Game 2 took dicey turn with Osuna asked to throw high number of sliders, but closer has Hinch’s backing Shadow of doubt
Before he cost himself a chance at the save, nearly undid one of the most dominant playoff outings for a starting pitcher in Astros history, and almost lost Game 2 of the American League Division Series on Saturday, closer Roberto Osuna questioned more than the game plan the team had laid out for his potential appearance against the Tampa Bay Rays. He questioned himself.
“We were talking about what type of pitcher I am,” Osuna said.
At his best, the righthander can deploy one of four excellent pitches and occasionally show a fifth, his sinking fastball. He is on a team that worships the power of spin rate. He is pitching in an era that believes anyone with a good breaking ball should throw it as often as his fastball. Even by modern tenets, Osuna’s mix of weapons makes him overqualified to be a closer, a role that needs only one fast and one less fast pitch to squelch a lineup’s hope for a comeback.
But Osuna sees himself as more traditional. He wants to work off his 96 mph four-seam fastball. He likes his 91 mph cutter more than his slider.
“I usually throw my fastball a little bit more, then I go to my changeup,” he said. “I don’t believe the slider’s my best pitch.”
That was part of the problem heading into Saturday’s game. The Astros wanted Osuna to prepare to throw Tampa Bay a lot of sliders, to use it like it is his best pitch. He was iffy, but he went along with the plan.
“That’s what really got me upset tonight,” Osuna said.
It worked at first. Gerrit Cole pushed himself to a career-high 118 pitches and a career-making performance with 15 strikeouts — an Astros postseason record — in 72⁄3 innings without allowing a run. He allowed a double and a walk to the final batters he faced. Manager A.J. Hinch would not push Cole any further.
Hinch called in Osuna to end the jam. The closer swiftly did so. Cutter. Slider. Slider. Strikeout.
Osuna looked as dominant as Hinch has described him throughout the season. No matter how many times the closer looked shaky, his manager never wavered from calling him the closer. Osuna’s 2.63 ERA and 38 saves gave plenty for Hinch to fall back on if he ever needed to make the case for Osuna.
But late Saturday night, the bottom of the eighth inning dragged on. Osuna’s adrenaline drained.
The Astros tacked on another run to go up 3-0, which would seem necessary shortly after.
“The sit-down in the eighth got him a little bit,” catcher Martin Maldonado said. “His command was a little bit off.”
Osuna gave up two singles, two walks and a wild pitch in the ninth. It didn’t help that in Osuna’s final matchup, Maldonado could not squeeze either the second pitch — a slider — for a low strike or a foul ball for a third strike. Lefty Brandon Lowe wound up working a bases-loaded walk.
“I was looking for a punchout right there,” Maldonado said.
The Rays were within two runs. Righthander Will Harris had to come in to bail out Osuna and save the day, retiring the last two hitters on a strikeout and a bouncer to first base to preserve the Astros’ 3-1 victory.
“When I went back to the mound in the ninth, I didn’t feel that emotion in the inning,” Osuna said. “I couldn’t get it back. I got tired a little bit. It happens sometimes.”
It happened July 13, the only other time Osuna had to throw 27 pitches. He was gassed and panting after a near loss against the Rangers in Arlington.
More unsettling to Osuna on Saturday was how many times Maldonado signaled for the slider. Osuna wound up throwing 13 of them; he had not thrown more than 10 in a regular-season game this year.
In his last 18 appearances of the regular season, Osuna had a 1.53 ERA and 24 strikeouts. He also used his slider a bit more, up from 17 to 20 percent. He used his slider 48 percent of the time Saturday.
“That’s not the way I pitch,” Osuna said.
He added: “There’s sometimes when you don’t really know what you’re doing out there. That’s what happened to me.”
He felt lost and, following a brief appearance in the clubhouse, disappeared around 12:10 a.m. Ten minutes passed. Twenty. Thirty.
Earlier in the season, Osuna said he would face questions about his worst outings. Then he ducked chances or left the ballpark after blowing games to the A’s in July, the Rays in August and the Brewers in September.
Just when it seemed he might add a vanishing act in October, Osuna exited the trainer’s room and entered the clubhouse Saturday at 12:45 a.m. All of his teammates but Jose Urquidy were gone.
“That’s not me,” Osuna said softly.
He said he knows who he is, but while he clung to an uplifting postgame text from Hinch, there was woundedness in Osuna’s voice. He chuckled awkwardly when trying to explain why — be it with a slider or any other pitch — he could not get the outs he needed.
“Looking back at the ninth, I don’t really know what happened,” Osuna said. “Too many breaking balls.”
Said Hinch: “He did everything he could. I have to credit the Rays for the at-bats they put up in the ninth inning rather than take anything away from Osuna. He made some really good pitches that they laid off. Some where they normally swing, they didn’t.”
Hinch reaffirmed his belief in Osuna.
“Osuna’s our guy,” he said and repeated. “He’ll get the ball when he needs to get the ball and when we expect him to get the last three outs.”
A short time before Osuna reappeared in the clubhouse, Hinch sent him a text.
“He texted me a few minutes ago,” Osuna said. “He was very kind. He always shows me his support. That means a lot to me.”
There comes a point in every closer’s life span when he no longer is defined by his saves, no matter how many he gets. The bullpen door swings open, opening the door for second-guessing. Tremors and a flood of doubt enter the field before the closer can take the first step of his jog to the mound.
Ken Giles went through it in Houston and would spend the biggest outs of the 2017 World Series sitting at the end of the bench with a hoodie shrouding his face. Osuna is teetering on the edge of that cliff right now.
There never has been a more insecure time to be a pitcher in the history of October baseball. Maybe Osuna will get the chance to work out of trouble once, but a manager will not leave him in to clean up a second mess. Rays manager Kevin Cash has drilled a do-or-die mentality into the fabric of his staff. In Games 1 and 2, he lifted his starters — who’d done well — immediately after they gave up home runs. Tyler Glasnow rifled a 98 mph fastball at the top edge of the zone. Blake Snell missed middle-in with one at 96 mph. Both pitches were goners, and so were the men who threw them. Glasnow made it one out into the fifth and Snell the same into the fourth.
The Astros — a 107-win, wellbalanced juggernaut with a strong chance to win the World Series — are not the Rays. But it feels like it all goes to hell quickly with each runner Osuna lets reach base.
Moving forward, it seems improbable that Hinch will ask Osuna to get up and down to come back for a second inning of work, especially if he has Harris or Ryan Pressly available. Before Saturday, Osuna had made three appearances of more than three outs this season; two were scoreless outings, and one was a blown save June 6 against Seattle.
Osuna, who lost some fans permanently because of his domestic violence case in Toronto, seems to be searching for confidence in himself and in public.
To anyone doubting him as the closer, he said: “I don’t know. I go out and try to do my best. I don’t know anyone who’s perfect at what they do. I’m not ... I couldn’t get it done in the ninth. It’s gonna happen. I’m gonna get ready to get back on the mound Monday.”
Hinch, as he has for more than a calendar year, endorsed Osuna, but the manager left open the room to wiggle around his semantics and do whatever it takes to win in the postseason.
“There’s always a consideration for just putting the guys out there against the matchups,” Hinch said. “But I believe in Osuna, and I believe he’s the best matchup most of the time.”