A heaping helping of hits
Bats, bullpen secure 1-game lead over A’s
SEATTLE — Tony Kemp awaited Tyler White at the far end of the Astros dugout. Home runs usually end here, in the arms of the 5-7 outfielder who turned his minor league gag into a major league charity cause.
Alex Bregman prefers a stare, a piercing look into whatever camera he encounters upon entering the dugout. Teammates joshed their self-assured third baseman about his post-home run ritual. Wednesday, they wanted to mirror it in the ninth inning.
Kemp unwrapped his arms from White’s midsection. Both men turned their heads to begin a countdown. Eight Astros tilted their heads and glared at the camera, producing a photograph and GIF that will populate social media for however long this 2018 team remains alive.
“The good thing about our team is once someone gets out or gets a hit, they come back to the dugout, and they’re really communicative toward other teammates,” Kemp said. “That’s good. You hit slumps, you hit ruts, and people don’t talk as much. I think
the main thing is our communication is at a high level right now.”
How the group managed such seamless cohesion was a mystery. Kemp was coy about the mechanism they employed. Its end result was the talk of an overjoyed postgame clubhouse where a revived offense and the American League West leaders resided.
The Astros clubbed Seattle 10-7, inching a game ahead of Oakland for sole possession of first place. They struck 17 hits — their most since July 7. Their 10 runs were a godsend in an otherwise anemic month.
Seventeen August games preceding this one produced an average of 4.5 runs. They Astros had scored three or fewer runs in seven of their last nine games.
“It just shows what we do on a daily basis. The preparation and work we put in came through there,” said White, who finished a double shy of the cycle. “This team has the potential to do that on a daily basis, I think, and it worked out today.”
Lost amid the Astros’ rash of injuries was lineup length — the luxury that exists when superstars sit atop a batting order. When that presence departs, chaos can reign. Complementary pieces — players not expected or equipped to buoy an offense — are abruptly asked to do so.
For so much of the last month and a half, while Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and George Springer sat idle, the Astros lived in this reality. Manager A.J. Hinch shuffled the names up and down his lineup in search of continuity.
Seven times, Kemp led off, producing three hits in 27 plate appearances. Josh Reddick bounced between the three-hole and cleaning up. Often, Yuli Gurriel occupied the position Reddick did not.
Correa and Altuve are back, mitigating the issue. They can man the top and extend a lineup that, at its most potent, functions as it did Wednesday.
Nine of the Astros’ 17 hits came from the bottom four hitters in their order. Gurriel had two from the sixth position. Martin Maldonado and Kemp, hitting eighth and ninth, tallied three apiece. Altuve slapped his first two hits since returning from the disabled list.
“We like the days where it doesn’t matter where in the lineup we are,” Hinch said. “The bottom half of our order today put up incredibly good at-bats. We know the guys in the middle of the order are going to be there, and that’s a complete offense.”
Maldonado also finished a hit shy of the cycle — he lacked a triple — as he and White spearheaded an offensive detonation. Maldonado’s fifth-inning solo homer put the Astros up 9-1, staking starter Charlie Morton with a large cushion.
In the sixth, Morton imploded. He threw three balls against Nelson Cruz to begin the frame. Cruz then smashed a 3-1 fastball for a double. Denard Span and Ryon Healey each followed with singles, seeing only three pitches. Healey’s chased in Cruz.
“I wasn’t really mixing very well. I wasn’t executing my sinker in good locations,” Morton said. “The off-speed I did throw was awful.”
Joe Smith warmed in the Astros’ bullpen while Morton languished. Pitching coach Brent Strom visited the mound to buy the sidearmer more time. Three pitches later, Morton yanked a curveball and plunked Ben Gamel.
Hinch could wait no longer. He summoned Smith.
The reliever collected the inning’s first two outs on sacrifice flies that trimmed Seattle’s deficit to four. Leadoff hitter Mitch Haniger arrived with a man aboard and the threat fading.
Smith offered a onestrike sinker. It grooved inside. Haniger cranked the mistake into the left-field seats, pulling the Mariners within two runs. A game once thought to be a boat race now required the Astros’ most trusted relievers.
Ryan Pressly threw a perfect seventh, Hector Rondon navigated his way around two baserunners in the eighth, and Roberto Osuna produced a clean ninth for the first save of his Astros career.
“You can’t hate how you win if you win,” Hinch said. “It was good for us, especially