Bullpen sorely needs help

SEATTLE — With the Astros’ first win in a week within his grasp, Dusty Baker wrestled with another agonizing decision. Managing Zack Greinke can be difficult. He doesn’t show emotion. He thrives on weak contact. One mistake or mislocated pitch can spoil an otherwise stellar outing. Deciding when he’s done enough is complicated. Baker’s mess of a bullpen only compounds it. the eighth than at any point earlier in the game. Giving him the ninth, even against the top of Seattle’s order, seemed sound. Saves, however, are reserved for Ryan Pressly.

“I thought about it, but that’s why Pressly is the closer,” Baker said that night. “That’s why you have a closer. Had we lost that game with the closer still in the dugout, you guys would have killed me. (Greinke) didn’t fight it at all.”

Pressly procured the final three outs on eight pitches and, in the Astros’ 14th game, converted his first save.

Saturday’s was only the fourth save situation of Houston’s 15-game season. Only five teams had fewer entering Monday’s games. Pressly has pitched six times this season. After pitching once in the first five games, Pressly entered Baker’s office in Anaheim and demanded to pitch the next day. He threw two scoreless innings to earn the victory in a 4-2 win over the Angels.

The bridge between the starting pitcher and Pressly is broken. No lead is safe with the suspect group of relievers masquerading as leverage arms. Because of short starts by the rotation, Houston’s already vulnerable bullpen has incurred an unsustainable workload. The results are ghastly.

Across the last nine games, the Astros’ bullpen has a 5.40 ERA in 33 1⁄3 innings. A stretch of 13 consecutive games starts Tuesday against the Colorado Rockies, one of three teams with a worse bullpen ERA in the last nine games.