Time for some Labor Day baseball at Daikin Park today! Speaking of laboring, the Astros offense definitely has been as of late, am I right? They’ve scored 2, 1, and 0 in order in the first three games of this Angels series. This is made worse when you realize the Angels own the 5th worst ERA in MLB at 4.72.
This continued a troubling trend of offensive futility, including the stat that they have played 70 games where they have scored 3 runs or less, being 21-49 in such games.(per Statmuse) That’s
roughly 51% of their total games played.
There was also the Athletic report from Chandler Rome published yesterday that took a deeper dive into the matter to explain what appears to be a systemic fracture in their plate approaches.
All that to say, the guys couldn’t afford another offensive let down today against former Astro Yusei Kikuchi(6-9, 3.68 ERA, 156 SO) and the Halos. The return of Luis “Rocker of Babies” Garcia to the mound after 2+ years also makes for a significant storyline.
The Astros look to split the series as they prepare for a 3-game series against the Yankees starting tomorrow.
First Pitch: 1:10 CDT
1st Inning:
Luis Garcia started off strong, retiring the side 1-2-3 in the top of the 1st.
Bottom of the 1st:
I really hate to be “that guy”, but after Christian Walker struck out in the bottom of the 1st, the offense was already 0-2 with RISP and 2 LOB.
Bottom of the 2nd:
Ramón Urías whacked his 4th career home run off of Kikuchi, sending one deep to the Crawford Boxes for a 1-0 lead.
Bottom of the 3rd:
Two XBH’s by Jeremy Peña and Jose Altuve made it 2-0 home team.
Top of the 4th:
Zach Neto and Jo Adell both homered to give the Angels the 3-2 lead.
Bottom of the 4th:
A Yainer Diaz double and Ramón Urías RBI single tied the game 3-3. The Diaz XBH gave the Astros their 4th of the day.
Bottom of the 5th:
Two singles by Yordan Alvarez and Carlos Correa broke the tie and made it 4-3 Astros. Man, it feels good to type about some GOOD offensive developments. Up until now, they’ve improved to 3-8 with RISP. Prior to that, they were 0-11 across the last two games.
Quality Start alert:
Shoutout to Luis Garcia. After a long and arduous road back, he returned with a Quality Start. 6 innings of 3-run ball is not too shabby for a guy with 2+ years off from MLB pitching.
Luis ended with a line of: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 2 HR’s, 3 ER, QS
Bottom of the 6th:
Another XBH!(5th today) This time it’s the 2nd double by Peña to score Cam Smith to tack on a run for 5-3. The offense was then 4-10 with RISP and 7 LOB.
Bottom of the 8th:
Singles by Smith and Alvarez pushed the lead to 6-3. This is the largest scoring output for the team since their 9 runs last Saturday(8/23) against the Orioles.
Altuve then essentially iced the game with a 2-run homer(his 24th) to the Crawford Boxes to make it 8-3. This would also be the team’s 6th XBH on the day.
Top of the 9th:
Non-save situations sure are swell aren’t they? Craig Kimbrel got Matthew Lugo to ground out at 1st to end the game and win 8-3.
Luis Garcia gets the much deserved W in his 1st start back. The Astros are now 76-62 for the year with 24 games left.
Final thoughts:
Today’s contest reminded us of what these guys are capable of. The biggest question is: Is this just an offensive blip on the radar? or, is it a recommitment to winning baseball decisions at the plate and on the basepaths?
In a game full of XBH’s, stolen bases, homers, and quality plate appearances, let’s hope they catch fire and carry that into the playoffs.
The Astros begin their 3-gamer against the Yankees and lefty Max Fried(14-5, 3.06 ERA, 154 SO) tomorrow. Fellow southpaw Framber Valdez(12-7, 3.18 ERA, 158 SO) joins him on the mound.
Time for a new win streak?
