Astros botch sweep of Tampa Bay in 5-4 loss.
Javier’s mistake, errors blow shot in Tampa Bay
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Alex Bregman stared down toward the dirt. He clapped his hands in disgust and pointed at his chest, accepting blame for another blunder on an afternoon full of them. Defense can be the Astros’ hallmark, but days arrive in every season when it becomes a detriment. Last year’s American League Championship Series showcased that on a grand stage.
An Astros-Rays rematch Sunday roused all the awful memories. Astros pitchers hit three Rays and threw two wild pitches. Bregman bobbled the glove-to-hand transfer on a routine ground ball in the seventh inning of a tied game. The misstep allowed Yandy Diaz to get within feet of first base before Bregman secured the baseball. A superhuman throw would not have nabbed him.
“I just need to hold the ball. That’s what it comes down to,” Bregman said. “Or make a clean transfer and make a clean play.”
Bregman fired across the diamond anyway. The throw sailed high and away from first baseman Yuli Gurriel. Austin Meadows motored to third base as the go-ahead run. Manuel Margot scored him with a well-struck single off As
tros reliever Ryne Stanek against the shift.
Two of Tampa Bay’s five runs in its 5-4 win were unearned. Meadows delivered the other three with a mammoth home run to right field off Astros starter Cristian Javier during the fifth. Houston held a threerun lead before Meadows massacred the hanging changeup. More calamity followed.
“We played a good half a game,” manager Dusty Baker said, “and things kind of imploded.”
The collapse left Baker’s club without the sweep it coveted. The Astros have never swept Tampa Bay at Tropicana Field. They’ve won only three series here total, so Friday and Saturday’s success must be savored. Sunday, they handed the baseball to their hottest starting pitcher.
Javier entered on a 17-inning scoreless streak. It climbed to 21 after four scoreless but stressful frames. A Ray reached against him in every inning but the first. Their lefthanded-heavy order did not chase Javier’s stillevolving changeup. His fastball command did him no favors, either. Of the 43 four-seamers he threw, just six were called strikes.
“I didn’t have a lot of control on some of the pitches and didn’t get extended the way I wanted to,” Javier said through an interpreter. “But even without my best stuff, I kept pushing forward and tried to do the best I could.”
The Astros put Javier on a pitch count after he threw a career-high 107 pitches during his last start. He could survive only so long despite his subpar stuff. The Rays’ miserable execution aided him.
Tampa arrived Sunday with three hits in its past 54 at-bats with runners in scoring position. The slump grew to 3-for-59 following four frustrating frames. Brandon Lowe and Kevin Kiermaier started the second with consecutive singles. Neither man advanced another base.
Kiermaier supplied another single with one out in the fourth. Willy Adames bounced into a 6-4-3 double play to prevent any damage. Javier clapped his hands and sauntered from the mound. His scoreless streak stood at 21 innings.
It would not see 22, the consequence of a cardinal sin and one awful changeup. Yoshi Tsutsugo worked a walk to start the fifth, a foreboding sign for what followed. Javier produced two outs on weak fly balls. Leadoff hitter Randy Arozarena arrived. Javier hit him with a misfired fastball in an 0-1 count, breathing life into an inning that had none. Tsutsugo trudged to scoring position, a place so many of his teammates had seen but not departed.
Meadows arrived to alter the narrative. Javier missed with a first-pitch curveball. He returned with a changeup. The pitch hung over home plate. Meadows mashed it 422 feet into the right-field seats, a slumpbusting bomb to revive his lifeless lineup and chase Javier.
“He competed today,” catcher Martín Maldonado said. “He didn’t have his best stuff today. A lot of fastballs down in the strike zone, a hanging changeup for the three-run homer. He battled through it, five innings where he didn’t have his best stuff of the year.”
Javier threw only 81 pitches, leaving Houston’s unreliable bullpen to procure the final 12 outs. Tampa takes an automatic advantage in any bullpen battle. Its army of relievers is enviable, even if many are injured. The Rays deployed veteran starter Rich Hill as a three-inning opener before unleashing five relievers.
The Astros mustered two baserunners against Hill. Neither moved past first. He slung slow curveballs complemented by a four-seam fastball that averaged only 89.1 mph.
All of the Astros’ success arrived against bulk pitcher Michael Wacha. He surrendered a solo home run to Yordan Alvarez in the fourth. Kyle Tucker and Myles Straw struck hits against him to start the fifth. Jose Altuve got Tucker home with a sacrifice fly. Michael Brantley blooped a single to score Straw.
Straw starred beneath a boisterous crowd of family and friends. He makes his offseason home 30 minutes from Tropicana Field. The speedy center fielder finished the day with two hits. Rays manager Kevin Cash opted to intentionally walk Tucker to face Straw with two on in the sixth. Straw sent a single up the middle to make Cash rue the choice.
“It was a good feeling,” Straw said. “Both hits were good timing. I switched something up with my swing a little bit — something with my posture — so seeing the results was nice.”
Straw’s sixth-inning single afforded the Astros a 4-3 lead. Baker entrusted reliever Bryan Abreu to protect it. Kiermaier greeted him with a ground-rule double, bringing Adames to bat. Abreu offered a firstpitch breaking ball. Maldonado could not block it.
The wild pitch allowed Kiermaier to take third. Baker brought his infield in to cut down the potential go-ahead run. Abreu spotted a sinker down and in against the righthandedhitting Adames. He chopped it to Gurriel at first base. Kiermaier broke for home on contact.
“Everything has to be perfect with Kiermaier,” Maldonado said. “One of the fastest guys in the league.”
Gurriel gathered the baseball and fired home. The throw sailed a tad high but still on target. Maldonado did not catch it. The error allowed Tampa’s center fielder to slide across as another unearned run.
“I’ve made that play before,” Maldonado said. “I jumped to it, and the ball came out of my glove. If I come up with it, we probably have a chance.”