Power stays off
Conger’s homer the only jolt in 3rd consecutive low-scoring loss
CLEVELAND — Before the Astros lost five of their last six games, there was joy in thinking about the possibility — even probability — the team would head into the All-Star break with as many or more wins as it had in the entirety of the 2013 season, 51. Optimism might be replaced with anxiety now as the Astros’ hitting has nosedived. They’re not even striking out anymore, with a season-low two K’s Thursday — and just four hits to show for the increase in balls in play.
A 3-1 loss to the Indians was the Astros’ third consecutive defeat in the four-game series. The Astros (49-39) scored only three runs in the final three games at Progressive Field while managing just two extra-base hits, both of them homers, including Hank Conger’s in the third inning Thursday.
A lead in the American League West that was as big as seven games was down to 1½ going into Thursday, with the Angels surging and the Astros struggling on a 10-game road trip that continues Friday against the Rays.
“You’re not going to do a ton if you don’t get baserunners, and we didn’t get a ton of guys on the bases,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “Tough series. They handled us. Can’t do anything about it now. Not going to pout about it, but we’re going to want to solve (it).
“We’re going to another tough place
that can pitch a little bit in Tampa. We’ll get to a new city and move on.”
Thursday was the 82nd straight day the Astros were in first place, dating to April 19. The All-Star break starts Monday and will be a heady time for the Astros no matter what, with two of their players going to the game for the first time since 2009.
But the fun will be dampened if the Astros fall into second just before the ceremonial halfway point, having roared to the top of the division so early and unexpectedly.
“It’s not bad,” Conger said of this stretch. “Our pitchers are doing an outstanding job as far as keeping us within a couple runs. As far as us hitters … (we’re) trying to start fresh. I think trying to get out of this rut and start new in Tampa will be fine.
“It’s nothing. Nobody’s really worrying about anything. I think guys are going up there with productive ABs. So we’ll be fine.”
Entering play July 4, the Astros held a five-game win streak and five-game division lead. But they are also 1-4-1 in their last six series. And since an 18-7 start, they are 31-32.
“Arbitrarily, you can go back on a record and make yourself feel any way — if you want to go back 50 games or 40 games or 20 games,” Hinch said before the game. “I don’t really think of it as playing .500 baseball or not. I think of it as playing today’s game and seeing what happens.
“Our guys are battling. I think they come to the field every day prepared to win, and I think our balance has been very good over the course of the entire season, not just an arbitrary number of games we want to look back at. We’ll see. We’ve still got a lot of games left before we can determine exactly what this season has to play out. But I know we’ll be prepared.”
Extra-base hit barrage
The Indians did all their damage Thursday in a
four-batter stretch in the sixth inning. Francisco Lindor hit a leadoff home run ahead of back-to-back doubles from Michael Brantley and Ryan Raburn. Nearly instantly, a 1-0 Astros lead turned into a 2-1 deficit and knocked starter Brett Oberholtzer out of the game.
Thursday was Oberholtzer’s first game back after throwing at the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez in a thoughtless incident that resulted in the pitcher’s demotion on June 27.
Reliever Josh Fields came in and immediately allowed an RBI triple to Carlos Santana for a fourth straight extra-base hit and the third Indians run.
Hinch said before the game that the A-Rod incident, in which Oberholtzer (2-2) was ejected for throwing inside to the slugger one batter after giving up a long home run, was in the past.
“As far as the Yankee situation, it’s a closed door,” Hinch said. “Obviously, he and I talked after that again. Wished him well in his trip to Triple-A. We don’t look backward very often.
“He was fine. He handled it like a pro and did everything that we asked. It was a very simple situation: We needed an extra arm, he obviously had a little bit of a dustup there, and then we moved on to the next series. … Nothing needed to be made more of it.”
Historic achievement
Indians starter Cody Anderson (2-1), a 24-yearold righthander making his fourth big league appearance, went 62/3 innings. He’s the first major leaguer since 1914 to go at least 62/3 while allowing one or no runs in each of his first four career outings.
In the seven days prior to Thursday, the Astros had expanded their zone more than usual, per FanGraphs. On the season, the Astros entered with the 16th-highest swing percentage at balls out of the strike zone at 30.4 percent. In the last week, they were tied for fourth-highest at 34 percent.
“Little bit. The secondary pitches here and a little bit in Boston,” Hinch said of expanding. “We’re really talking about a couple of games. We need to make an adjustment. We definitely need to refine the strike zone a little bit and settle in. Good pitchers make you do that, and these guys toyed with the strike zone just enough to get us in swing mode.”
On the season, the Astros have the majors’ lowest contact rate when swinging at pitches inside the zone.