In the lore of Hall of Famer Derek Jeter, it is said that as a lead-off hitter, whenever he came back to the dugout, he said of the opposing pitcher, “he ain’t got nothin.”
He could have been prophesying. It is clear. Right now, the 2026 Astros ain’t got nothin.
No starting pitching, no bullpen, and with Pena, Correa out, and ice-cold Alvarez shooting blanks, they ain’t got no punch neither. Remember the talk of an infield glut and the clamor to trade Isaac Paredes?
However, after a scoreless Dodgers top of the first, the Astros got off to a quick start on Brice Mathews’ leadoff homer against LA starter Tyler Glasnow.
Glasnow would leave the game after the first due to injury.
The lead would not last long, as the Dodgers tied the score in the second off Lance McCullers with the help of a little luck. Kyle Tucker led off with a routine grounder that bounced off first base, putting him on second with no outs. An infield single and a wild pitch plated Tucker.
The wheels fell off for McCullers in the third inning. Three walks, two wild pitches, a Shohei Ohtani double, and an Andy Page three-run homer made the score 6-1 Dodgers.
A fourth-inning walk by Jason Alexander to Ohtani, a stolen base, and a double by Freddy Freeman gave the Dodgers a 7-1 lead. In the fifth inning, another Pages homer extended the lead to 9-1. Next, three singles, culminating in a two-out single by Ohtani, gave the Dodgers a 10-1 lead. In the seventh, the Astros forced Alexander to gut out another inning; the Dodgers mercifully piled on one more run.
After six innings, the McCullers/Alexander combo allowed 11 runs, 13 hits, with five walks. McCullers ended the game with a season 7.41 ERA, and Alexander with a 14.21 ERA. Last year, he pitched 71 innings with a 4.71 ERA. That was good enough for a backup starter last year. If he did that this year, he’d be an ace.
Good news: Hunter Brown and Tatsuya Imai look like they may be returning soon, and not a month too soon. On the other hand, Imai’s rehab performances give little confidence that he will improve upon the current crop of starters.
Back-up catcher Cesar Salazar closed the game for the Stros in the ninth, allowing Pages his third homer of the game, but he retired the other three batters he faced.
Sign him up.
The Astros get to think about this tomorrow before their series Friday against the Reds.
3 walks, 3 WP, and 6 ER in 2.2 innings. And he is scheduled to start in 4 days.
McCullers’ ineffective and short outings are killing us. This is the second consecutive disastrous season.
By the way, Correa suffered a complete tear of a tendon in the left ankle that requires surgery and 6-8 months recovery.