The Houston Astros began Thursday night with an opportunity to win a series and strengthen their hold on first place in the American League West. They ended it with LaMonte Wade Jr. on the mound.
The Angels pounded Houston 18-3 at Daikin Park, handing the Astros their worst loss of the season and dropping them back to .500 at 64-64. It was an extraordinary collapse for a team that actually led 2-1 after the first inning.
LaMonte Wade Jr. and Yordan Alvarez opened the bottom of the first with walks before Isaac Paredes singled to load the bases. Jose Altuve brought Wade home on a fielder’s choice, and Alvarez scored on a wild pitch from Grayson Rodriguez to put Houston ahead.
Lambert and King Can’t Stop the Angels
Peter Lambert entered the game as one of the more reliable members of Houston’s battered rotation. Thursday was something entirely different.
The Angels scored three times in the second to take a 4-2 lead, aided by a Lambert wild pitch and throwing error. After a scoreless third, Los Angeles began dismantling Houston in earnest. Adam Frazier doubled home a run in the fourth, and Zach Neto added an RBI single before Lambert was pulled with the Astros trailing 6-2. Bryan King inherited three runners and allowed all three to score as Moisés Ballesteros singled home two and Vaughn Grissom followed with a two-run double. By the end of the inning, the Angels led 10-2.
Lambert was charged with nine runs, all earned, on eight hits in 3⅔ innings. He walked two, struck out three, threw two wild pitches, and committed two throwing errors. King fared little better, allowing five runs on five hits in 1⅓ innings.
King’s troubles continued in the fifth with a frightening moment when a pitch sailed up and in and struck Wade Meckler on the helmet near his ear. Meckler went down and left the game after an injury delay, with Jose Siri replacing him as a pinch-runner. The Angels scored four runs in the inning, with Neto delivering the biggest blow on a three-run homer that stretched the lead to 14-2.
Neto Leads the Onslaught
No Angels hitter inflicted more damage than Neto, who went 5-for-6 with a home run, double, two runs scored, and seven RBI. His three-run homer in the fifth made it 14-2, and his two-run double off Tatsuya Imai in the seventh pushed the lead to 16-2.
Los Angeles finished with 18 runs on 18 hits. Nine of those runs were charged to Lambert, five to King, two to Imai, and—because this game had not yet become strange enough—two to Wade.
Imai at least gave Houston some badly needed innings after replacing King to begin the sixth. He worked three innings, allowing two runs on two hits while walking two and striking out three. With the game long since out of reach, the Astros also began emptying their lineup. Yainer Diaz replaced Alvarez, while Raynel Delgado took over for Altuve at second base.
Blum Finds Some Good News
By the time the Angels had built a 16-2 lead, there was little left for the Astros broadcast crew to salvage from the evening. Geoff Blum found something.
“In case there’s anyone still watching this game, I have some good news,” Blum told viewers before announcing that he will teach The Business of Baseball at Sam Houston State University this fall. On this particular night, it qualified as one of the Astros’ better developments.
Wade Takes the Mound
The final indignity arrived in the ninth when, rather than use another reliever in a game decided hours earlier, Houston sent Wade to the mound.
Jose Siri flew out before Oswald Peraza doubled, and Denzer Guzman followed with a two-run homer to left. Neto then collected his fifth hit of the game before Wade escaped the inning with no further damage. His pitching line: one inning, three hits, two runs, and one home run allowed.
Houston managed one final run in the bottom of the ninth when Daulton Varsho doubled and scored on Cam Smith’s sacrifice fly, producing the 18-3 final. The Astros managed eight hits but only one RBI and went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
Houston scored just seven runs in the three-game series, losing two of three to an Angels team near the bottom of the standings. Tuesday’s opener ended in a 3-1 loss before Houston won 3-2 Wednesday.
Despite the disastrous loss, the Astros remain atop the AL West, though their lead over the Rangers is down to just one game. In an odd reflection of the division race, Houston, Texas, and Seattle all finished Thursday with identical minus-46 run differentials.
“Our guys are very much aware of what they need to do,” Espada said after the game. “They know they control their own destiny.”
The Astros won’t have long to dwell on their worst loss of the season. The Athletics arrive Friday for the beginning of another three-game series at Daikin Park, with Hayden Wesneski scheduled to start for Houston and first pitch set for 7:10 p.m. CT.
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