Are the Astros bad and boring? I mean, this lineup was certainly both for tonight.
Credit, though, to Jared Jones and Carmen Mlodzinski, throwing a combined nine innings of one-run ball. I’m a fan of good pitching, and both threw the ball quite well in this game. But this lineup, once you get past Isaac Paredes, likely doesn’t scare many pitchers. The only positive for this batting order was Paredes hitting his 100th career home run, becoming only the fourth Mexican-born player to accomplish this feat. That’s pretty cool.
The sixth inning essentially decided this game, with Pittsburgh scoring four off of Kai-Wei Teng in the top half of the frame. Loading up on left-handed hitters, the Pirates forced Teng to throw more low and inside to neutralize his away pitches. And, I have to say, it worked, with lefties Brandon Lowe, Bryan Reynolds, and Ryan O’Hearn giving the right-hander fits in that inning. Other than a pair of singles, most of the damage done was against left-handed hitters. Ultimately, those issues set the stage for the Pirates to score those four runs against Teng and Steven Okert.
Note: Credit to the always insightful Clack, who pointed out Brian Bogusevic’s post-game comments about the Pirates’ approach against Teng tonight. Analysis like his is a good reason to join The Launch Angle’s Discord server here.
O’Hearn actually gave Teng problems multiple times, as he was also responsible for the Pirates’ first run of the game in the first inning. Other than the sixth inning, Teng threw the ball fine for the most part. But, as has been the case with the Astros this season, all it takes is one bad inning to derail the entire game for them.
On the bright side, Enyel De Los Santos and Bryan Abreu each threw a scoreless frame, with the latter striking out three. Of course, Abreu’s velocity was still down compared to last season, and his command still wasn’t good. But a clean inning is better than nothing, so I won’t complain too much right now. I’ll still complain about the 28-36 record, though.
Feature photo courtesy of Astros on X
Yep. Jones’ 100 mph was a problem for Astros hitters.
Losing a series where you beat Paul Skenes is an issue.
So we see it, but our manager doesn’t. As an arm chair gm, I want my guys in the nerd cave and Miller to devise a game plan to figure out a game plan to offer different strategies each time through the order. It seems two times through is enough for the hitters to see Teng. There needs to be a more complex way to strategize a way to keep hitters out of the loop each time through. We should have that capability in our nerd cave.