will get underway at 3:10 PM Central on Sunday. Zack Greinke (1-0, 1.84 ERA) will hope to improve to 2-0 and continue his success in 2020 for Houston, while San Diego's starter is TBD.
The Houston Astros announced on Monday that additional imaging has revealed that Jeremy Peña is dealing with a small fracture in one of his ribs.
Peña left Friday's game after being hit by a pitch in the ribs. The club originally believed they had avoided any fractures or breaks, but new information has informed them otherwise.
Update on Jeremy Peña: pic.twitter.com/jfCsCUKWFx
— Houston Astros (@astros) June 30, 2025
Peña is heading to the 10-day injured list retroactive to June 28. This news comes at an unfortunate time, with Jeremy posting the best regular season numbers of his career. He's currently slashing .322, .378, .489 with an .867 OPS.
Peña will miss the Rockies and Dodgers series at a minimum.
Story on Peña headed to the IL with quotes from Dana Brown.
“This isn’t one of those things where you have to be sidelined the whole time. Once the inflammation goes down, he might feel good enough to swing a bat.” https://t.co/ih2G09Jpcf
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) June 30, 2025
Let's hope the team doesn't rush him back too soon and create an even bigger problem. These quotes above from Dana Brown have me concerned. Playing through injuries can create bad habits, and Jeremy has clearly found his swing this season.