It was Jose Altuve’s 36th birthday. The Astros gave him nothing to celebrate.
Lance McCullers Jr. lasted 2.2 innings, throwing 39 pitches in the third inning alone before Joe Espada finally pulled him. The Los Angeles Dodgers pounded Houston 12-2 in the rubber game of their three-game series at Daikin Park, dropping the Astros to 15-23.
McCullers retired his first three batters cleanly, then things fell apart in the second when a wild pitch scored former Astro Kyle Tucker. The third inning was a disaster. After a leadoff walk to Alex Freeland, Espada and a trainer visited the mound—McCullers had appeared to look at a finger on his throwing hand after a pitch—and left him in. It didn’t help. Shohei Ohtani lined a double to right, and McCullers proceeded to bounce two more wild pitches, each one bringing a run home. Three wild pitches, three runs. Then Andy Pages worked an eight-pitch at-bat and crushed a three-run homer 393 feet over the Crawford Boxes. McCullers was done. He finished with a 7.41 ERA in seven starts this season.
Jason Alexander came on and gave the Astros length—4.1 innings—but allowed nine hits and five runs. Pages homered off him too. When César Salazar took the mound in the ninth—yes, the catcher—Pages homered off him as well, completing a three-homer, six-RBI day. It was the first three-homer game of Pages’ major-league career.
The Dodgers out-hit Houston 14-5. The Astros’ only run of note came in the first inning, when Brice Matthews led off with a solo homer off Tyler Glasnow, who then departed before the second with low back pain. A parade of Los Angeles relievers held Houston to one run the rest of the way, retiring the side in order five times.
The lineup was a patchwork of callups and fill-ins. Four members of the Opening Day lineup played: Yordan Alvarez, Isaac Paredes, Christian Walker, and Cam Smith. Matthews started at second in place of Jose Altuve. Zach Cole and Zach Dezenzo started in the outfield. Salazar caught … and later pitched. Braden Shewmake started at shortstop. Alvarez and Paredes were both removed in the sixth with the Astros trailing by nine.
Houston has now allowed eight or more runs in 14 of 38 games this season. They did that 15 times all of last year. An off-day Thursday arrives at the right time. The Astros open a series in Cincinnati on Friday.
Heading to Daikin Park soon? Check the Astros promotions schedule before your next game.