Possible no-no to oh no
McCullers rolling along before game unravels, allowing Oakland to stop reign atop AL West
The September Astros can turn a compelling game into a calamity. For six innings Monday, the Astros and Mariners delivered a pitching duel fit for a division race, a game befitting of the battle between these two mediocre clubs for a hastily added playoff spot in this shortened season.
Lance McCullers Jr. took the mound in the seventh inning of a scoreless game. Counting his last start against the Texas Rangers, Houston’s offense had not provided the righthander a run in 14 consecutive innings. McCullers still managed stellar results, spinning curveballs and generating silly swings at will.
Paired with this pitiful lineup, one mistake by a starting pitcher is too many. McCullers made two
in the seventh inning, beginning another brutal loss. Houston’s 6-1 setback handed the Oakland A’s the American League West title, ending the Astros’ three-year reign atop the division.
Winning the title was a mere formality for the Athletics. The Astros all but surrendered any hope by losing four of five in Oakland earlier this month. It was part of a 2-9 road trip to start the month, one becoming more miserable by the day. Still, the Astros maintain a magic number of three to clinch a spot in the expanded 16-team playoffs.
Until Carlos Correa scored a run with two outs in the ninth, no Astro touched third base Monday at T-Mobile Park. The team totaled nine hits. Five were singles. The lineup’s most lethal threat, George Springer, watched all of it unfold from the bench because “Statcast data” informed manager Dusty Baker that the slugger was “high risk” for injury.
Seattle exploded for six runs between the seventh and eighth innings. An error by Jose Altuve contributed to four of them.
Mariners starter Marco Gonzales entered the game with a 7.22 ERA in 332⁄3 innings against the Astros. Last season, Houston’s lineup scored 13 earned runs in the 202⁄3 innings Gonzales threw against it. On opening day this year, the Astros tagged him for five hits and three earned runs in 41⁄3 innings.
On Monday, Gonzales flew through eight innings. The Astros stranded seven baserunners and went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position against him. Houston has now scored four or fewer runs in eight straight games.
“He stayed off the middle of the plate tonight,” outfielder Michael Brantley said. “I was looking at my at-bats a couple minutes ago. He worked the corners well. We all know he mixes up his pitches well, and he threw the ball great tonight.”
Houston’s listless lineup has now abandoned McCullers in consecutive starts. He fired seven spectacular innings in a 1-0 loss against the Rangers on Sept. 16 at Minute Maid Park.
McCullers carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning Monday. After a two-out walk to Kyle Lewis in the first, he retired 14 straight Seattle hitters. The Mariners languished against a barrage of breaking balls and sinkers with substantial movement. McCullers struck out seven. Four concluded on the curveball. His 102 pitches were a season high.
Tim Lopes launched a one-out double in the sixth to end a bid for history, but McCullers managed to strand him at second.
The seventh started with a four-pitch walk to Lewis. McCullers will rue the sin for the next four days, but he still made an adequate pitch to erase it. Kyle Seager sent a changeup toward Altuve at second base. The ball was struck hard, but the play was still manageable for the former Gold Glover.
Alrtuve ranged to his right but did not field the ball. Lewis scurried to second, Seager was safe at first. Altuve was not made available to reporters after the game despite numerous requests.
“He’s the consummate team player,” Baker said of Altuve, who did collect two hits Monday to raise his batting average to .222. “Sometimes things like this, miscues or things like this, can really light a spark and light a fire and carry into tomorrow and the next day.”
After Ty France doubled to plate the game’s first run, McCullers steadied himself to strike out Jose Marmolejos and Luis Torrens. McCullers raced to a twostrike count against Evan White and stood a strike away from limiting the damage. To achieve it, McCullers turned to his curveball. It did not break.
White crushed it for a threerun homer just over the left-field fence. McCullers watched it fly, cognizant that one of his few miscues would wind up fatal.
“I’ve got to make a better pitch,” McCullers said.