AJ Blubaugh was the only Astros pitcher who didn’t get scored on during a rough night for Houston’s hurlers Monday against the Angels.
John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
ANAHEIM, Calif. — For the Houston Astros, falling behind early has not boded well this season. Facing a seven-run deficit in the second inning, meanwhile, is nobody’s formula for success.
On Tuesday, the Astros stranded two runners in the top of the first inning against a control-challenged Angels starter. Their own starter struggled badly in his first two frames. The result proved too lopsided for Houston to overcome.
Harnessing momentum remains a challenge. A spirited 10-inning win Monday night by the Astros gave way to a listless showing in a 10-1 loss at Angel Stadium. With the chance to climb within five games of .500, proximity they last enjoyed April 18, the Astros dropped to 31-38.
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Better pitching of late has carried their modest push. Kai-Wei Teng was among the arms who lent some stability to a reeling rotation. Tuesday, Teng endured a garish start. Ten Angels reached base in the right-hander’s first two innings. Seven scored.
“I think the biggest problem is I was, a lot of times, behind in the count,” Teng said through an interpreter. “And I think facing this lineup you can’t be behind in the count. It makes it difficult to pitch.”
His offense did little to counter. Walbert Ureña also wavered during his five innings, but Astros hitters could not topple him. They totaled five hits on the night, all singles. Houston left 11 runners on base.
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In an unusual sight, with his team trailing 7-0 entering the seventh inning, Astros manager Joe Espada emptied his bench and removed Jeremy Peña, Yordan Alvarez, Christian Walker and Jose Altuve all for pinch hitters. Houston is in the midst of a stretch of 15 games in 16 days, with the off-day Thursday.
“They’re playing every day,” Espada said. “So those guys need some rest.”
Brice Matthews, pinch-hitting for Altuve, struck a two-out single in the seventh that scored the Astros’ first run. The Angels erased any kindling of a comeback with a three-run eighth against Alimber Santa, working his second relief inning after AJ Blubaugh had also worked two.
The Astros are 8-26 when their opponent scores first. Monday presented an exception. Tuesday upheld the trend in ugly fashion.
Houston
AB
R
H
BI
BB
SO
Avg.
Totals
32
1
5
1
6
12
Peña ss
3
0
0
0
0
1
.281
b-Whitcomb ph-ss
2
0
0
0
0
1
.105
Alvarez dh
2
0
2
0
1
0
.317
c-Trammell ph-dh
2
0
0
0
0
2
.279
Walker 1b
3
0
0
0
0
1
.249
d-Price ph-1b
2
1
1
0
0
1
.200
Paredes 3b
1
0
0
0
2
1
.240
Altuve 2b
2
0
0
0
1
2
.237
e-Matthews ph-2b
1
0
1
1
0
0
.208
Smith rf
3
0
0
0
1
1
.220
Loperfido lf
3
0
0
0
1
2
.262
Meyers cf
4
0
1
0
0
0
.216
Vázquez c
4
0
0
0
0
0
.237
Los Angeles
AB
R
H
BI
BB
SO
Avg.
Totals
35
10
11
10
6
7
Neto ss
3
2
1
0
1
0
.232
Walton 2b
0
0
0
0
0
0
.239
Trout cf
4
2
1
0
1
1
.223
Meckler lf
2
3
1
2
3
0
.340
Adell dh
4
2
2
2
1
1
.243
Schanuel 1b
1
0
1
1
0
0
.256
Mancini 1b
2
0
0
1
0
1
.500
Peraza 2b-ss
5
0
2
3
0
0
.272
Guzman 3b
5
0
0
1
0
1
.000
Siri rf
5
0
0
0
0
2
.324
Rivero c
3
1
2
0
0
1
.245
a-O’Hoppe ph-c
1
0
1
0
0
0
.200
Houston
000
000
100_1
5
2
Los Angeles
250
000
03x_10
11
0
a-singled for Rivero in the 5th. b-struck out for Peña in the 7th. c-struck out for Alvarez in the 7th. d-singled for Walker in the 7th. e-singled for Altuve in the 7th.
E_Peña (5), Paredes (5). LOB_Houston 11, Los Angeles 10. 2B_Meckler (5), Adell (9). RBIs_Matthews (15), Schanuel (25), Peraza 3 (21), Meckler 2 (12), Adell 2 (39), Mancini (2), Guzman (1). SF_Mancini.
Runners left in scoring position_Houston 6 (Altuve, Loperfido 2, Peña, Smith 2); Los Angeles 5 (Guzman 3, Adell 2). RISP_Houston 1 for 8; Los Angeles 6 for 13.
Runners moved up_Peraza. GIDP_Neto.
DP_Houston 1 (Whitcomb, Matthews, Price).
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
NP
ERA
4
7
7
5
3
5
93
3.71
2
1
0
0
2
2
34
4.22
2
3
3
1
1
0
26
1.80
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
NP
ERA
5
3
0
0
5
7
107
2.44
2
2
1
1
1
3
35
4.54
1
0
0
0
0
0
6
5.06
1
0
0
0
0
2
12
4.76
HBP_Teng 2 (Schanuel,Neto), Ureña (Paredes).
ABS Challenge_Smith (Strike-Confirmed); Ureña (Ball-Confirmed); Teng (Ball-Overturned to Strike).
Pitch timer violations_Santa (pitcher).
Umpires_Home, Dillon Wilson; First, Ron Kulpa; Second, Manny Gonzalez; Third, Tom Hanahan.
T_2:47. A_24,767 (45,517).
A struggle for Teng
Teng authored the worst of his seven starts since moving from the bullpen to the rotation. Walks have been an issue for the right-hander at times, but he awoke holding opponents to a .204 batting average and able to lean on a sweeper that had a plus-7 run value entering the day, per Baseball Savant.
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Unable to locate the sweeper consistently, Teng created traffic and had to turn to his fastballs, against which the Angels did early damage.
A six-batter stretch in the second inning cratered his outing. Sebastián Rivero lined a fastball for a one-out single. Teng plunked Zach Neto with a single. Mike Trout singled on an 0-2 fastball to fill the bases.
Wade Meckler lined a sinker into left-center field for a two-run double. Jo Adell then pulled a curveball, not a pitch Teng throws often to right-handed hitters, up the left-field line for a double that drove in two more. Two swings turned a 2-0 lead into a 6-0 advantage for the Angels, who did not look back.
Blubaugh warmed during the second inning, but with the Astros playing for an eighth consecutive day, it felt imperative for Teng to offer more length. He threw 93 pitches but only got through the fourth before the Astros turned to their bullpen.
Teng threw 41% of his pitches in-zone, per Statcast. Angels hitters put 15 balls in play, 10 of which held exit velocities above 95 mph, the Statcast hard-hit threshold. Eight of those were against fastballs. Teng saw his ERA climb to 3.71 through 51 innings this season.
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No breakthrough against Ureña
Ureña, the 22-year-old Angels right-hander, has high-octane stuff. His sinker touched 99.8 mph Tuesday. He also entered the game throwing just 42.1% of his pitches in-zone.
Against him, an Astros lineup prone to aggression employed extreme patience. Ureña threw 46 pitches his first time through their order. Houston hitters swung at 13 of them. All but one of nine starters took at least the first two pitches of his first at-bat.
The approach drove up Ureña’s pitch count. But the Astros could not cash in on the traffic they created.
Ureña walked two batters in the first inning. He also struck out three, including Altuve to finish the frame. A two-on, one-out chance in the second yielded nothing. In the third, Houston loaded the bases with no outs. Joey Loperfido, just reinstated from the injured list, worked a full count and chased a 97.9 mph fastball well below the zone for strike three.
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“One big hit,” Espada said. “And I thought that we were going to get him, just to get us back in the game. Drove the pitch count, we were really patient. But we just couldn’t get a big hit.’
That was the Astros’ best chance against Ureña, who completed five innings despite needing 107 pitches to navigate them. In the fifth, Ureña issued his fifth walk of the night, to Altuve, with two outs. A reliever stood ready in the Angels bullpen. Manager Kurt Suzuki did not move from the dugout, giving Ureña the chance to qualify for a win. Ureña converted it, retiring Cam Smith on a pop-out.
A messy first
The Angels built a 2-0 lead and saw 29 pitches from Teng in the first inning without a hit. Teng got ahead 1-2 against the leadoff hitter Neto but lost him on a walk. After a Trout strikeout, Meckler sent a chopper up the middle, a potential double-play ball.
Peña could not field it cleanly, his error leaving men on first and second with one out. Teng issued a walk to Adell to load the bases, fell behind 3-1 against Nolan Schanuel and yanked a sweeper that hit the left-handed hitter on the leg, forcing in a run.
A second scored when Altuve bobbled his exchange on another possible double-play ball off the bat of Oswald Peraza. Teng stemmed the damage there, but the Angels exacted more an inning later.