Even with their stars struggling, Astros make their 8-2 rout over Mariners appear routine.
Even with stars struggling, AL champs muster plenty of firepower
In a time where so much is unnerving, where each morning begins with a manager praying none of his players test positive amid a pandemic, the Astros can offer at least one absolute, one certainty in this uncertain world.
Their team is deep — the type that can survive without its superstars showing up and the type built for this 60-game sprint.
On Friday, in an empty ballpark with absent energy, the bottom of Houston’s lineup totaled half its hits. Two relievers made their major league debuts in relief of an ace.
The 8-2 opening day win against the Mariners appeared routine, and perhaps that is the most encouraging part of all. Nothing is routine about any of this. A virus continues to invade the country and will dictate whether this season can be completed.
The team itself remains mired in the fallout from one of the sport’s worst scandals. Its manager and general manager are gone, replaced by two men still forming relationships in every part of the organization.
“The guys had a lot of energy, a lot of belief and a lot of relief getting back and playing a real game,” new manager Dusty Baker said. “It didn’t look like this was even going to happen a couple months ago. Everybody was kind of on edge. Nobody knew what was going to happen.”
Houston won for the eighth consecutive opening day, a new franchise record. They delivered a sixrun rout without much help from their top three hitters. George Springer, Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve finished 2-for-13 and struck out four times. Carlos Correa went just 1-for-4.
“Somebody’s going to get you on this team,” Baker said. “You just don’t know who is going to get you.”
Offense could be late arriving af
ter a three-week ramp-up without many live at-bats. Baker remained optimistic, though, saying that “as long as you’ve got a couple” of players ready, you can survive struggles at the top of the lineup.
Nine-hole hitter Martin Maldonado reached base thrice. Designated hitter Aledmys Diaz started a fiverun fifth with a single from the eight-hole. And when he departed with a groin injury in the sixth, his replacement — Abraham Toro — tattooed a double.
Maldonado drove him in with a single, more than enough protection for the young pitchers who followed. Lefthander Blake Taylor and energetic righty Enoli Paredes pitched the eighth and ninth innings in their big league debuts. Neither looked unsettled. Just one baserunner reached against them.
Silent for most of the first four innings, the Astros arrived in the fifth, scoring five runs to take control of the game. Michael Brantley belted a three-run shot to right field, as the Astros took advantage of the Mariners’ miserable defense.
Third baseman Kyle Seager threw away a tailor-made double play in the fifth, prolonging the inning and turning the lineup over. Southpaw starter Marco Gonzales exited two batters later, giving way to a beaten-up bullpen. The Astros attacked.
Brantley bombed his three-run homer off reliever Zac Grotz, offering separation in support of Justin Verlander.
Verlander spun six stellar innings. He yielded just three hits, though two left the ballpark.
He entered the game with a plan similar to so many during his previous Astros starts. Shed Long Jr. swung at a first-pitch fastball, putting it all in peril.
Long flew out to right field, but the ambush gave a glimpse of Seattle’s aggression.
“Shoot,” Verlander said, “they swung at the first pitch of the game and didn’t stop swinging from there.”
Verlander needed only six pitches to finish the first and eight more in the second. Four of the first six Mariners put the first pitch in play.
Kyle Lewis’ mammoth solo home run came on the second pitch he saw, an elevated four-seam fastball he clearly anticipated. The baseball bounced off the train tracks atop the leftfield wall 438 feet away.
Austin Nola followed with a first-pitch flyout — again on a fastball. Verlander ended the inning without throwing another fastball.
“You can come up with the best game plan in the world and then abort it three pitches in, which is pretty much what I did,” Verlander said.
Verlander’s second and third trips through the Mariners order included more early-count sliders.
Just one other baserunner reached second — on Verlander’s only other obvious mistake. He fell behind Seager 2-0 in the fourth. Forced to challenge him with a fastball in the strike zone, Verlander left the pitch over the middle. Seager smacked it into the rightfield seats.
Sixty-seven of Verlander’s 73 offerings were either four-seam fastballs or sliders. He coaxed just nine swings and misses, and just one on his four-seam fastball. Still, seven Mariners struck out against him.
Before the game, Baker presumed Verlander could throw at least 75 pitches. Seattle’s approach allowed him to stretch it over six innings, saving the Astros from exposing the murky middle of their bullpen in a close game.