Forgive me for stating the painfully obvious, but this was a really bad loss for the Astros. A nine-game homestand that offered an opportunity to create some real separation in the AL West has gone awry. A flawed team has been further exposed, and the immediate future doesn’t look promising.
Frankly, the Astros have a top-heavy roster. That isn’t a shocking development for anyone who closely follows this team. But it is a crucial distinction to make, especially when any of the top players on the roster are less than stellar. Take Hunter Brown, for example.
On the surface, Brown didn’t seemingly have a bad game. He didn’t have a great outing either, but it’s not usually a bad day’s work to limit your opposition to one run over 5.2 innings. However, the stuff under the hood didn’t look all that good. Six whiffs in total, with the A’s only whiffing once against his four-seam compared to 13 swings. While Brown’s velocity is fine, it is clear that something still isn’t right with him. His command, control, whatever has waffled since his return from the IL.
Not to mention that Brown has only one start this season of at least seven innings. For someone viewed as an ace, that’s not good. Of course, it needs to be noted that Joe Espada’s accidental point to right field when visiting Brown on the mound forced an unexpected pitching change. Still, the lack of length in Brown’s starts has been an issue this season.
The real issue in this game wasn’t Brown, though. No, it was the lineup failing to score runs and a bullpen that finally sprung a leak. And Jeremy Peña, for whatever reason, decided to not throw home as the go-ahead run scored.
14 strikeouts, good grief. Bennett Sousa also picked a fine night to implode, allowing three runs in only 0.1 innings.
The Rangers, however, also lost, so the Astros lead in the AL West remains at one game. But the Mariners won, trimming their deficit to just three games. Once you account for the tiebreaker, that deficit is effectively two games. So, yeah, not a good night for the Astros. While this one loss may not sink their season by itself, you can’t argue that this was one of the worst defeats of the season.
Feature photo from Astros on X
Good players in a mismanaged, poorly constructed team.
Hunter’s 66 strikes of 101 pitches was good.