With a 13-21 record entering May 3, one can’t be too picky about wins. Clean, messy, it doesn’t matter as long as your side scores more runs than the other. For the Astros, there is no such thing as a “bad” win in this economy.
But if messy is kind of your thing, then today’s game against the Red Sox was made especially for you.
12 different pitchers combined between Houston and Boston. Multiple substitutions. Roster construction flaws further exposed. Extra innings. It was definitely an interesting game at Fenway Park.
If I am not misreading Baseball-Reference, this series against the Red Sox was the first time this season that the Astros’ pitching staff allowed three runs or fewer in three consecutive games. Game 1, three runs. Game 2, three runs. Game 3, one run. Perhaps the best series for Houston’s staff since that first series against Boston at Daikin Park in late March? And I am noticing a trend here with the Red Sox.
And props to AJ Blubaugh, throwing 3 2/3 crucial innings when Cody Bolton threw 61 in his 2 1/3 innings. Yes, Blubaugh allowed a run (a solo home run to Jarren Duran in the fifth inning), but he did strike out five. The stuff looked better than it has in some earlier outings. However, Bryan Abreu didn’t have his best stuff, although he pitched two scoreless innings. A four-seam fastball from him, averaging around 93.5 mph, only maxing out around 95 mph, isn’t a good sign.
At least the Astros prevailed in extra innings. Cam Smith’s two-out, two-run single broke things open for Houston, breaking a 1-1 tie to make it a 3-1 lead. But the play itself was kind of chaotic, in both a good and bad way.
Oh, well. A win is a win. The Astros are now 14-21. They won a series for the first time since taking two of three against the Guardians from April 20-22. The goal for this team, right now, is to win as many series as they can. For if only tonight, let’s celebrate that this team actually had a positive weekend.
The goal is to not mess up my precious Sundays . . off work, and listening to most of the game . . . Success !
I’m worried that Espada is going to take this outing as an indication that Abreu is better. He’s not. the velo doesn’t lie.
The improvement in Abreu’s pitching during Sunday’s game was that he had good control of his slider, which is still a good pitch if it’s in or close to the zone. In prior outings, his sliders were just plain wild and no one had to swing at them. Is that good enough to sustain Abreu in the 9th if his FB is 92 – 95? It’s an open question. I would feel more comfortable if he could consistently throw the FB at 95-96. By my observation, Abreu’s FB was at the low end velocity at or above the top of the zone, but it was as high as 97 low in the zone. Maybe he feared he couldn’t control the higher velocity FBs at the top of the zone, which is now lower than previous years.
We have good players in a bad team. Espada doesn’t have managerial genes in his ADN.