Houston Astros' costly loss to Los Angeles Angels symbolizes a season on the brink

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Threaded into a deflating result Friday night were themes of a season pushed now to its absolute brink. That the Houston Astros reached its final weekend still with a mathematical shot at a playoff berth reflects the resilience to withstand some of them and inability to reverse others.

What remains is stark reality. With two games left, margin for error is gone. The Astros must win their final two games against the Angels. They need either the Tigers or Guardians to lose each of their final two games. Otherwise, Houston will miss the postseason for the first time since 2016.

“It’s tough,” manager Joe Espada said after his team’s 4-3 loss to the Angels on Friday. “We’ve been in this spot before, right. I feel like we’re in the corner and we punch our way out of the corner and we get thrown back in that corner. We’ve got to continue to punch back and fight back.”

Friday’s first blow came via a lineup scratch, another injury setback in a season full of them. The Astros, about an hour before first pitch, said center fielder Jake Meyers had been scratched with “soreness” in his right calf, the same muscle where a strain cost him 49 games in the second half.

It thinned further a lineup already missing Jeremy Peña, to an oblique strain, and Yordan Alvarez, to a sprained ankle. In response, the Astros moved Zach Cole, playing in his 13th major-league game, from right field to center and added rookie Cam Smith to the lineup in right.

It marked Smith’s fourth start since Sept. 6. Just one of those came against a right-handed starter. The Angels started right-hander Kyle Hendricks on Friday. On the bench, still, remained Jesús Sánchez, the left-handed hitting outfielder whose absence encapsulated an ineffectual trade deadline.

Houston prioritized offense with deadline deals for Carlos Correa, Sánchez and Ramón Urías. Entering Friday, just three major-league teams had scored fewer runs since Aug. 1. Just five owned a lower OPS. No clearer culprit for the Astros’ second-half decline exists.

“It’s not about trying to relive things or make up for things,” first baseman Christian Walker said. “It’s, what do we have to do today to win?”

ANGELS 4, ASTROS 3

Houston

Avg.

Altuve 2b

.264

Paredes dh

.255

Correa ss

.291

Walker 1b

.236

Diaz c

.255

Cole cf

.250

c-Caratini ph

.261

Trammell lf

.202

Smith rf

.236

d-Sánchez ph

.190

Urías 3b

.227

Dubón lf-cf

.244

Los Angeles

Avg.

Schanuel 1b

.264

Trout dh

.230

Ward lf

.227

Adell rf

.236

Rengifo 3b

.241

O’Hoppe c

.216

Moore 2b

.206

Guzman ss

.200

Teodosio cf

.211

a-Moncada ph

.234

b-Taylor ph-cf

.173

Houston

000

300

000_3

Los Angeles

000

110

11x_4

a- for Teodosio in the 7th. b-singled for Moncada in the 7th. c-flied out for Cole in the 8th. d-struck out for Smith in the 9th.

E_Guzman 2 (2). LOB_Houston 6, Los Angeles 4. 2B_Diaz 2 (25), Cole (2), Moore (5), Guzman (1). HR_Walker (25), off Hendricks; Trout (24), off Alexander; Trout (25), off King. RBIs_Walker (86), Cole (9), Trout 2 (63), Guzman (3), Taylor (10). SB_Urías (1). CS_Rengifo (7).

Runners left in scoring position_Houston 4 (Urías 2, Dubón, Caratini); Los Angeles 2 (Schanuel, Rengifo). RISP_Houston 1 for 9; Los Angeles 2 for 5.

Runners moved up_Walker, Adell. GIDP_Adell.

DP_Houston 1 (Urías, Altuve, Walker).

Houston

ERA

Alexander

2-3

3.66

Okert

2-3

3.01

Murray, H, 2

1-3

0.84

King, L, 5-4, BS, 2-5

2-3

2.78

Abreu

2-3

2.28

Los Angeles

ERA

Hendricks

108

4.76

Silseth

1.64

Fermin

4.46

Burke, W, 7-1

3.36

Jansen, S, 29-30

2.59

Inherited runners-scored_Okert 1-0, Murray 1-0, King 1-1.

Umpires_Home, Jansen Visconti; First, Andy Fletcher; Second, Malachi Moore; Third, Paul Clemons.

T_2:41. A_37,448 (45,517).

Hendricks, who brought a 4.79 ERA to the mound, blanked their lineup for his first three innings. Yainer Diaz doubled to open the second. Hendricks stranded him with strikeouts of Cole, Smith and Urías. Just seven teams entered Friday with a lower average than Houston with men in scoring position.

A flash arrived in the fourth. Walker clubbed a home run. Doubles from Diaz and Cole produced another run. An error on a possible inning-ending grounder left runners on first and third. Cole sprinted home on a double steal to give the Astros a three-run lead in a crucial game.

Jason Alexander inherited it. Perhaps no player better represents Houston’s tumultuous season. Thrust into its rotation by injuries, the 32-year-old journeyman lent a surprise source of stability in the second half. The Astros won 10 of his first 12 starts, a rate that helped keep them afloat.

The stakes Friday shortened his runway. Mike Trout hit a sweeper for a home run in the fourth. Back-to-back doubles that landed just inside the lines in the fifth ended Alexander’s outing. The Astros turned to their bullpen with a 3-2 lead and the Angels’ lineup beginning its third turn.

“We wanted to really get (Alexander) through at least two times through that lineup,” Espada said. “He did. We just couldn’t tack another run.”

Doing so has made a dramatic difference. Houston is 22-60 this season when scoring three or fewer runs. Friday marked the 26th time in 51 games since the trade deadline it has scored three or fewer.

It mustered one hit over Friday’s final five innings, a single by Correa to begin the eighth inning. Its lineup took two at-bats with a runner in scoring position after the fourth. Walker followed Correa’s single with a 106.3 mph liner that hit reliever Brock Burke in the hip area. Burke threw Walker out, then retired Yainer Diaz and pinch-hitter Victor Caratini to strand Correa at second.

“That ball I hit doesn’t bounce off the pitcher, maybe it gets to the outfield, we’ve got first and third … who knows how the inning plays out,” Walker said. “Or not. Maybe if it doesn’t hit the pitcher, it’s a double play. It’s just one of those things. It could have gone either way.”

The silence left a depleted bullpen to try to guard a one-run lead. Houston’s injury issue largely spared its relief corps until later in the season. Closer Josh Hader, Bennett Sousa and Kaleb Ort now reside on its IL, leaving the Astros to piece together the late innings with an unproven group. Thirteen outs remained to procure after Alexander’s exit. Steven Okert and Jayden Murray got six.

Murray issued a one-out walk in the seventh. Cole cut down that runner going first-to-third on a Denzer Guzman single, with Guzman taking second. Houston summoned Bryan King to try to strand him.

King has been one of the Astros’ most reliable relievers. He entered Friday having stranded all 22 runners inherited this season. He toted a 2.67 ERA to the mound. The Angels sent up right-handed Chris Taylor to face him, ignoring King’s reverse splits. Taylor fought a fastball to right field for a game-tying single. King returned for the eighth. Trout hit his third pitch of the inning for a decisive home run.

“He’s been lights-out,” Espada said. “If there’s a guy I want in the game in that spot, it’s Bryan King. He’s been our guy all year.”

An illustrative loss leaves Houston’s playoff chances on life support. Its path forward offers little reprieve. Alvarez will not play this weekend. Peña missed a fifth straight game Friday. The Astros on Saturday will send rookie AJ Blubaugh to the mound for his third major-league start. A scenario exists where they are eliminated before he throws a pitch, if the Tigers and Guardians both win their games.

“We went out there and tried to win the game,” Jose Altuve said Friday night. “They scored one more run than us, big two swings by Trout, and we lost. But we’ve got to come back tomorrow with the same mentality, try to win the game. We’re still there and we can make it happen.”

“Tomorrow’s another day and we’ve got to continue to grind and fight if we really want this,” said Espada. “And I know those guys want it. We’ve just got to keep fighting.”

Houston Astros’ costly loss to Los Angeles Angels symbolizes a season on the brink

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