Blown 4-run leads to loss in season opener
Josh Hader, the marquee addition of the Astros’ offseason, entered from the bullpen to a blaring hip-hop beat to pitch the ninth inning of opening day against the Yankees. It was a scenario the Astros envisioned for weeks, with a dubious twist.
Hader unleashed 13 pitches to strike out the side. But he did so to preserve a one-run deficit rather than a Houston lead. And the Astros could not overcome it in the bottom of the ninth, falling 5-4 to New York in their season opener at Minute Maid Park.
Yankees closer Clay Holmes drew the 9-1-2 spots of Houston’s order in the bottom of the ninth. Mauricio Dubón lined a leadoff single. Jose Altuve popped out, shattering his bat. Yordan Alvarez chopped a single, and Kyle Tucker pulled a line-drive single into right field.
Third-base coach Gary Pettis waved Dubón home. Juan Soto came up throwing. Soto’s throw was up the line. Catcher Jose Trevino turned to tag a diving Dubón. Home plate umpire James Hoye signaled an out. Dubón immediately signaled for the Astros to challenge.
Houston challenged both that Trevino blocked the plate and failed to tag Dubón. Both challenges failed. Holmes induced a groundball from Alex Bregman to end the game.
The loss spoiled the managerial debut of Joe Espada and saw the Astros lineup go cold after the second inning. Houston handed Framber Valdez a 4-0 lead after two innings. The Yankees erased that deficit by the sixth and took a 5-4 lead in the seventh.
Wild one
Valdez, making his third consecutive opening day start, did not complete five innings. Lack of command scuttled an outing in which the lefthander was able to generate groundball contact with his sinker and changeup, usually a recipe for success.
Valdez issued six walks, matching a career high, and allowed five hits. He held New York scoreless until the fifth by executing timely pitches. Valdez induced three double plays in his first four innings. Two of those ended the inning with the bases loaded.
He could not escape the fifth. A leadoff walk to No. 8 hitter Trevino, a single by Oswaldo Cabrera and a walk to leadoff man Gleyber Torres loaded the bases. Soto singled to drive in a run. Valdez struck out sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. But he hit Anthony Rizzo to force in another.
That ended Valdez’s day. He threw just 45 of his 86 pitches for strikes. He struck out five and generated six misses on eight swings against his curveball but threw it just 21% of the time. Valdez failed to complete five innings in just one of 17 starts before the All-Star break last season.
Managerial moves
Valdez’s outing led to a glimpse of Espada’s early bullpen structure. Valdez exited with the bases loaded and two outs. Righthanded Anthony Volpe loomed to hit. Last season, the Astros might have turned to fireman Phil Maton in that situation. Maton departed in free agency, as did righthander Ryne Stanek.
Seth Martinez entered Thursday’s situation. Martinez walked Volpe, who reached base four times in the game, to force in a run but induced a groundout from Alex Verdugo to preserve a 4-3 lead. Espada then summoned Rafael Montero to protect it against the bottom of New York’s lineup in the sixth.
Montero could not. The righthander, who posted a 5.08 ERA last season, hovered a 1-2 slider that No. 9 hitter Cabrera hit into the right-field seats for a game-tying home run.
Without setup man Bryan Abreu due to a two-game suspension, Espada called on former closer Ryan Pressly to work the seventh against the heart of the Yankees’ order. Judge struck a leadoff double and scored on Verdugo’s basesloaded sacrifice fly to give New York its first lead.
Espada also made a notable maneuver in the bottom of the sixth. With the game still tied, Espada pinch-hit Jon Singleton for Jake Meyers against reliever Jonathan Loaisiga with two outs and men on first and third. Over his career, Loaisiga has allowed a .621 OPS to righthanded hitters and a .696 OPS to lefties.
Singleton, who offered the platoon matchup, swung at a first-pitch sinker and tapped it back to Loaisiga to end the inning. Meyers had homered earlier in the game, and the pinchhit decision indicated Espada could be aggressive using his bench in those situations.
Lineup talk
Espada declared pregame that slotting Alvarez and Tucker in the 2-3 spots in his lineup is the plan “every day” as of now, “regardless of who the (opposing) starting pitcher is.” Espada switched Tucker and Bregman, who will man the cleanup spot, late in spring training.
The strategy worked in the first inning. Alvarez lined a one-out single against Nestor Cortes. Tucker drew an eightpitch walk. Both scored on a two-out, bases-loaded single by Chas McCormick. Yainer Diaz then lined a single to cap a three-run inning.
Cortes threw 33 pitches in the first. Meyers greeted him in the second by crushing an inside fastball 415 feet to left field. Cortes settled in, retiring 12 of his final 13 hitters before Yankees manager Aaron Boone went to his bullpen in the sixth inning.
Alvarez and Tucker, the two lefthanded regulars in Houston’s lineup, both fared well against lefthanded pitching last year. Espada said that lessens the need to separate them. Moving Tucker into the third spot could get him more plate appearances. Espada noted Bregman, who has good career numbers with men on base and in scoring position, could see more of those situations hitting behind Alvarez and Tucker.