Houston Astros miss a chance to extend lead in AL West with a sloppy loss to the Athletics
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WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Hunter Brown spun a slurve and got the ground ball he sought. Jeremy Peña fielded it to his right and flipped a throw to second base. Jose Altuve reached down and missed it.
Margin for error is minimal in the final days of a division race. More early malaise by the Houston Astros lineup Friday magnified that further. Altuve's miscue opened the door for a deluge.
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What might have been a double-play ball, or at least yielded one out, gave way to the A's mounting a six-run sixth inning that blew open a close game and proved decisive. With a chance to move to the brink of the playoffs, the Astros suffered a 6-5 loss at Sutter Health Park that left more work to do.
The Astros could still clinch the American League West on Saturday. But they will require both a win over the A's and a loss by the Rangers, who fell to the Twins on Friday night. If both do not occur, the AL West race would come down to the season's final day.
Houston could have reduced its magic number to one with a win Friday. Instead, it fell to 79-81, ensuring that it will finish with no better than a .500 record. With the Rangers also 79-81, the AL West will feature MLB's first division winner with a non-winning record in a full-length season in the divisional era.
The A's, who have 96 losses and the worst bullpen ERA in the sport, nearly blew their lead in the eighth. Houston scored four runs in the inning and put the potential tying run at third base, with the go-ahead run at second. Luis Medina struck out Cam Smith to curtail the threat.
Even with their late threat, the Astros totaled five hits Friday. They had three before the eighth, two of them solo home runs by Christian Walker - against left-hander Jacob Lopez, who was slippery over six innings - and Smith. A comeback that fell short amplified the critical sequence.
A costly sixth inning
Brown carried a 1-0 lead into the sixth inning. Jeff McNeil served a 2-2 cutter for a leadoff single. Brown thrives on ground-ball contact. He came into the night with the second-highest ground-ball rate among pitchers with at least 100 innings this season. Infield defense is imperative as a result.
So are sources of offense, however. And a night after Yordan Alvarez drew a start in left field he was back at designated hitter, requiring Altuve, baseball's lowest-rated second baseman by runs saved this season, per Sports Info Solutions, to man the position.
Gelof's chopper pulled Peña far enough that Altuve might not have turned a double play, anyway. But his drop left runners on first and second with nobody out. A bunt moved both into scoring position in a one-run game. Manager Joe Espada emerged to remove Brown, at 100 pitches, who did not look pleased.
The inning spiraled from there. Bennett Sousa, pitching for a third time in four days, replaced Brown and faced three hitters. All struck singles. The A's led 3-1 as Espada emerged again and called on AJ Blubaugh, the majors' leader in relief innings.
Henry Bolte drove a fastball to right field, off the base of the wall, for a two-run triple. Houston pulled its infield in, but Bolte still scored on a chopper to Walker, the first baseman, who yanked his throw to home plate. The A's sent 10 hitters to the plate in a six-run inning that held up.
Offense against Jacob Lopez
Lopez entered with a 5.68 ERA, having allowed 10 runs in his last start against Cleveland. The left-hander owned a 2.18 ERA in four career starts against the Astros, however, including throwing six innings of one-run ball on Aug. 22 in Houston.
Espada deemed Lopez a "tough at-bat" after that outing. With a low release and soft arsenal, Lopez ranks in the 99th percentile of major-league pitchers at subduing exit velocity. He followed the same formula Friday night.
Astros hitters averaged just an 85.9 mph exit velocity on 16 balls put into play against Lopez. Aside from Walker's home run, Lopez allowed one other Astro into scoring position in six innings. Yainer Diaz pulled a double in the second. Three ensuing hitters could not advance him.
Lopez nibbled, throwing 55 strikes on 94 pitches. The Astros chased at just a 20% clip against him, but he entered the zone enough to issue just two walks while striking out four. Walker's home run, the 28th this season for the first baseman, and Diaz's double were the only hits Lopez allowed.
Hunter Brown undone in sixth
Brown battled command yet bulled his way into the sixth inning. He allowed two hits, singles at 90.1 and 92.4 mph off the bat. His infield did little to help.
Both starters seemed to take issue with the mound in the first inning. A groundskeeper tended to it prior to the second. Brown still issued a walk in each of his first four innings. In the third, a walk and an error by third baseman Isaac Paredes put runners on second and third with no outs. Brown froze McNeil with a front-door sinker for strike three and got a groundout from Gelof to escape.
Brown popped his glove as he left the mound. He finished the third at 58 pitches. He needed 21 more to get through four batters in the fourth, navigating a one-out walk. He turned in his first clean inning in the fifth, finishing it with a strikeout of Shea Langeliers on his 91st pitch, a sinker at 96.1 mph.
The sinker again proved Brown's most reliable pitch. He threw 35 on 100 pitches, locating it better than his four-seam fastball, which he landed in-zone 36% of the time, per Statcast. The A's struggled to solve any of his offerings, averaging just an 83.8 mph exit velocity on 16 balls put in play against him. Brown, coming off consecutive 10-strikeout starts, induced just seven whiffs on 40 swings.
He still held the A's scoreless until the sixth. He was charged with two runs, one earned, after departing. Brown has a 3.19 ERA in 107 innings. His next start would be in a playoff game - if he gets that chance.
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