The Astros keep finding ways to stay afloat in the American League race, and on this night it was the bullpen that carried the load again.
Joe Espada didn’t wait long to make the call. With Houston up 2-1 on the Chicago White Sox in the top of the fifth at Daikin Park, Peter Lambert had just walked Colson Montgomery with two outs and nobody on. Enyel De Los Santos came in to clean up the mess, and two pitches later Chase Meidroth rolled a slow 71.9 mph grounder to second to end the inning.
Houston then turned the game in the bottom half. The Astros broke it open with three runs, getting a bases-loaded walk to Christian Walker and a double from Cam Smith to stretch the lead.
The White Sox did scratch out one more shot against the bullpen. De Los Santos ran into trouble with three walks in the sixth, but Bennett Sousa bailed him out and kept Chicago from building any momentum.
Steven Okert and Bryan Abreu handled the last two innings, and the Astros finished off a 4 ⅓-inning relief effort that allowed just two hits and one run. The only blemish came on Colson Montgomery’s solo homer, his 29th of the season, off Sousa to start the seventh.
That kind of night has become a familiar one for Houston. The raw box score doesn’t tell the whole story, but the relievers have been a major reason the Astros are still hanging around. In the second half, Houston’s bullpen leads the league in several important categories, including the lowest rate of inherited runners scoring at 24 IS%, the highest Soft% allowed by relievers at 17.4, plus league-best marks in SwStr at 14.6% and K/BB% at 20.4, according to Baseball Savant.
That work has mattered because the rotation has had to deal with injuries, uneven performances and ongoing questions about both dominance and durability. The offense and defense have done their part too, but the bullpen’s steadiness has been one of the key reasons Houston has stayed in the hunt for the division.
Josh Hader remains the headliner. The left-hander has largely been exactly what Houston paid for, converting 47 of his last 48 chances and looking nearly impossible to square up.
He hasn’t allowed a run in his last 18 outings, striking out 20 while walking three and giving up five hits. Over that stretch, Houston is 15-3.
Overall, he is 21-for-21 in save chances with a 0.74 ERA in 37 appearances.
There’s more than just Hader, though. Bryan King, Bryan Abreu and Steven Okert have all continued to settle in as the second half has unfolded. Abreu’s strikeout rate has climbed to 11.3 K/9, and while his command still needs work, he has yet to surrender a home run to the 87 hitters he’s faced.
Cristian Javier and Tatsuya Imai also fit into the picture. Both have worked in relief since the All-Star break after spending time in the starting mix, and both have sharpened their command in the role. Javier, in particular, has been sharp, not issuing a walk to any of the 41 batters he’s faced while posting an 11.3 K/9 rate.
Ronel Blanco is set to return to the rotation Tuesday against the White Sox, and that move will likely push Sousa back to the bullpen. Houston still needs more length from its starters, but with the relievers throwing strikes and shutting doors, the Astros have at least given themselves a chance to keep surviving down the stretch.
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