Astros fall again in Big Apple
Seventh straight loss features 11 stranded runners, 3 errors and a rare blown lead by Pressly
Terrible trip to New York stretches their skid to seven as they drop a third straight game to Yankees.
NEW YORK — On the seventh day of a wretched week, the leadoff spot changed hands. It didn’t matter. At long last a timely, twoout hit appeared and it, too, did not matter. The Astros took the lead in the seventh inning Saturday night and, of course, it did not matter.
That each day the Astros discover more dreadful ways to waste away games magnifies this terrible stretch of a still-evolving season. Saturday, they saw their starting pitcher carry a no-hitter into the fifth inning. A rookie slugger delivered the sort of clutch swing so absent amid this anemic run.
Yet the Astros committed three errors and stranded 11 baserunners. Their best bullpen arm had his worst outing in 11 months.
Bringing the go-ahead run to home plate with less than two outs in the ninth inning was another fruitless endeavor. Yuli Gurriel bounced out and Tyler White lined out with the bases loaded. The Astros are 7-for-53 with runners in scoring position in their past seven games. All are losses.
The latest, a 7-5 setback at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, was at least laden with signs of life from a frustrated group. The Astros amassed 11 hits and, again, created countless chances to take control. All were wasted, by either New York’s defensive wizardry or Houston’s offensive incompetence.
“You feel a little snakebitten when everything seems to have to be perfect for us to piece it together,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “There’s some frustration building because losing sucks and we’re not putting things together for an entire game to get a win.”
Yordan Alvarez’ three-run homer off Jonathan Holder in the seventh inning sent the dugout into a frenzy. It gave the Astros a 5-4 lead while Ryan Pressly warmed in the bullpen.
“I thought the dugout was really awake for the first time this whole road trip,” said Josh Reddick, who clobbered a game-tying two-run homer of his own in the sixth. “It was definitely good to see our guys come up and pick up the big hits.”
Before Alvarez’ heroics, the Astros held a lead just three times during their past 60 innings. To protect it, Hinch summoned his best reliever. He combusted upon entrance.
Pressly allowed three runs in the seventh, erasing any momentum Alvarez created. Austin Romine rocked a one-out solo homer into right field to tie the game, ambushing a first-pitch fastball to the short-porch in right field.
DJ LeMahieu singled and Aaron Judge reached on a catcher’s interference — the Astros’ third error of an embarrassing defensive display. Giancarlo Stanton scorched a single past Gurriel at third base, bringing the two goahead runs home.
“I felt fine. When things aren’t going your way, they’re not going to go your way,” Pressly said. “Things kind of snowballed on us, and it’s tough when things aren’t going your way.
“I didn’t really help the cause tonight. I made some mistakes and they capitalized on it. This is the one game where you can do everything right and still fail.”
For the first time since his acquisition last July, Pressly allowed more than one run in an outing. LeMahieu and Stanton worked two-ball advantage counts before striking singles, a common problem plaguing the Astros’ staff. For Wade Miley, it was his lone blemish on a brilliant night.
Miley carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning. The potent Yankees, who are on an eight-game winning streak, were abused by an array of changeups and cutters that ran down and in against their righthanded-heavy order. New York swung and missed 14 times while Miley worked. His seven strikeouts were a product of pristine changeup usage.
The first hit against Miley was Gio Urshela’s two-run homer in the fifth, a sinking liner that just sailed over the short porch in right field. It followed a five-pitch walk to Aaron Hicks. Miley walked four in five innings opposite Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka.
In six innings on Saturday, Tanaka scattered eight hits. The Astros managed a baserunner in all but one inning he worked. Five times, they hit while a runner stood in scoring position. Not once did Tanaka allow a hit.
The Astros stranded six runners in Tanaka’s six frames. In both the second and third, two runners reached. Each frame finished with a fielder’s choice forceout at third base. Reddick swatted a game-tying home run in the sixth, securing the only damage against Tanaka.
Miley walked two to start the sixth. After Luke Voit fisted an excuse-me single, the Louisiana lefty was lifted for Will Harris.
“Those are just unlucky situations,” Hinch said. “You put runners on base, you put yourself in jeopardy to have to throw strikes to the big boys in the middle of their lineup.”
Harris was handed the baseball with the bases loaded, no outs and the cleanup hitter of the Yankees’ fierce order staring back toward him. So often, Stanton shifts momentum with one swing, sending mammoth home runs wherever he pleases.
Harris had one task, to keep the game where it was. The righthander has a cutter and curveball combination that create ground balls and funny swings. Stanton offered the former. The ball careened toward Gurriel at third base.
Stanton smoked it at 104.2 mph. Gurriel, playing somewhat out of position given Carlos Correa’s continued absence, had to move to his left for any shot to snare it. If he does, a force out at home is possible. Perhaps even a double play.
“It was hit hard and it was a fieldable ball,” Gurriel said through an interpreter. “But I wasn’t able to field it.”
There was a chance, something the Astros have possessed so many times through these past seven games and, yet, managed to always fritter away.
The baseball clanked off Gurriel’s glove, past Alex Bregman backing him up and onto the outfield grass. Two runs scored, inching the Yankees ahead.
The Astros made a bid for a win but, in the end, it did not matter.