Fifth setback in a row adds to the misery
A surreal day that began with five players sidelined due to health protocols continued with a dispiriting failed comeback bid Wednesday night as the Astros were swept by the Tigers in a 6-4 loss that completed a three-game series at Minute Maid Park.
The loss was the Astros’ fifth straight, dropping their record to 6-6.
Having battled from behind for most of the night, the Astros loaded the bases in the eighth and ninth innings but scored just one run.
“It really hurts to lose a game like that, especially here at home,” manager Dusty Baker said. “We were playing so well on the road and then came home and just couldn’t get it together. We didn’t have all our guys here, but we
fought hard today.”
Shortly before 3:30 p.m., the Astros announced that they had placed five players — Yordan Alvarez, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Robel García and Martín Maldonado — on the injured list as a result of MLB’s COVID-19 protocols, sparking a scramble to summon replacements from the minor leagues.
Pregame warmups were sparsely attended and strangely situated. While Myles Straw fielded grounders at shortstop with Yuli Gurriel at second base and Michael Brantley at first base, Astros general manager James Click called the club’s alternate training site in Corpus Christi.
Abraham Toro, Taylor Jones, Garrett Stubbs, Alex De Goti and Ronnie Dawson were yanked off the field, told to hastily pack their bags and hoof it to Minute Maid Park. They arrived about an hour before the 6:10 p.m. first pitch.
The Astros entered Wednesday already mired in a four-game losing streak, and the lineup shakeup only exacerbated the feeling of uncertainty around the club’s recent performance. The early innings were of no comfort.
Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr., who gave up two total runs in his first two starts, allowed three in the second inning and fourth innings.
Toro made his first major league start of the year at third base. Straw batted leadoff. Carlos Correa shifted from cleanup man to the six hole. The Astros mustered just eight hits in 35 atHe bats, including a single from Dawson in his major league debut.
Once you got past all the weirdness, the game panned out much like the previous two. The Astros couldn’t get anything going at the plate, and the bullpen struggled mightily against the perplexingly confident Tigers, who outscored the Astros 20-8 in the threegame series that marked Detroit manager A.J. Hinch's return to Minute Maid.
McCullers was pulled with the bases loaded after 32⁄3 innings and 87 pitches.
allowed four hits and three walks, hit two batters and threw one wild pitch while striking out only three. He wound up charged with six runs after his replacement, Joe Smith, surrendered a two-run single to Jeimer Candelario and an RBI hit to Wilson Ramos.
Detroit starter Michael Fulmer, the 2016 American League Rookie of the Year who had Tommy John surgery in 2019, retired the first 10 hitters he faced before Brantley broke up the nohitter with a single. Gurriel followed with a double, but both were left stranded as Kyle Tucker grounded out to end the frame.
In the fifth inning, Fulmer's last, Jason Castro put the Astros on the board when he blasted a two-run homer 447 feet off the center-field shrubbery. Gurriel knocked in another run in the sixth to make it a 6-3 game.
The Astros loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth, but Toro grounded into a double play to continue the club’s dismal trend of leaving runners marooned in scoring position. Although a clutch defensive play by Toro and solid work from a quartet of relief pitchers led by Brandon Bielak limited the damage, the much needed rally never completely materialized.
Hope arrived in the final frame as Dawson and Castro drew back-to-back walks and Straw singled to load the bases with no outs. With backup catcher Stubbs pinch-running for Castro, Aledmys Díaz struck out and Brantley popped out to bring Gurriel to the plate amid rising tension. The Tigers outfielders backed up in anticipation. On a full count, Gurriel drew ball four and triumphantly took his base as Dawson scored to make it 6-4.
But that’s where the rally ended. Tucker struck out looking, destining the Astros to end the homestand with a five-game losing streak.
The Astros have one day off before a three-game series at Seattle. Baker said he doesn’t expect the five players on the injured list to travel.