Series finale provides everything but a win
Pitching duel gives way to dramatic rally in 9th to loss in the 11th
The Astros’ ninth-inning comeback followed with an 11-inning loss to the Washington Nationals 5-4 on Thursday night at Minute Maid Park.
After scoring two runs in the ninth, the Astros allowed two in the 11th, which held up.
With the game tied at 3 in the top of the 11th, Wilmer Difo reached first with a bunt single that rookie J.D. Davis, who had entered at third base after Jose Altuve had left the game with neck discomfort in the seventh, took too long to field.
Davis had been positioned for the bunt, but after the first strike, he took a step-and-a-half back.
“That’s what cost it,” Davis said. “I should have stayed in.”
Difo moved to second on a groundout and then to third when reliever Tyler Clipper threw a wild-pitch third strike to Ryan Zimmerman that skipped beneath Brian McCann’s glove to the backstop.
With runners on the corners, Anthony Rendon drove in Difo with a sacrifice fly. Then Matt Wieters plated Zimmerman with a single to the outfield.
Davis got some redemption with his first career home run in the bottom of the 11th, but it was not enough to spark a rally.
The back-and-forth finish over-
shadowed a duel between aces.
The Astros’ Dallas Keuchel and Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg subdued two of baseball’s highest-scoring offenses. Both teams lead their divisions by more than a dozen games.
“It was a good series to see where we’re at,” Keuchel said. “Hopefully, we’ll see each other again in October.”
Keuchel lasted longer but allowed three runs (two earned). Strasburg was unforgiving through six scoreless innings.
The Nationals got four hits off Keuchel, enough to turn the southpaw’s meager missteps into monumental runs.
“He threw the ball extremely well,” McCann said. “Those runs he gave up, he kept the ball off the barrel.”
Keuchel allowed one base runner until the fifth. He led off the inning with walks to Rendon and Weiters. Keuchel induced a weak chopper off the plate, but he let Rendon score when he tried an offbalance spinning throw that dragged Yuli Gurriel off first base for an error. A groundout to second drove in Weiters.
In the seventh, Keuchel again could not get away with one of his few mistakes. The Nationals went up 3-0 when Weiters singled on a hanging changeup and scored from first on a double that Michael Taylor slashed to the wall.
In juxtaposition to they way hitters flailed at Keuchel’s fading finesse pitches, they whiffed at Strasburg’s bullets. He averaged 96 mph with his fastball and recorded five of his seven strikeouts on off-speed pitches. He faced three more batters than the minimum through six innings.
In the sixth, Alex Bregman continued his torrid stretch of late. He lined a low breaking ball to the wall for a two-out double, his 31st of the season.
Then, Nationals manager Dusty Baker and the team trainer visited the mound because Strasburg appeared to be cramping.
Strasburg stayed in and was not sharp to Altuve. His pitches were elevated. He gifted a fastball middlehigh, which Altuve lined out to left field.
Following the at-bat, Altuve left the game with a neck injury. Davis entered at third base, Bregman moved to shortstop and Gonzalez to second.
After the game, Astros manager A.J. Hinch called Altuve “day-to-day.” Altuve said the discomfort began in an earlier in the game but swings in his third-at bat exacerbated the pain. He said he has not experienced neck discomfort like that before and was unsure if it would sideline him.
In the eighth, McCann drove in Carlos Beltran with a single off hardthrowing lefty Sean Doolittle to cut the score 3-1.
Francis Martes and Luke Gregerson gave the Astros the chance to comeback with two scoreless innings.
With a single off Brandon Kintzler to start the ninth, Bregman singled to raise his average to .349 (37for-106) since July 24. After Bregman reached second with one out, Josh Reddick singled him in.
Gurriel then lined a pitch to left field over the head of Howie Kendrick for his 34th double to drive in Reddick with the tying run.
Clippard had not allowed a run since July 27th before giving up two earned in the 11th.
Clippard said the plan was to strike out Zimmerman with a splitter in the dirt, but it took a “weird hop” low to the ground.
“It’s got to be stopped,” McCann said, putting the blame on himself.
hunter.atkins@chron.com twitter.com/hunteratkins35