Thumbs up for Astros in series opener
Miley, Marisnick masterful on the mound, in center
Five days after appearing on a Sunday matinee at Fenway Park, Chris Sale and Wade Miley met again Friday night, the first of six games inside Minute Maid Park that will measure the Astros amid their ascension up the American League West.
The two starting southpaws did not embody their wellearned reputations. Sale is a strikeout specialist with a stealthy slider. Miley came to Houston a contact-crazy, cutter connoisseur. Occasionally, he can sprinkle an elevated fourseam fastball, a chase pitch he worked on throughout spring training.
Miley pitches on a one-year contract worth $4.5 million. Twelve starts since, the Louisiana lefty has rewarded the Astros with a 3.32 ERA and consistency the team craves behind Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole.
Miley’s six sparkling innings spurred the Astros to a 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox on
Friday. His performance was the lone mastery in an otherwise grotesque game. Boston committed three errors. The Astros managed just four hits and saw the back end of their bullpen show rare vulnerability. Two of the four runs that crossed against Sale were unearned.
“We win a lot of games, but very rarely do we win when we get outhit,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “We just played a cleaner game than they did.”
Ryan Pressly, who entered with a major-league record 40 straight scoreless appearances, ceded an eighth-inning solo home run to Jackie Bradley Jr. Closer Roberto Osuna yielded a mammoth, two-out blast to Christian Vazquez in the ninth. Osuna’s streak of 18 straight scoreless outings ended, too.
The long balls could only bring Boston closer, a consequence of the dismal defense that betrayed Sale. The Astros encountered no such problems. Two tremendous center-field catches by Jake Marisnick — one in the fifth and one in the ninth — prevented extrabase hits.
“I got to be honest, I know my teammates, I know how good they are and I knew he was going to make it,” said Osuna of Marisnick’s catch, an over-the-shoulder basket haul that robbed Andrew Benintendi of a leadoff double. “That was a tough play and he made it look easy.”
The catch preserved a pristine evening from Miley, who outdueled Sale at his own game.
Across his terrific 10-year career, Sale amassed 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings. He entered this evening with 13.5 this season, including 10 Astros last Sunday. The Astros struck out just five times Friday, the fewest against Sale since April 16.
Miley, meanwhile, has managed only seven punchouts per nine. He thrives on soft contact and superb defense. Not since June 17, 2017 had he struck out eight.
After allowing seven hits and striking out only two against the Red Sox last Sunday, Miley reinvented his game plan. He and catcher Robinson Chirinos relied less on the cutter — though Miley still tossed 44 of them. Interspersing a four-seam fastball was key.
“This is the first time in the last couple years where I’ve felt confident throwing a fastball and expecting a good result or working through it on the plate and getting an out with it,” Miley said. “It’s a step in the right direction.”
Friday, Miley fanned six of the first nine Boston batters he saw. He finished with eight strikeouts in six innings. Four Red Sox reached scoring position against him. One scored.
Miley mixed his pitches perfectly, complementing his cutter with an array of four-seam fastballs, changeups and curveballs. Eight of his 14 swings and misses arrived against these three pitches.
“We just thought after facing them last week, there were a lot of guys swinging at the cutter and looking for it,” Miley said. “We decided to go more four-seamers until they made the adjustment.”
Leadoff hitter Michael Chavis chased an elevated four-seamer to start the game. To strike out the side in the second, Miley finished at-bats with three different offerings. J.D. Martinez swung over a curveball. Steve Pearce whiffed against a changeup. Benintendi watched a cutter.
“He threw a lot more fourseamers than he’s probably going to be given credit,” Hinch said. “The usage was really good. He won virtually every big at-bat. It was good to see him finish six innings. He’s been really good this year where he kind of jumps out of the gate good, runs into issues.”
Until Mookie Betts belted a fourth-inning double that just eluded Marisnick’s outstretched glove, Miley did not yield a baserunner. Martinez grounding into a double play rendered that and an Xander Bogaerts walk moot.
Miley managed to strand two in scoring position in the fifth, aided by an awesome headlong catch from Marisnick in center.
In the sixth, Bogaerts boomed a mislocated cutter into the Crawford Boxes for the lone run on Miley’s line. He steadied to punch out Pearce to end the inning.
“It’s easy for him to then start to avoid the strike zone (after the home run), but he didn’t,” Hinch said. “More than anything tonight, him bouncing back tonight after the homer in the middle of their lineup was critical.”
In the second, the Astros offered Miley a lead he would not relinquish. Aledmys Diaz dribbled a one-out ground ball against a pull-side shift and through the infield’s vacated right side. Sale uncorked a wild pitch that allowed him second base before Josh Reddick stepped in.
Many lefthanded hitters hate an assignment against Sale. Reddick does not. Michael Brantley, who received a prescribed day off on Friday, is 8-for-41 with 13 strikeouts against the skinny Red Sox southpaw. Reddick started in his place, toting a career 7-for-20 showing against Sale, somewhat staggering numbers in this daunting left-on-left matchup.
With two outs, Reddick pulled a grounder toward first base. Sale scurried to cover the bag. Pearce plodded over to corral the baseball and fire a throw. It sailed behind Sale and skirted toward the backstop, where catcher Sandy Leon was backing up the play.
Diaz did not stop running from second base. A fancy figure-four slide allowed him to avoid the catcher’s tag.
Following a Chirinos walk, Reddick singled in the fourth inning against Sale. Only he and Marisnick reached base twice against the Red Sox ace. Marisnick mashed a third-inning solo home run into the Crawford Boxes. In the fourth, he hammered a grounder to Bogaerts.
The shortstop opted to throw home. It sailed wide, allowing Chirinos to score with ease. Marisnick hesitated between first and second base. The baseball flew across the diamond and the nine-hole hitter was in a rundown.
Chavis, a rookie second baseman, did not make a strong throw to Pearce. The first baseman charged toward Chavis and nearly ran into him. Marisnick passed this charade and safely returned to first base.
Boston manager Alex Cora instantly came from the dugout and summoned his entire infield. A manager walking to the mound is often a sure signal of a pitching change. Cora opted instead for a hurried lecture to this imploding infield, one allowing Miley more cushion with which to work.