Rotation is in need of an arm infusion
Before the large crowd settled in at Minute Maid Park on Thursday, Kevin Newman redirected the cowhide on a hard, straight line at a high rate of speed toward Astros Community Leader partner Gardner Denver’s sign in front of the left-field façade.
And the ballgame was over.
There was plenty of baseball left to be played, but that swing was a warning shot that Brad Peacock, who all but grooved the pitch, didn’t have it on this day.
The way the Astros have played the last couple weeks, they weren’t likely
to overcome a shaky starter. Even against the sub-.500 Pirates.
The Astros certainly didn’t Thursday as they sprayed around nine hits and advanced only one runner to third base in getting shut out for the fifth time this season in a 10-0 defeat.
While his teammates offered no help, Peacock hung around for only three innings, allowing six earned runs, with three homers, in what was his secondworst outing of the season, behind a seven-run disaster at Minnesota in May.
“I just didn’t have it today,” said Peacock, who fell to 6-6 with his fourth loss in his last five decisions. “I didn’t give us a chance.”
The loss wasn’t the worst news
of the day for those who welcomed the indoor setting and 72-degree temperature.
Yordan Alvarez, the powerhitting sensation who turned 22 on Thursday, left the game with “left knee discomfort.”
The way the Pirates were striping the ball to left field, he could have suffered whiplash from having to turn so quickly and so often to see balls flying overhead.
Alvarez didn’t seem too concerned. He expects to be out for just a day or two, but until test results come back, the Astros will be worried.
Manager A.J. Hinch should be concerned that his team is playing sloppy baseball. The Astros’ talent and standards should add up to smarter play, yet a sluggishness has popped up lately.
When their full lineup returns, that will make a difference. Of course, we thought a return home would be the difference when they suffered a rash of road losses.
But after losing two of three to the Pirates, the Astros no longer have the best home record in baseball. This was their first loss of a home series this season.
The return home wasn’t the elixir the Astros hoped it would be. It doesn’t matter where you play if your starting pitcher gets blasted and your offense gets shut down.
Pittsburgh outscored Houston 24-2 in the last two games of the series.
“Baseball has a funny way of reminding you every day of whether you had a good day or a bad day,” Hinch said. “We didn’t pitch well this series. We didn’t play clean.
“I don’t know if that elevates me to more concerned than any other time that we don’t play well, but I don’t like it. We can do better.”
Long term, the Astros’ more intense worry is the starting rotation.
Peacock has been OK at times this season. If the Astros want more than OK, and they do, they will have to go out to get it.
“And we will,” said one team executive.
While Wade Miley has been better than advertised, the Astros need a stronger No. 3 to take the mound after Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole.
Peacock, who was superb as a starter in the 2017 World Series season and a key contributor out of the bullpen a year ago, isn’t that guy. Neither is Collin McHugh, who sports a teamworst ERA of 5.79.
It would be nice to have Charlie Morton eating up some innings and hitters.
Morton gave up five runs (three earned) in 6 1⁄3 innings in a Tampa Bay loss at Minnesota on Wednesday and has suffered a couple losses after an 8-0 start, but his 2.43 ERA would lead Astros starters.
Morton was a bargain at $7 million the previous two seasons. He wasn’t going to play for a discount rate this year, and the Astros didn’t expect him to. The Rays’ $15 million-a-year offer was outside the Astros’ budget but hardly outlandish.
The mistake of letting the beloved Morton walk won’t matter should the Astros play up to their capability in October.
A major move by the July 31 trade deadline would help that pursuit tremendously.