It’s not an overstatement to say the Astros absolutely cannot afford another starting pitcher to leave a game early. Saturday’s bullpen game didn’t proceed as planned, with Bennett Sousa lasting only 0.2 innings before Cristian Javier got the last out of the first inning. While Javier didn’t implode until later in the game, that was far from an ideal situation for a team with little pitching depth to rely upon.
So, when Ethan Pecko allowed back-to-back home runs to Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto to open his first inning, you could feel the angst building. Bo Bichette then got a single. Joe Espada already had AJ Blubaugh warming up when Pecko had only thrown 11 pitches. Honestly, I began to wonder if this game got off the rails quick enough if we would’ve seen Tatsuya Imai for the first time since August 20. But Pecko did something that not many starters have been able to do for the Astros in recent weeks: he stopped the bleeding.
Following Bichette’s single with no outs, Pecko largely settled down. His sweeper and sinker were effective. He sprinkled in some of his other pitches, but it was predominately his sweeper and sinker that got him the best results. Ten whiffs on 19 swings. While the sinker had an average exit velocity of 99.6 mph, he generated three ground ball outs with it, including one double play. At one point, Pecko retired 12 consecutive Mets hitters. While he would allow a third run in the fifth inning, he escaped further damage with a pair of timely hit ground balls. But it was dicey for a minute, with Luis Torrens up to bat with runners on first and third with not outs. Not to mention that Lindor was due up next with Soto right behind him.
Five innings of three-run ball from Pecko is a win by itself. The bullpen would still need to absorb four innings, but that is a much preferred outcome compared to eight or nine innings. Thankfully, the pitching staff had some run support this time around, with the Astros scoring six runs in various spurts throughout the game. Jeremy Peña got the first run across with a solo leadoff home run.
Peña would also drive in another run with an RBI single in the second, driving in Yainer Díaz. The scoring would largely stop for a while until LaMonte Wade Jr.’s two-run shot in the sixth broke the game open for the Astros. Daulton Varsho would drive in two more runs in the seventh.
Blubaugh, Bryan Abreu, Steven Okert, and Josh Hader held the Mets to an unearned run to close it out.
Both the Astros and Rangers won, so Houston’s lead over Texas remains at two games. But the Mariners lost, which means the lead is now five games. Overall, it was a productive 4-2 road trip for the Astros.
Feature photo from Space Cowboys on X
