Astros’ rookie GM faces unusual challenges as trade deadline nears.
San Diego bullpen stymies Houston hitters, who total a season-high-tying 13 strikeouts
SAN DIEGO — At their best, the Astros do not strike out. It became a hallmark of their recent offensive success, supplying a lineup that prides itself on dogged plate appearances with pristine plate discipline. Last season, they struck out fewer times than any team in baseball. In 2018, only the Cleveland Indians struck out less than the Astros.
Friday’s lineup looked nothing like the 2019 edition. Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman and Michael Brantley are on the injured list. Yuli Gurriel took a day off. The four men are among Houston’s most disciplined hitters. Gurriel, Brantley and Bregman each had sub-13 percent strikeout rates last season. Alvarez’s pitch selection
is pristine, too.
Without that foursome, the Astros showed vulnerability. They matched a season-high with 13 strikeouts during a 4-3 loss at Petco Park. Nine came with a runner in scoring position, an excruciating way to extinguish so many threats. The setback snapped an eight-game winning streak.
“This club doesn’t strike out like that,” manager Dusty Baker said. “We just have to chalk that up as a bad night, and hopefully it doesn’t come back around for a while.”
The Astros stranded seven baserunners across the first three innings. Padres starter Garrett Richards recorded only six outs in an abysmal display. Somehow, the Astros scored just once while he worked. Richards threw 64 pitches. Only 36 were strikes. He faced 13 Astros and allowed seven to reach. The Astros stranded the bases loaded in both the first and second frames.
Nine Houston hitters took a plate appearance against Richards with a runner in scoring position. Just two recorded hits. Three Astros struck out with the bases loaded. Carlos Correa and cleanup hitter Josh Reddick punched out consecutively in the second, succumbing to Richards’ wildly inconsistent slider.
“It’s very frustrating, especially to not put the ball in play,” Baker said. “We just had an uncharacteristic night.”
Opposite Richards, Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. managed just five innings. His command was imprecise. His trademark curveball did not deliver its usual bite or swing-and-miss potential. Of the 37 curveballs he threw, just two were swung upon and missed.
“I got it in the (strike) zone to start batters,” McCullers said. “Threw some good ones, got a double play on one. Had some swings and misses toward the end on it … It’s just a lot of them with two strikes were kind of hanging up there, or in the (strike) zone when I’m trying to expand it.
“I’ve been doing a lot of midweek work on a lot of my other pitches, so maybe I’ll spend some time on the curveball.”
McCullers induced only five total whiffs during his 97-pitch performance. He struck out just two batters — the same amount he plunked. McCullers created a frightening scene in the fourth, losing a curveball that hit San Diego shortstop Wil Myers in the helmet. McCullers was visibly shaken after the mistake, but Myers managed to stay in the game.
A runner reached in four of McCullers’ five innings. He required 23 pitches to finish the first and 26 to escape the fifth. Manny Machado struck two run-scoring singles against him in both frames. McCullers yielded a long RBI double to shortstop Jake Cronenworth in the fifth — again with two strikes.
“I’ve given up a ton of twostrike hits, and I don’t really know what to attribute it to,” McCullers said. “They’re on a variety of pitches. I just have to make some better pitches with two strikes. It’s a learning curve. It’s a process. Physically, I’m good. I just think sometimes my stuff throughout games and throughout batters is just doing stuff that I’m not accustomed to.”
Cronenworth’s double gave the Astros a three-run deficit. The lineup could not overcome it. Correa and first baseman Taylor Jones struck out three times apiece. Reddick, Abraham Toro and Martin Maldonado each fanned twice. The team totalled eight hits, but stranded 11 baserunners, refusing to wreck a putrid Padres bullpen.
San Diego closer Kirby Yates is on the injured list. So is his replacement, Drew Pomeranz. The remainder of their relievers brought a 6.08 ERA into Friday’s game. Just three major league bullpens were worse. Richards gave his team just two innings, forcing his vulnerable bullpen to cover.
The Astros refused to take advantage. Six San Diego relievers teamed to throw seven innings of one-run ball. Kyle Tucker’s runscoring single in the seventh was Houston’s only major blow.
Myles Straw reached to start the eighth, but catcher Austin Hedges caught him trying to steal second base with Maldonado standing at home plate and leadoff hitter George Springer on deck.
Maldonado responded with a strikeout, fitting for this frustrating evening.
“Boy,” Baker said, “that was a tough one to lose.”