Hardly peaking for the playoffs
Houston facesTwins in AL wild-card series
Given the unpredictable nature of 2020, it was only fitting that matters took one last regular-season swerve Sunday afternoon for theAstros, setting uptheMinnesota Twins as their American League wild-card opponent beginning Tuesday at Target Field in Minneapolis.
Oakland’s 6-2 win over the Mariners, combined with the Twins’ 5-3 loss to the Reds in 10 innings, moved the A’s up one spot in the eight-team American League playoff bracket and bumped Minnesota into the third seed to face the sixth-seeded Astros in the best-ofthree series.
Houstonwas lockedintotheNo. 6 seed as the AL West runners-up before its regular-season finale, an 8-4 loss to the Rangers in Arlington that dropped the Astros to 29-31 in this beleaguered, truncated season.
The Astros are the first Major League Baseball team, along with the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League, to qualify for the postseason with a sub-.500 record.
They earned that dubious distinction on merit with a 6-7 stretch drive against what shaped up on paper as the easiest schedule in the league but turned out to be something considerably different.
Included in their final stumble were three consecutive losses to the moribund Rangers, including a Sunday game in which they squandered a 3-1 lead. The teams split their 10-game season series, but the Astros retain the semi-coveted Silver Boot trophy based on run differential.
With their opponent decided, the Astros will depart Dallas-Fort Worth at midday Monday on a trip of considerable uncertainty.
The odds entering Sunday’s MLB shotgun afternoon start favored a playoff opener against the A’s, whom the Astros have played 10 times this season, going 3-7. Instead, they drawthe Twins, whom they have not faced in 2020 because of the divisional-only schedule.
And under any circumstances, the Astros hardly enter the playoffs on a roll, as manager Dusty Baker noted.
“It hasn’t been good,” Baker said of the Astros’ closing stretch. “We’ve got to clean up these mistakes.”
Confidence is high among the Astros veterans, including shortstop Carlos Correa and outfielder Josh Reddick, that lessons learned from four consecutive playoff appearances will offset the all too frequent shortcomings of the regular season.
“We’re not going to feel the pressure of playoff games,” Correa said. “We have played so many games in the playoffs that we’re going to bring intensity and energy and go out and beat any team that it is front of us.
“We’re a confident team, and we know we’re good. ”
With nothing of import at stake
Sunday afternoon, the Astros rested some players and gave others early exits ag Globe Life Field against the Rangers. Every position player played save catcher Martin Maldonado, who was resting an injured knee suffered Friday.
Houston built a 3-1 lead on a first-inning home run by Jose Altuve, a second-inning groundout by Aledmys Diaz, who led off the inning with a walk, and a solo homerin the fourthby CarlosCorrea.
The Rangers, however, took command in the bottom of the fourth on a three-run homer by Rougned Odor against starter Chase De Jong, Odor’s first of two home runs.
Odor’s three-run shot on an 0-2 pitch in the fourth came after base hits by Joey Gallo and Nick Solak. De Jong then loaded the bases before being lifted for Nivaldo Rodriguez, who gave up a two-run single to Leody Taveras in the Rangers’ five-run fourth.
Odor added a solo homer in the fifth off Rodriguez. In the seventh, Taveras singled, stole second and third and scored on an errant
throw to third by Astros catcher Dustin Garneau on the attempted steal.
After replacing De Jong in the fourth, Rodriguez soldiered his way through 83 pitches in four innings to give the rest of the Astros’ bullpen a day off, allowing two runs on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks. Luis Garcia recorded one out in the eighth.
Among the limited bright spots for the Astros was Michael Brantley’s third-inning single to settle his batting average at .300 for the year. Diaz had a solo homer for the Astros in the eighth. Altuve’s 415
foot homer was his second of the series, and Yuli Gurriel launched a base hit at 106.9 mph as he attempts to reverse a recent slump.
However, theAstros also continued their penchant for failing to move along runners, stranding six and going 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
“We hit some balls hard,” Baker said. “We’ve got some positive signs. I hope we can turn it on. We’ll see when we get there.”