So you thought Paul Skenes was the only guy to worry about going into Steel City?
The Pirates took the wind out of Ryan Gusto (3-3, 4.78) early with three runs in the first three innings. He eventually surrendered eight hits and two walks while striking out three over 4 1⁄3 innings. Gusto put 53-of-83 offerings in the strike zone.
No other Houston Astros pitcher allowed a baserunner after Steven Okert was called in to finish the fifth inning with a pair of ducks on the pond and only one out. Okert got Adam Frazier to ground into a classic 4-6-3 double play on his first pitch. Not one to waste an outing, Joe Espada kept Okert in to pitch the sixth.
So Okert struck out one over a perfect sixth, Bryan King struck out a pair in a perfect seventh, and Bennett Sousa whiffed one in a perfect eighth.
Unfortunately, the home team did not require a bottom of the ninth inning, as they had what they needed after taking only eight turns. The Astros weren’t completely bereft of baserunners, with a walk, a pair of doubles, and five singles. Jeremy Peña and Yainer Diaz each collected a pair of base hits, with Peña raising his average to an AL-eighth (tie) .312 average. Up on the downside, Christian Walker and Jacob Melton both earned Golden Sombreros, while Isaac Paredes and Victor Caratini struck out twice each.
For Okert’s short show of heroism, he earned the highest WPA of the night for the Astros, at 5.5 percent. Jose Altuve (5.1), Peña (2.7), King (1.3) and Sousa (0.7) were the only other Houston players in the positive column.
Pittsburgh pitching struck out Houston hitters a dozen times in those eight innings. That’s half. Mike Burrows (1-1, 5.27) didn’t inspire much confidence in the hearts or minds of Pittsburgh faithful, not after Paul Skenes took a loss despite pitching a near-masterpiece.
Burrows was a major league veteran of exactly 11 2⁄3 innings over parts of two seasons. He entered tonight’s game as the starter with an 8.35 FIP. Perhaps the Astros made the mistake of taking him too lightly. He walked zero and struck out six over 5 1⁄3 innings, allowing no runs on five hits and getting 42-of-70 over the plate.
Altuve’s 2,293rd hit leaves him 21 behind franchise second-ranked Jeff Bagwell. Meanwhile, Peña’s 3.7 WAR (by STATS) ranks him second in the major leagues. You can take a swing at who’s first.
That leaves us with the dreaded “rubber” match. Same Bat-Time, Same Bat-Channel.