SEATTLE — A line drive found grass and baserunners began to move, a scene missing for so much of this series and season. Scoring runs is an adventure for these Astros, a lineup refusing to string good at-bats together or hit with runners in scoring position. The same offense that led baseball in run production last season can’t seem to scratch more than one or two across per game.
Curing what ails this club won’t arrive in one game or one at-bat. Signs of progress must be cherished. Sunday, in danger of a sweep, one manifested. Martín Maldonado fell behind in a count 0-2, but battled to see six more pitches. He lined the eighth into the left field corner for a ground-rule double, interrupting a rhythm and inspiring hope for a rally unlike any the Astros have been able to muster.
Maldonado’s double chased Mariners starter Marco Gonzales from the game. Reliever Paul Sewald entered in the eighth inning of a tied game. Houston put together three terrific plate appearances against him. Michael Brantley and Alex Bregman worked walks, benefitting from Sewald’s loss of the strike zone.
The two free passes matched Sewald’s total in the 16 innings that preceded this. They allowed Yordan Alvarez to step in with the bases loaded. Houston finished hitless in its 15 previous at-bats with runners in scoring position during this series.
Alvarez punched an 0-1 fastball into left field to finally allow a deep breath in the dugout. Pinch-runner Aledmys Díaz walked home, handing the Astros a lead their bullpen protected.
Houston won 2-1, saving a game in an otherwise depressing series in Seattle.
The team turned a 5-4-3 double play to end the game, bailing out closer Ryan Pressly after he allowed three of the first four men he faced to reach.
The same problems plaguing Houston appeared again on Sunday. The team wasted wonderful scoring opportunities and fell silent against Gonzales. The Astros stranded six baserunners and finished 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. They mustered six hits, but followed what has become their 2022 formula: find enough runs to support a stalwart pitching performance.
Starter Luis Garcia gave the Astros one of his best starts of the season. He silenced a Seattle lineup that spent its last two nights terrorizing Houston pitching. Garcia struck out six and carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning.
Garcia retired the first 13 Mariners he’s faced. Eugenio Suarez worked a one-out walk during the fifth to ruin any hope of a perfect game. Consecutive strikeouts of Adam Frazier and Mike Ford stranded Suarez at first base and brought Garcia closer to history.
Luis Torrens struck his third pitch of the sixth to prevent it. Seattle’s catcher crushed an elevated cutter for a clean single into shallow right field. The Mariners had not hit a ball to the outfield all afternoon.
Taylor Trammell’s sacrifice bunt sent Torrens to second. Garcia secured a gigantic second out when Jesse Winker sent a soft fly ball to left field, but Ty France still loomed. France brought a .342 batting average and a 10-game hitting streak to the ballpark. He is not Seattle’s most powerful hitter, but its most dangerous.
Garcia fell behind him 3-0, a rarity during this otherwise remarkable outing. Forced into a fastball count, Garcia fired a four-seamer at the top of France’s strike zone. He struck it the other way and into right field.
Jose Siri charged the baseball and scooped it. He started on Sunday in place of Kyle Tucker, whom many outside metrics rank as the sport’s best defensive right fielder. Siri is a more natural center fielder, but Baker believed Siri’s strong arm suited him well in right field. Torrens, Seattle’s catcher, rounded third and headed for home. A competent throw could have nabbed him.
Siri uncorked an inaccurate one. It bounced thrice before reaching Martín Maldonado, who had to move up the line in an attempt to secure it. Maldonado couldn’t. Garcia didn’t back up the play, either, allowing the ball to roll toward the backstop. France took an extra base due to the comedy of errors — one charged to Siri but silently shared by the starting pitcher.
Garcia matched Gonzales in an inning-for-inning duel.
Gonzales needed 24 pitches to procure his first nine outs. He threw seven in the second and five during the third. Beginning with Alex Bregman’s first-inning groundout, eight consecutive Houston hitters saw two pitches or fewer. Jeremy Peña pulverized the first pitch of his plate appearance for a solo home run. None of his other teammates found similar success.
The aggression allowed Gonzales easy passage into the eighth inning. Houston saw 13 or fewer pitches in six of the seven frames Gonzales finished. He entered the eighth with just 75, perhaps envisioning a complete game. He struck out Siri before getting ahead of Maldonado 0-2.
Gonzales could not put him away and the Astros’ run-scoring process began.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism