ASTROS REPORT
Stellar pitching leads Astros to 3 consecutive series wins
May 3, 2021, 2:32 pm
The Astros (15-13) finished the week with a 5-2 record. Composite image by Jack Brame.
After starting the season with a 7-10 record and getting swept by the Colorado Rockies, the Astros are starting to find their winning ways again.
The Astros started a four game series with the Mariners on Monday, April 26th which saw the return of Jose Altuve after testing positive for COVID-19.
During the stretch that Altuve was out, Houston manager Dusty Baker used a couple different options at the leadoff spot that included Myles Straw, Kyle Tucker and Carlos Correa.
Once Altuve returned to the lineup, he was able to contribute immediately by hitting a single and stealing his first base of the season.
"I was really happy to be back and a little nervous my first at-bat," he said. "But all in all I feel pretty good and I'm happy that we won this game."
Altuve finished the game with three hits and two RBI as the Astros beat the Mariners in the first game of the series 5-2.
Pitcher Jose Urquidy picked up his first win of the season as well.
The second game of the series was a showcase game for Cristian Javier as he threw 7 scoreless innings and gave up only two hits to help the Astros secure a 2-0 victory.
Relief pitchers Brooks Raley and Ryan Pressly both pitched scoreless innings to secure the 2-hit shutout.
Pressly earned saves on back-to-back nights to increase his save total to 3 this season thus far.
The two runs were scored on a Yordan Alvarez sacrifice fly and a Kyle Tucker RBI single.
The final two games of the series saw the aforementioned Alvarez head again to the injured list due to health and safety protocols. The second time in a month in which he was placed on the IL for this reason.
This forced Michael Brantley to take over as the designated hitter and Chas McCormick to start in left field.
Wednesday's game saw Astros' pitcher Zack Greinke leave after four innings as he gave up four runs on four hits. (His shortest outing of the season.)
The Astros were down 3-5 in the bottom of the 8th when Kyle Tucker and Yuli Gurriel got back-to-back singles.
Mariners first basemen Evan White committed an error which scored Kyle Tucker.
Aledmys Diaz singled to score Gurriel and tie the game later in the inning.
Jason Castro walked with the bases loaded to give the Astros a 6-5 lead and Jose Altuve got an insurance run as he hit a sacrifice fly to increase the Astros lead 7-5.
As previously mentioned, Houston closer Ryan Pressly pitched on back-to-back days, so Ryne Stanek came in for his first save opportunity of the year.
He pitched a perfect 9th on 12 pitches to earn his first save of the year.
Thursday's afternoon game was one to be forgotten as the Mariners won the final game of the series 1-0.
Luis Garcia (0-3) gave up only one run, but received his third consecutive loss in three straight starts.
The Astros then headed to the East Coast for their third road trip of the season.
Friday saw the start of a three-game series in St. Petersburg, Florida to set up a 2020 ALCS rematch with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Lance McCullers started the series off with a bang as he pitched seven shutout innings and struck out a personal season-high nine batters.
This is the second consecutive game McCullers has pitched more than five innings, and this start was his longest outing of the young season.
The Astros received a lot of run support as both Carlos Correa and Michael Brantley got four hits each, and Alex Bregman hit a two-run homer to help secure Houston's 9-2 victory.
Dusty Baker earned his 1,906th managerial victory Friday night, thus moving him past Casey Stengel for 12th place on the all-time win list for managers.
Saturday's game saw more of the same from the Astros, shutdown pitching with timely hitting.
Houston got off to a 3-0 lead and never looked back.
After going 0-5 the previous night, Jose Altuve doubled on the first pitch of the game to set the tone for that inning.
Alex Bregman hit an RBI single which scored Altuve, and Gurriel drove in two runs on a single later in the inning, therefore giving the Astros their three runs of the game.
Pitcher Jose Urquidy pitched his best game of the season as he threw seven shutout innings to earn his second win of the year on his 26th birthday.
Brooks Raley and Ryan Pressly closed out the game.
Raley pitched a perfect 8th inning, and Pressly earned his 4th save of the season.
Sunday's final game of the series saw Cristian Javier attempt to earn his fourth win of the season.
He pitched four shutout innings before giving up a three-run homer to Austin Meadows in the 5th which tied the game.
Javier left the game with a no decision, as the Rays went on to score two more runs to earn a 5-4 win over the Astros to avoid getting swept.
Yordan Alvarez hit his third home run of the season along with a double this game to keep his batting average over .300 for the season.
Even though Houston lost Sunday, they have now won three consecutive series in a row over the Angels, Mariners and Rays.
The Astros (15-13) finished the week with a 5-2 record and currently sit in third place in their division behind the Mariners and the Oakland A's.
UP NEXT: The Astros start a three-game series in the Bronx against the New York Yankees to finish off their road trip.
Zack Greinke (2-1) will start the series opening game Tuesday night against Domingo German (2-2) at 6:05 p.m. The Astros are also scheduled to face Gerrit Cole for the first time since he left the team to join the Yankees via free agency on Thursday at 12:05 p.m.
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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, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.