Houston Astros can't hold 3-run lead, pushed to brink of elimination with loss to Los Angeles Angels

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Fate aligned for the Houston Astros on Friday evening. First, the Detroit Tigers lost. Then, the Cleveland Guardians fell. The Astros took a lead against their division’s bottom-dweller, breathing life into their waning playoff hopes.

That they could not capitalize may have encapsulated and punctuated their season. The Astros let a three-run edge slip away in a 4-3 loss to the Angels, their postseason chances fading with it.

“It was a must-win game for us, definitely,” third baseman Carlos Correa said. “That’s how we were approaching it. And we just didn’t get the job done. It’s not over yet. It looks very uphill. But we’ve still got to go tomorrow and keep the same mentality and go out there and win.”

Mathematically, they are still alive. Losses by Cleveland and Detroit on Friday ensured the Astros could not be eliminated. But their defeat put them on the absolute brink of it.

For Houston to claim a postseason berth, it must win its final two games and have either the Guardians or Tigers lose both of their final two. No other path exists for the Astros to reach the playoffs, reflecting their slow, steady descent since early July.

In their past 70 games, their record is 30-40. Only six teams – the Rockies, Twins, Angels, White Sox, Rays and Nationals – entered Friday with more losses than Houston during that stretch, company that no contending team should keep.

“Obviously, very tough,” second baseman Jose Altuve said. “Now we have no other option but come tomorrow, win and win the next day and hope for some type of results.

“We still have a chance, and we’ll push hard and play hard.”

Mike Trout hit two home runs to help sink Houston on Friday. The second, off left-hander Bryan King, broke a tied game in the eighth inning and completed the Angels’ comeback – or the Astros’ collapse.

Jason Alexander and Kyle Hendricks, right-handers more reliant on control than stuff, traded zeroes for three innings. Houston took a 3-0 lead in the fourth, with a Christian Walker home run sparking the inning. Hendricks threw a season-high 108 pitches to finish five innings but allowed no more damage.

The Angels chipped away against Alexander. Trout struck a solo home run in the fourth. Back-to-back doubles in the fifth inning pared the Astros’ lead to one. Alexander handed to their bullpen before the inning ended. Thirteen outs remained to procure. A game of mixing and matching ensued.

Steven Okert notched two outs. Jayden Murray replaced him after a one-out walk in the sixth. Murray stranded that runner and returned to start the seventh. Christian Moore drew a one-out walk. Denzer Guzman dumped a flare into shallow center field.

Zach Cole, the rookie playing in his 13th major-league game, fielded it and unleashed a perfect throw to third. It beat Moore’s head-first dive, momentarily preserving a lead. Guzman advanced to second base on the play. Yoan Moncada came up to pinch-hit for right-handed Bryce Teodosio.

Houston countered with King. The Angels pulled Moncada back and sent up a right-handed hitter, Chris Taylor, despite King’s stark reverse splits. It worked. Taylor blooped a fastball down the right-field line for a game-tying single.

The Astros deployed their top pinch-hit option in the eighth. Correa struck a leadoff single and took second on Walker’s ground out. A groundout from Yainer Diaz did not advance him. Victor Caratini pinch-hit against left-hander Brock Burke and flied out. Trout, then, delivered the dagger.

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

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).

Offense stirs in fourth

Hendricks retired nine of his first 11 batters. He had five strikeouts after two innings, a startling number. The soft-tossing right-hander struck out more in just five of his first 30 starts this season. Diaz led off the second inning with a double. He did not move 90 feet as Cole, Cam Smith and Ramón Urías all struck out chasing changeups.

Walker jarred the game awake in the fourth. He worked an eight-pitch at-bat. Hendricks floated a changeup in the zone. Walker drove it over the center-field wall. Diaz followed with another double. Cole hit a cue shot up the third-base line, with the Angels infield shifting him to pull, that worked for a double to drive in Diaz.

Houston then caught a break. Urías sent a two-out grounder to Guzman. The shortstop’s throw pulled first baseman Nolan Schanuel off the bag. Instead of ending the inning, it left runners on first and third. Creativity ensued. Urías broke for second and stopped. The Angels threw through to second. Cole sprinted home and scored on a headfirst slide, capping a three-run inning.

“They’ve got a lot of good arms in the bullpen,” Walker said of the Angels. “We felt good about getting Hendricks out of the game with a little bit of a lead. We scored a couple off him, he’s been good against us this year, so that was nice. But I mean, you’ve got to respect all the arms.”

The Astros mustered one hit, Correa’s single in the eighth, over the final five frames. They finished 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

On Jason Alexander

Espada stated pregame he would manage this series with extreme urgency: “There’s no tomorrow. So we have to be aggressive, we have to set the tone, you have to control the tempo of the game.” An example arrived in the fifth inning.

Alexander worked his first four innings on 43 pitches. He retired his first eight hitters in order before a Teodosio single. Trout led off the fourth by blasting a first-pitch sweeper over the wall in left-center. Taylor Ward walked. Alexander promptly erased him with a double-play grounder, quelling any momentum. He struck out Luis Rengifo to end the inning.

Okert, the left-hander, warmed as Alexander began the fifth. Five spots away loomed Schanuel, the Angels left-handed leadoff man. The inning reached him. Moore sent a one-out double just inside the right-field line. Guzman pulled a double up the left-field line. Alexander struck out Teodosio. Espada emerged to pull him after just 56 pitches.

“I was getting ahead, throwing a lot of strikes; they were also aggressive so I was getting a lot of first-pitch outs,” Alexander said.

“It’s just kind of unfortunate to be beat down the line like that. Just kind of unlucky.”

Okert spun a full-count slider to induce a flyout from Schanuel and preserve a one-run lead into the sixth.

Alexander proved something of a second-half savior for Houston’s injury-riddled rotation. The 32-year-old journeyman posted a 3.82 ERA in 13 starts for the Astros. Remove his lopsided last outing against Seattle and he compiled a 2.67 ERA in the other dozen starts. Houston won nine straight games started by Alexander prior to that loss to the Mariners.

“Jason came out throwing the ball really well,” Espada said. “We wanted to really get him through at least two times through that lineup. He did. We just couldn’t tack on another run.”

Peña update

Shortstop Jeremy Peña was out of the Astros lineup for a fifth straight game due to a left oblique muscle strain. Peña played catch and did a light fielding warm-up on the field Friday afternoon, and Espada said he took swings indoors. Espada described Peña as “close.”

“He’s still day to day,” Espada said. “But today was a good day.”

Peña said Thursday he still felt discomfort in the oblique muscle on “mild” swings. He injured the muscle while trying to avoid a tag on the basepaths last Saturday.

Meyers scratched

Center fielder Jake Meyers was scratched from Houston’s lineup about an hour before first pitch due to “right calf soreness,” the team said.

Meyers missed 49 games due to a right calf strain earlier this season. He returned from that injury Sept. 6 and played in 15 of Houston’s next 16 games. Meyers was not in the lineup for Thursday’s series finale against the A’s. Espada said before that game that Meyers was “fine.”

Cole moved from right to center field in the lineup Friday, with Smith added in right field. Notably, the Astros started the right-handed Smith against Hendricks and not Jesús Sánchez, the left-handed hitting trade acquisition, who entered the day 5-for-50 in September.

Sánchez pinch-hit in the ninth inning and struck out against Kenley Jansen. The Angels’ closer struck out Sánchez, Urías and Mauricio Dubón – who worked a 10-pitch at-bat in a final gasp, to end the game.

“It sucks. But there’s still a chance, that’s all we need,” Walker said. “We’re motivated as long as there’s an opportunity. Yeah, we made it a little harder. But it is what it is. Can’t spend too much time dwelling on it. It’s time to focus on winning tomorrow.”

Houston Astros can’t hold 3-run lead, pushed to brink of elimination with loss to Los Angeles Angels

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