The Houston Astros did everything right for four innings Saturday night at T-Mobile Park. Then they did what this week has come to expect.
Lance McCullers gave them a gem through four, the offense erupted for seven runs on 17 hits, and the Astros took a 7-2 lead into the fifth inning. Then the bullpen unraveled, Jeremy Peña left with right posterior knee tightness, and Bryan Abreu walked three batters in the ninth to set up J.P. Crawford’s walk-off single in an 8-7 loss—Houston’s sixth consecutive defeat.
The early innings were genuinely encouraging. Taylor Trammell, called up Friday to replace the injured Jake Meyers, laced a bases-clearing double in the second to put Houston ahead 3-2. Yordan Alvarez followed with a solo homer in the third—his sixth of the season—and Cam Smith added a two-run single to make it 6-2. Isaac Paredes drove in another run in the fourth to push the lead to 7-2, knocking out Luis Castillo in the process.
McCullers was sharp early, retiring Seattle in order in the third and fourth. The fifth was a different story. A Trammell error in center field opened the door, and Julio Rodríguez made the Astros pay with a two-run homer. McCullers was lifted for Steven Okert after allowing five runs in 4⅓ innings, a decent outing given the circumstances, but not enough.
The bullpen held the line through the seventh and eighth with Okert, Teng, King, and Blubaugh each contributing before Abreu took the ball in the ninth with the game tied. Abreu, whose fastball has dipped to 94.9 mph amid what the Astros are attributing to mechanical issues, walked three batters before Crawford lined a walk-off single into left field. It was the sixth straight appearance in which Abreu has allowed at least one earned run.
Peña left in the fourth inning after feeling tightness in the back of his right knee while running the bases. He will undergo imaging Sunday. Peña said he felt the tightness during Friday’s game as well but didn’t report it. “I didn’t tell anyone, which I probably should have,” he said. Given the week Houston has had, that quote lands like a punch to the stomach.
Walker was out of the starting lineup for the first time this season as a precaution after Espada noticed he ‘looked funny getting out of the box’ following Friday’s game. He pinch-hit in the eighth inning and remained in the game at first base.
The Astros left 13 runners on base despite collecting 17 hits, going just 5-for-18 with runners in scoring position. From the fifth inning on, Houston took seven at-bats with a man in scoring position and came up empty every time. It was not a night that lacked offense. It lacked almost everything else.
Houston is now 6-9, losers of six straight, with Imai back in Houston for evaluation, Peña awaiting imaging, and a bullpen that is running on fumes. McCullers and Mike Burrows are the last men standing in the rotation. Cody Bolton is scheduled to take the mound Sunday as the Astros look to snap their six-game losing streak.
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