ASTROS SWING A STELLAR WIN
AL West lead keeps growing as Bailey suffers a Cuban-led revolt
One week ago, the Oakland Athletics traded for starter Homer Bailey, hoping he can be a rock to ballast their rotation for a second consecutive summer surge up the American League West standings and the boost they need to catch the first-place Astros.
In 231 starts against 28 of Major League Baseball’s 30 teams, the 13-year veteran’s 1.46 ERA against the Astros in 551⁄3 innings — garnished with a 4-0 record – was his lowest against any opponent.
But Bailey, who attended La Grange High School 90 miles away and played for the Cincinnati Reds until this season, handled the Astros mostly when they were anchored to the bottom of the National League Central in 2011 and 2012.
On Monday at Minute Maid Park, Bailey faced an armada that scuttled him before he could record an out in the third inning. The Astros launched three home runs, barreled eight hits and scored nine earned runs off him in
the worst start of his career, rolling to an 11-1 win over their closest pursuer in the American League West.
Houston (65-37) increased its division lead over Oakland (57-44) to 7½ games.
Manager A.J. Hinch smirked when mentioning the Astros’ run total, saying, “We’re celebrating Apollo 11.”
To start the second inning, Bailey (8-7) left a splitter high
and over the middle of the plate to Yordan Alvarez. An ear-ringing crack followed.
Bailey did not bother turning to watch Alvarez’s 11th home run. The sound and launch angle off the slugger’s bat told Bailey enough. He kept his eyes on his catcher and asked for a new ball, but the 410-foot blast had shattered Bailey’s focus permanently.
“We didn’t let him breathe,” Hinch said. “He had nowhere to go.”
The Astros bled Bailey for 24 more pitches, three more hits and three more runs in the inning.
Because the Astros had come up one batter short of batting through the order, the third inning looked a lot like the second, only worse for Bailey.
“I threw terrible pitches,” he said.
He stayed clear of the strike zone in his second matchup with Alvarez. Yuli Gurriel capitalized on the walk with a line drive that banged off a left-field sign high above the Crawford Boxes. He set a single-season high for himself with his 19th home run and went 3-for-3 with three RBIs. He also extended his hitting streak to 11 games, during which he is batting .422 with five home runs and 13 RBIs.
Three batters after Gurriel homered, Aledmys Diaz, playing for the first time since he landed on the injured list with a strained hamstring on May 26, hit a threerun homer that ended Bailey’s outing. Diaz returned to the dugout and formed a group hug with Alvarez and Gurriel.
“Three Cubans hit a homer today,” Diaz said. “That’s amazing.”
The Astros were the second team in MLB history to have three Cuban-born players homer in the same game. The Chicago White Sox were the first in 2014.
The nine earned runs are the most Bailey ever has allowed.
Inside the tunnel between the home clubhouse and dugout, Astros starter Gerrit Cole tried to stay warm during the long inning, which was interrupted by the explosion of fireworks above the train tracks.
“I don’t know how many homers we hit, but I was like, ‘What the hell is going on up there?’ ” Cole said.
With Jose Altuve on base, Alvarez doubled in Houston’s 10th run and set a rookie record with his 35th RBI in his first 30 games. Albert Pujols had set the previous record with 34 RBIs in 2001.
With a plush lead and the A’s removing several starters halfway through the blowout, Cole (11-5) breezed through the opposing lineup. He held Oakland to one run on two hits and struck out a dozen hitters in seven innings. It was his 12th double-digit strikeout performance of the season.
With his sixth strikeout, Cole reached 200 strikeouts in 1331⁄3 innings, the second-fastest rate in baseball history. Randy Johnson got to 200 in 1302⁄3 innings in 2001.
“Really cool statistic,” said Cole, whose 205 strikeouts are 24 than major league runner-up Max Scherzer. “Might have a glass of wine about it tonight. But outside of that, we've got at least 13 more starts to go.”