Whenever you find yourself lamenting the Astros defense this season, which at a Def of -4.5 for the season ranks closer to the bottom than the top (#18), remember that it could be worse. It could be this:
This happened in yesterday’s Mets game. But this time it wasn’t the Mets, it was the Royals (who for the season rank closer to the top than the bottom (#9) ). A slow grounder that ought to have been an inning ending 1-3 groundout turned into a 3-run round tripper, thanks to three errors.
Carson Benge was credited with a single on this, which I thought was a little generous, but the swinging bunt was hit to spot where he forced to Royals to make a play. They didn’t. Pitcher Seth Lugo throws it by Jac Caglianone at first. Caglianone tracks it down and throws to third, or least intended to throw to third, but in reality 15 feet to the left of third baseman Nick Loftin. Loftin tracks that ball down and throws in the general direction of home, but also in the general direction of the 1st base side on deck circle, where the throw ended up. Were there more errant throws in the tank? Possibly, but by that point, Benge had already made it all the way aroudn the bases, so we’ll never know.
The X account @baseballisdead_ opined this play might be “the worst defensive sequence in baseball history.”
Well, in honor of the closing game of the Astros and Nationals 3 game series, I would like to submit for re-review: the August 6, 2012 Nationals at Astros game.
This 2012 play still takes the cake.
It’s extra innings. The Royals incompetence came in the first innings. The 2012 Astros waited until you were already 10+ innings invested into the game.
The sheer future star power involved. Benge? Caglianone? Loftin? Not exactly names that excite you when you find them in a pack of baseball cards. This 2012 play had not one but 2 MVPs involved: 2017 AL MVP and 2022 ALCS MVP Jose Altuve, and legendary 2018 World Series MVP Steve Pearce. Hey, who’s that bunting? None other than current Angels manager Kurt Suzuki. Back there, in right field? Why, that’s Brian Bogusevic, the only Astro to ever hit an ultimate grand slam (a walk off grand slam hit while trailing by 3 runs. It’s only been done 33 times in MLB history.)
It wasn’t just bad throws. Anyone can make bad throws. Everyone does make bad throws. And if you play enough games, you’ll eventually see 3 bad throws in a row, just like the Royals did. This 2012 team played like they’d never met each other or had a practice together before. Pitcher Wilton Lopez collides with first baseman Pearce trying to field the ball. Third baseman Matt Downs decides there just aren’t enough people exploding on the field, runs over to join the fun and and ends up doing a comical leap to avoid giving Pearce his second body check in 2 seconds.
But also it was bad throws. At least the Royals kept it to the infield. Pearce throws it over to Altuve who ran over to cover first. Now, a 5’6″ first baseman is not ideal, but just to make it a little more challenging, Altuve decides to fall down as soon as he touches first base, to make himself even shorter. It gets by him and into right field. Suddenly, Bogusevic is trying to get an outfield assist from right field on Suzuki’s bunt roller to the pitcher.
Bo Porter too! That was Bo Porter serving as the Nationals third base coach. Roger Bernadina ran from first to third, Porter gave him the stop sign, but Bernadina said, “You’re kidding right? Have you seen this team? They’re a 1980’s movie high school loser and I’m the most popular girl in school: they can’t take me out.” Also think about this: Bo Porter watched this play live in front of his face and later thought, “Hey, I want to manage these guys.”
The Astros lost 107 games that year. I wonder why.
Spencer Arrighetti vs. Foster Griffin
The Astros have a chance to take the series, which would be their 7th in their last 8, with a win today in the rubber match against the Nationals.
Spencer Arrighetti pitches for the Astros. After a stellar May (0.93 ERA) and a horrid June (9.00 ERA), Astros fans are still waiting to see what kind of month July will be for Arrighetti. So far, it’s been pretty good. His last start on July 3 against Tampa, he went 6 innings, and allowed just 1 earned run, striking out 4 and walking one. He allowed just 2 hits, one of them being a solo homer.
He’ll look to keep that going as he carries a 7-4 record on 14 starts into today’s match. His season WHIP is 1.231, and his strikeout numbers are climbing, now witha 9.1 K/9 along with a 4.4 BB/9.
Foster Griffin, a 30 year old journeyman lefty who spent his last 3 seasons in Japan, starts for the Nationals. Griffin is having an All-Star caliber season, but without All-Star recognition. He is 9-2 on the season in 18 starts with a 2.87 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 100 strikeouts to just 26 walks in 111.1 innings. Those kind of numbers at the break are usually worthy of being an All-Star but he was left off the NL roster, even as a injury replacement.
Griffin doesn’t have overpowering stuff; his 4-seamer averages just 91.5 mph and he uses his cutter as his primary fastball most of the time. He’s been getting strikeouts and limiting walks, but is probably due for some regression. His 4.05 xERA, 4.27 FIP, 3.65 xFIP, and 3.69 SIERA all are higher than his ERA. He’s particularly tough on lefties, but the Astros only have one lefty named Yordan that plays everyday and he destroys lefties.
The Astros lineup should have a favorable matchup today.
Astros @ Nationals Game Information and Gamethread Details
The game will be broadcast at 5:45 p.m. CT on SCHN with radio coverage on KBME 790 AM.
This post will be updated with starting lineup as they are made available.
We hope you will join us and the rest of the Launch Angle community for the game! The turnout has been amazing on the TLA Discord Server for the game threads.
Join us again for today’s game. Just join the Discord server using this link: https://launch-angle.com/discord .
For more detailed instructions, please see the Guide to the Launch Angle.
If you’ve participated in game threads on other Astros sites in the past, you will probably see a lot of familiar names. Chat, lurk, do whatever! (But please say “hi”, so we know you’re not a bot.)
The Texas Rangers allowed a walk off little league HR on a batted ball that went 2 feet in 2025. This one always gets me because it’s such bad defense.