Coming off a 14-1 beat down in last night’s game against the Red Sox, the Astros came into tonight’s game looking to avenge themselves and win the series at Daikin Park riding Hunter Brown’s arm(9-5, 2.54 ERA, 161 SO). The season series against the Sox was already lost as a result of a 4 out of 6 split at minimum (Between the Fenway series and this one), but most importantly, the loss last night brought the ‘Stros into a tie with the Seattle Mariners for first place in the division, with both teams having the exact same record of 67-53 and being tied 5-5 versus each other this year. With the walls gradually closing in on them within the last month or so between injuries and inconsistent play, they are officially at “gut check time”. They can’t continue to depend on the Mariners losing. The rubber has officially met the road, and with 41 games left in the season after tonight, every game from here on out has playoff implications. Facing righty Walker Buehler(7-6, 5.52 ERA, 75 SO) tonight in the season series finale, the Astros hope to respond to the moment by being what they have since the “Golden Era” first began: Inevitable.
The boys didn’t wait 9 innings to score this time around, as Jeremy Peña(client of Scott Boras if you haven’t heard) led off the bottom of the 1st with a long ball to the Crawford Boxes to make it 1-0 ‘Stros. The scoring continued, this time via small ball, as Yainer Diaz scored Jose Altuve with a single to left field after Jose and Christian Walker drew walks against Buehler during the previous at-bats. 2-0.
Unfortunately, Boston responded with a score of their own in the top of the 2nd. After Hunter Brown gave up a leadoff double to Trevor Story, Story was then advanced to 3rd base by way of a double play ball that eliminated both Romy Gonzalez and Masataka Yoshida. Wilyer Abreu then extended the inning by drawing a walk, and Ceddanne Rafaela then scored Story after a single to center field to make it 2-1.
From the bottom of the 2nd through the top of the 6th, Buehler and Brown exchanged relatively uneventful innings, with the only difference being the Red Sox having the baserunner edge 3-1. (This includes a 4-pitch 5th for the Astros, with 2/3 batters swinging on 1st pitch.) There was also the kerfuffle by Alex Cora and the Sox in the 6th, when they took issue with whether or not Hunter declared a difference in his pitching stance with a runner at 3rd…because.…you know, baseball. By the way, it felt like Hunter Brown put on a fielding clinic with all the running to 1st base that he did to secure outs himself.(4 self put outs)
In the bottom of the 6th, Yainer Diaz happened. On a Buehler sweeper that hung over the plate, Yainer scorched one to left center to make it 4-1 Astros. Credit where credit is due, Yainer has improved the quality of his plate appearances as of late. Also, that homer brought him to 56 for his career, placing him at 4th all-time in franchise history for most by an Astros catcher, and 16 away from having the most ever. Who’s number 1? Jason Castro with 71.
Hunter Brown’s night was then finished after a 2-out Connor Wong single in the top of the 7th, giving him a stat line of: 6 hits, 3 walks, 4 K’s, and 1 ER. Bennett Sousa then came in and struck out Roman Anthony on 3 pitches to end the inning. Likewise, Steven Matz replaced Walker Buehler in the bottom of the inning, completing his night with: 4 hits, 4 walks, 3 K’s, 2 HR’s, and 4 ER.
Then, Sousa also completed an impressive 1-2-3 8th where he grounded out Bregman and struck out Duran and Story.
Substitute closer Bryan Abreu came in to attempt to slam the door on the Red Sox in the bottom of the 9th. While he did allow two singles to Yoshida and Gonzalez in the inning, Abreu secured the save and the series when he struck out pinch-hitter Rob Refsnyder on a 3-2 count slider below the zone.
The Astros go to 68-53, while Hunter Brown improves to 10-5 and Walker Buehler drops to 7-7. This makes 3 series wins in a row, including a then red-hot team in the Marlins and back to back “gotta have it’s” against the Yankees and now the Red Sox. The Astros also have a chance to grab a 1.0 game lead in the division if the Mariners fall to the Orioles in their finale game tonight.(They are currently 0-0 going into the 7th at the time of writing)
After the off day tomorrow, the homestand continues with Framber Valdez(11-5, 2.97 ERA, 145 SO) getting the start to begin a new 3-game series against the Orioles. The Astros have lost the last 3 games started by Valdez after winning the previous 13 because…well, baseball again. The O’s have yet to announce a starter. First pitch is at 7:10pm CDT.