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Two members of the Houston Astros are defending a decision the team made that resulted in disaster. Manager Joe Espada and infielder Jose Altuve think a pitch that led to a grand slam for the Baltimore Orioles Friday was the right call.
Houston's Bryan Abreu delivered a fastball that was just above the strike zone to Baltimore's Anthony Santander on Friday with the bases loaded. At the time, the Astros had built a lead against Baltimore. Santander blasted the pitch to the skies. The grand slam ended up being the difference in the game as the Orioles won 7-5.
“I thought he got to a really good pitch,” Astros manager Joe Espada said afterward, per the Houston Chronicle.
The infielder Altuve agreed with his skipper.
“That was a good pitch,” second baseman Jose Altuve said, per the outlet. “If you see, he didn’t make a bad pitch. Santander, he’s been hot. He’s been hitting a lot of homers. Sometimes you have to give credit to the other guy. That pitch was up and, honestly, I don’t know how he hit that ball. But he’s a great player, so he deserved it.”
The loss stings for the Astros, but the team has still won six of their last 10 games. The club is 69-59 on the season with a 4½ game lead in the American League West standings over Seattle.
Astros making a push for the postseason
Houston will have to shake off Friday's disappointing loss. The Astros can still lose their grip on the division if they aren't careful. To make matters worse for Houston, Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez is battling a neck injury. Alvarez was scratched from the lineup on Friday.
There's some good news, too. Houston has ace Justin Verlander back in the rotation after he returned from injury on August 21. Verlander's experience and leadership has proven to be invaluable for a club trying to make a postseason push. The Astros surged in the last couple months to take the lead in the division.
Abreu will have to quickly forget his outing on Friday. The reliever gave up five runs on five hits in just one-third of an inning of work. It was a disaster, to say the least. On the season, the pitcher has a 3.41 ERA with a save. In his previous four outings, Abreu had allowed just one earned run.
The Astros and Orioles battle again on Saturday. The first pitch is scheduled for 4:05 Eastern. Astros fans are hoping for better results this time around.
