The Astros had the game in hand, then let it slip, and the loss came at a brutal moment in the AL West race.
Houston blew a 4-0 lead and fell 6-5 to the Mariners in 10 innings at T-Mobile Park, with Josh Hader taking the damage in the extra frame. Seattle loaded the bases and tied the game on a one-out walk to Julio Rodríguez before Josh Naylor ended it with a walk-off single.
The result kept the Astros and Rangers tied at 78-80 with four games left in the regular season. Houston still holds the tiebreaker over Texas, which means the Astros remain in control of their fate as they head into a four-game set against the 95-loss A’s. The Rangers, meanwhile, finish their series with the Mets on Thursday afternoon in Arlington before heading to Minnesota for the final three games of their season.
Houston had to piece together the night on the mound after Cristian Javier exited Tuesday’s game after two innings with a groin strain, leaving the bullpen to cover seven innings. On Wednesday, the Astros leaned on a string of rookie arms to get through the first seven: Ethan Pecko worked 2 2/3 innings, Josh Hendrickson covered two, Logan VanWey threw one-third of an inning and AJ Blubaugh finished two innings.
The offense gave them a fast start. In the third inning, José Altuve drove in a run with a single, Yordan Alvarez added an RBI double and Yainer Diaz followed with a two-run homer to push Houston ahead 4-0.
Seattle answered quickly, getting three runs back in the bottom of the inning off Pecko, including a two-run single by Dominic Cazone. Cazone later tied it in the fifth with an RBI single.
In Other News...
Astros Bullpen Debate Just Put Joe Espada Under A Harsh Spotlight
Joe Espadas bullpen choices have come under a sharper lens lately, and the comparison between Enyel De Los Santos and Nate Pearson shows why. Both right-handers have been asked to bridge important innings for Houston, but the way theyve been deployed has not been the same, and the results have reflected that. Their usage has become part of the story, not just their raw production, because the Astros have been leaning on each arm in different spots and asking different things of them.
De Los Santos and Pearson have each flashed reasons to trust them, with innings, strikeouts, walks and scoreless outings all offering clues about what has worked and what has not. The bigger question is whether the performance gap is really about stuff or command, or whether it comes back to how Espada has chosen to use them. For a bullpen that needs stability, the answer matters, and the way these two have been handled leaves Houston with a decision it still has to sort out. [Read more 🡒]
Verlander Just Reopened A Loaded Debate Astros Fans Never Escaped
Justin Verlander stirred up an old conversation during an appearance on "On Base with Mookie Betts," putting the 2019 Astros back in the center of a debate that never really went away. Asked about the best team he has ever been part of, Verlander pointed to that Houston group and leaned on the kind of talent that defined the roster, naming Jose Altuve, Gerrit Cole, Carlos Correa, George Springer and Yuli Gurriel as the core of a team he viewed as loaded from top to bottom.
The comments are the latest reminder of how much that era still lingers in Houston, where the baseball memory of that club is impossible to separate from the arguments around it. Verlander also said he has not decided whether he would enter the Hall of Fame as a Tiger or an Astro, leaving another familiar topic hanging in the air as his career moves deeper into its legacy stage. [Read more 🡒]
Astros Suddenly Face A Varsho Problem At The Worst Time
Daulton Varshos left wrist has been bothering him for the better part of three months, and the timing is especially awkward for an Astros team already managing other health issues. The problem stems from two cysts, and Varsho has been trying to play through it with the help of cortisone shots while the club waits to see whether rest and treatment can get him back on track.
Varsho is now set to seek a second opinion, with surgery and a recovery timeline of about a month in the conversation. Houston is also dealing with Cristian Javier being sidelined by a Grade 2 groin strain, while Jeremy Pea has had wrist soreness of his own even though he was still available as a pinch-runner. It is a reminder that the Astros margin for error is getting thinner at exactly the wrong time. [Read more 🡒]