Coming into the game scoring the fewest runs in MLB for September, the Astros nonetheless are 7-8 for the month. Great pitching has kept the Astros afloat, but tonight the Astros added a little extra punch to the mix for a 6-2 victory over the Royals.
Five solo homers and a shutdown performance from out-of-nowhere, surprise rookie Ethan Pecko, helped the Astros cruise to win after not trailing at the end of any inning.
It was a bullpen day for the AStros, which makes the win even sweeter. Today’s opener, Miguel Ullola, is a prospect known for great stuff…And inconsistent command. As the opener in this rubber match, his command issues put the Astros at an automatic disadvantage. He walked the first two Royals batters and hit the third. He was fortunate to get a run-scoring double play before being relieved by Bryan King, who put out the Royals’ fire.
But red-hot Jeremy Pena tied it up immediately. And I do mean immediately. For the second time in this series, Pena took the Royals’ first pitch into the stands. It was Pena’s 20th of the year and third in this series.
The Astros took the lead in the second off Royals starter Seth Lugo on a Daulton Varsho homer, his 12th.
Except for the two homers, Lugo had the Astros pretty much under control until about the third time through the lineup. In the fifth inning, the Astros began to tee off. With one out, LaMonte Wade solo-homered. Two batters later, Yordan Alvarez hit his 40th homer, making the score 4-1. However, after a promising Isaac Paredes single and Jose Altuve double, the Astros’ threat for a really big inning withered on a weak Yainer Diaz flyout.
The Astros added a run in the sixth after two were out. A Pena infield single scored Taylor Trammell, who walked, followed by a Wade double.
While the Astros were accumulating runs, bulk pitcher Ethan Pecko was shutting down the Royals. After taking over for King in the third inning, Pecko held the Royals to three hits and no runs until there were two outs in the eighth. A double and a Carter Jensen single off the glove of first baseman Wade gave the Royals their second run of the game. Bryan Abreu limited the damage with a strikeout of Bobby Witt Jr.
In his last three appearances spanning 15.2 innings, Pecko has allowed three runs on nine hits and three walks. Is this unheralded prospect another Brent Strom miracle kid?
Taylor Trammell added another run in the eighth with yet another Astros solo homer.
Josh Hader shut down the Royals (of course) in the ninth, 1-2-3, in a non-save situation.
The Astros go back up over .500, now at 77-76. They have a tough home series against the Atlanta Braves. Peter Lambert takes the mound for the Stros.
At the time of publication, the Rangers lead the Red Sox. If that continues, the teams will remain tied for the AL West lead, with the Astros holding the tiebreaker.
Feature photo on @astros on X Source File
Editor’s note: The Red Sox come back to beat the Rangers, 4-3
Hell yea brother
Pecko performed really well. The opener/bulk sequence seems to help him.
Wade and Trammel showing power in the batting order was big.
Any contributions on offense from the outfield or 1B are big.
One game back of Guardians and White Sox with tie-breaker advantage over each. One game lead over Texas with tie-breaker over them, too. Missing Sale int he Atlanta series. Nine games left for everyone. White Sox remaining schedule is pretty easy, and Guardians only tough opponent is Boston, which might be taking it easy for the remainder. Astros have Atlanta, Rangers have Toronto. Gotta’ take care of business… the end of this season could go every which way. 🍿
Statistical oddity of note: Boston, Cleveland, and Houston could all make the playoffs with losing records at home.
I take it back… Boston won’t be coasting. Their remaining games are against the Rays, Cubs, and Guardians and they only have a 5-game lead in the wildcard. That would be wild if they fell out of the playoffs.