Astros lose series against Rays
Third straight loss related to 0-for-14 showing in series
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Charlie Morton’s heroic effort against a nasty lefthanded ace was squandered by a moment of ineptitude and a prolonging of offensive frustration. It inflicted a foreign feeling upon an Astros club so renowned for its performance on the road.
In four games against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Astros scored seven runs, their fewest in a four-game road series since June 2014. They entered the series averaging a major leaguebest 5.84 runs per road game.
In dropping Sunday’s game 3-2 for their third consecutive defeat, the Astros lost a series for the first time since May 28-30. Fourteen at-bats came with runners in scoring position during this four-game series against the Rays. The Astros did not record a hit.
Evan Gattis crushed two solo home runs to account for all of their scoring Sunday. All seven of their runs in the series arrived via homers — two two-run shots and three solo blasts.
“I think a lot of guys are swinging the bat a lot better than it shows,” Gattis said. “We’ve been facing a different pitcher every inning, but they all have really good stuff. It’s frustrating.”
The Astros mustered five hits Sunday, stymied by Blake Snell before allowing another pristine opportunity to slip away.
The Astros loaded the bases
with one out in the eighth inning, minutes removed from perhaps their ugliest defensive lapse of the season — one that created the 2-1 deficit they tried to overcome.
They sent the American League’s reigning Most Valuable Player to bat. A man with a major league-leading .422 average with runners in scoring position followed.
Neither could reward Morton for the gem he spun. Jose Altuve worked a 10-pitch at-bat against reliever Diego Castillo, fouling four two-strike pitches. Castillo spun a cutter that began in and darted away, into the other batter’s box, for a swinging strikeout to end it.
“That’s what everybody paid to see and what you want, the guy you want up there,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “They had their matchup that they wanted, and he threw a pretty nasty pitch on 3-2.”
Yuli Gurriel grounded to shortstop. His 34-year-old body bounded up the first-base line. Adeiny Hechavarria’s throw arrived before he reached. Gurriel removed his helmet, and the Astros trudged to their dugout.
“First few games, we’re hitting the ball really well and not getting anything to show for it,” Josh Reddick said. “Then you watch across the way, and those guys are flailing everything that gets barely over the infield and drops in front of our outfielders. It’s definitely a frustrating weekend. When you put those two things together and when you can’t score runs, it definitely builds up on you.”
Reddick assumed responsibility for a portion of Sunday’s discontent. His “unacceptable” defensive lapse in the seventh inning allowed the winning run to score right after Morton had departed.
Joey Wendle knocked a twoout single off Morton to put two on. Hinch opted for Chris Devenski to counter Matt Duffy.
Devenski offered a 2-2 changeup. Duffy blooped it to right field. It curled just inside the foul line at Reddick’s feet. Hechavarria — pinch running for Jesus Sucre — scored the tying run from second base.
Reddick grabbed the baseball while Hechavarria rounded third base. Reddick held it and did not throw it into the infield.
“I just kind of blanked when I came up with the ball,” Reddick said. “I didn’t really see how far Wendle was off the base, and I just kind of froze. An unacceptable move. I have to be better than that. There’s no excuse for screwing that up. I have to get the ball in.”
Wendle did not stop running from first base, scoring the goahead run.
Reddick threw the ball up the line to catcher Max Stassi while Wendle was halfway down the third-base line.
“Even if I throw it home early,” Reddick said, “(Duffy) goes to second, and at least it prevents a run, and we’re still out there playing a ballgame right now.”
It was an unsightly conclusion to this battle between Snell, the Rays’ promising young lefthander, and the Astros’ reinvented righthanded journeyman.
Before Snell (11-4) allowed Gattis’ seventh-inning solo home run, neither starter had yielded an extra-base hit. Just two men — one for each team — had touched third base. Eighteen of the 27 outs recorded were strikeouts, fitting for a couple of pitchers who entered the game among the top 15 punchout artists in baseball.
Morton (10-2) fanned 11 across 62⁄3 innings. He allowed five singles, spinning the devastating version of his patented curveball 39 times. It dove in toward the back foot of lefthanded hitters and befuddled the righties who tried to catch up with it. All but three of his 11 strikeouts came on it. He generated eight of his 16 swings and misses on it.
After Alex Bregman poked a single to lead off the game against him, Snell did not allow another man aboard until two were out in the fifth inning. He tossed a four-seam fastball that averaged 95 mph with ample arm-side run, tailing away from the Astros’ righthanded-heavy order. A plus changeup and power breaking ball completed his arsenal.
His 10th and final strikeout came against Jake Marisnick in the eighth inning on a spiked breaking ball. Wilson Ramos could not catch it.
Marisnick motored to first base as the tying run. Tony Kemp dribbled an infield single up the first-base line, adding the potential go-ahead score.
A five-pitch walk to Bregman ended Snell’s scintillating afternoon.
He departed with the bases loaded and Altuve waiting, but the Astros met a fate they knew too well on this particular weekend.
“We made some mental errors; we had some big moments that they executed some pitches,” Hinch said. “One-run games, a couple losses this series that are tough to swallow. We’ll take it to the next city, but this one sucks.”