Enyel de Los Santos made his 58th appearance of the season Wednesday, second-most in an Astros bullpen that’s showing signs of fatigue down the stretch.
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Houston Astros center fielder Daulton Varsho (18) celebrates with Houston Astros third base coach Tony Perezchica while rounding third base after hitting a solo home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Ryan Murphy/AP Photo/Ryan Murphy
Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve (27) bats during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Ryan Murphy/AP Photo/Ryan Murphy
Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve (27) hits a RBI double during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 26: Paul Blackburn #58 of the New York Yankees tags out Daulton Varsho #18 of the Houston Astros during the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium on August 26, 2026 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Ishika Samant/Getty Images)
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New York Yankees pitcher Elmer Rodriguez (71) pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
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New York Yankees designated hitter Ben Rice, right, celebrates with teammate first baseman Luis García Jr. after hitting a solo home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Ryan Murphy/AP Photo/Ryan Murphy
Houston Astros pitcher Peter Lambert (38) pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Ryan Murphy/AP Photo/Ryan Murphy
Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve (27) flies out to right field during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Ryan Murphy/AP Photo/Ryan Murphy
Houston Astros pitcher Enyel de Los Santos (65) pitches during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Ryan Murphy/AP Photo/Ryan Murphy
Houston Astros pitcher Bennett Sousa (62) receives a mound visit after New York Yankees left fielder Cody Bellinger hit an RBI double during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Ryan Murphy/AP Photo/Ryan Murphy
NEW YORK — Before his club played the Yankees on Wednesday, manager Joe Espada acknowledged the state of a bullpen that has been the Houston Astros’ backbone all season and is bearing the burden of a concerning trend. Just one team in the majors started Wednesday having received fewer innings from its starting pitchers in August.
“They’re going to continue to fight and grind through it,” Espada said. “But there’s fatigue in there — but there’s fatigue on every team right now. You’re trying to win as many games as possible. I expect our starters to start getting us deep in the game. But right now, taking your starter out in the fourth inning, it can wear down on you. So we’re trying to navigate those waters.”
No Houston starter has completed six innings since Hayden Wesneski went seven Aug. 10 against the Giants. In seven of 13 games since, the Astros’ starter has worked fewer than five innings. Their bullpen began Wednesday with the sport’s third-lowest ERA since June 1, but relying so heavily on the unit with 30 games still to play in a division race oozes risk.
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Tuesday initiated 13 games in 13 days for the Astros, a critical stretch in which length from their starters gains even more significance to protect a relief corps they hope will pitch into October. To begin it, they sent a 24-year-old making his second major-league start to the mound at Yankee Stadium. Ethan Pecko lasted 4 ⅓ innings before four relievers worked the final 4 ⅔ frames in a much-needed win.
One of them warmed again Wednesday, late in another close game. The Yankees stacked seven left-handed hitters in their lineup, the top of which loomed again in the seventh inning. Before facing it, the Astros blew a chance to take a lead in the top of the inning. A run already in, they loaded the bases with one out. Paul Blackburn struck out Christian Vázquez and Jeremy Peña to preserve a 3-3 tie.
Steven Okert, one of two left-handed setup men in the Houston bullpen, entered Wednesday with more outings this season than all but two major-league relievers. Okert had pitched three of the past five days. So had Bennett Sousa, but in the left-hander jogged for the bottom of the seventh, his 12th appearance this month tying Okert for the team lead. A taut game slipped away before it ended.
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The Yankees scored four runs off Sousa and two more against Enyel De Los Santos in handing the Astros a 9-3 loss, jumping on two arms in a bullpen that now has a 4.14 ERA in August. New York also scored single runs Tuesday against Okert and Bryan Abreu before Josh Hader worked a four-out save, instances of a unit that has been lights-out looking more vulnerable entering the season’s final month.
BATTERS
AVG
OBA
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
BB
SO
SB
CS
E
Team Totals
.242
.317
4474
608
1084
196
15
177
579
443
1091
40
19
60
Alvarez
.322
.437
472
88
152
28
1
36
91
91
99
1
0
2
Peña
.283
.335
329
63
93
15
1
15
43
21
78
8
1
9
Correa
.279
.369
122
22
34
8
0
3
16
18
26
1
0
1
Diaz
.261
.290
249
28
65
10
0
10
32
10
42
0
2
2
Paredes
.259
.355
459
51
119
23
1
17
72
54
70
0
0
7
Allen
.258
.303
120
21
31
4
0
2
13
8
27
2
0
5
Shewmake
.256
.272
78
10
20
4
0
3
9
2
13
0
0
2
Altuve
.248
.311
412
59
102
17
2
14
41
37
93
4
3
5
Delgado
.243
.300
37
4
9
1
0
1
4
3
7
0
0
2
Walker
.229
.304
472
62
108
24
1
23
73
43
124
0
0
2
Harris
.226
.286
31
4
7
0
1
0
4
2
6
2
0
0
Smith
.216
.283
422
56
91
15
4
17
48
36
118
10
2
5
Loperfido
.216
.314
102
13
22
7
1
1
12
14
31
1
1
1
Vázquez
.214
.269
220
21
47
7
0
7
25
17
48
1
0
1
Meyers
.213
.268
141
15
30
7
0
3
11
10
31
1
2
0
Dezenzo
.213
.280
75
11
16
4
0
1
3
7
31
1
0
1
Trammell
.208
.296
192
26
40
6
2
7
20
20
69
3
3
2
Wade
.206
.330
97
13
20
5
0
2
15
18
27
0
0
0
Varsho
.203
.263
74
6
15
3
0
3
7
6
18
1
0
0
Matthews
.197
.250
208
23
41
5
1
7
22
15
71
4
4
1
Price
.167
.231
12
1
2
1
0
0
0
1
6
0
0
1
Spence
.162
.244
37
4
6
1
0
0
3
3
15
0
1
1
Cole
.157
.189
51
4
8
1
0
3
8
1
21
0
0
1
Johnson
.143
.294
14
1
2
0
0
0
0
2
3
0
0
0
Whitcomb
.130
.167
23
2
3
0
0
2
5
1
11
0
0
0
Salazar
.056
.227
18
0
1
0
0
0
1
3
3
0
0
0
Velázquez
.000
.000
7
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
3
0
0
0
___
PITCHERS
W
L
ERA
G
GS
SV
IP
H
R
ER
HR
BB
SO
Team Totals
66
67
4.68
133
133
40
1180.1
1070
656
614
177
550
1161
Meyers
0
0
0.00
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
Hader
4
1
0.81
34
0
19
33.1
13
3
3
1
11
44
Santa
0
1
1.17
10
0
0
15.1
8
6
2
1
6
9
VanWey
1
0
1.50
5
0
0
6
5
2
1
0
0
5
Okert
6
2
2.20
65
1
0
65.1
43
17
16
7
14
66
Blubaugh
4
2
3.25
50
0
1
80.1
61
31
29
10
34
81
Brown
3
3
3.51
14
14
0
74.1
56
31
29
10
43
76
Pearson
1
0
3.60
16
0
1
20
16
10
8
1
12
16
Lambert
8
7
3.66
23
23
0
128
106
54
52
13
51
125
Abreu
5
3
4.17
52
0
7
49.2
36
25
23
7
36
63
Teng
5
6
4.22
27
10
0
70.1
63
37
33
10
30
71
Wesneski
3
1
4.23
5
5
0
27.2
24
13
13
2
10
22
Ullola
0
0
4.50
4
0
0
6
4
3
3
2
1
9
Arrighetti
7
5
4.60
17
17
0
88
68
47
45
12
50
87
De Los Santos
2
3
4.67
58
0
5
61.2
59
36
32
8
14
57
King
2
3
4.75
51
1
6
53
57
30
28
8
19
44
Roa
0
1
5.19
7
0
0
8.2
10
5
5
1
7
6
Imai
6
4
5.32
18
15
0
67.2
55
40
40
9
44
83
Bolton
0
1
5.40
8
3
1
20
21
12
12
3
14
22
Burrows
4
9
5.99
18
17
0
94.2
112
69
63
21
35
75
Sousa
1
3
6.27
22
0
0
18.2
24
15
13
2
10
21
Javier
1
4
6.47
12
8
0
40.1
48
29
29
8
19
38
McCullers
2
3
6.86
8
8
0
39.1
38
32
30
7
22
43
Murray
0
0
7.43
8
0
0
13.1
19
11
11
1
7
8
Weiss
0
3
7.62
9
2
0
26
35
24
22
8
20
30
Blanco
0
1
7.71
5
4
0
23.1
22
20
20
7
12
20
Pecko
0
0
7.88
2
2
0
8
8
7
7
2
7
5
France
0
0
8.10
3
0
0
6.2
6
6
6
1
5
4
Salazar
0
0
9.00
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
Alexander
1
1
9.33
4
2
0
18.1
21
19
19
4
8
14
Gordon
0
0
11.57
4
1
0
9.1
21
12
12
6
3
11
Muñoz
0
0
15.75
3
0
0
4
7
7
7
3
6
6
Wade
0
0
18.00
1
0
0
1
3
2
2
1
0
0
The preferred remedy is what Peter Lambert offered Wednesday. Lambert worked 5 ⅔ innings despite laboring early such that the bullpen got active in the second. On a night where length was needed, the right-hander who has proven an unlikely savior of Houston’s rotation all season provided it again, falling one out short of becoming the first Astros starter in 16 days to get through six.
“That was definitely a big goal of mine today,” Lambert said. “After looking up after the third inning and seeing 60 pitches, I knew it was going to make it pretty difficult. But just glad I was able to dig deep and get out there for the sixth.”
Lambert, who allowed two runs in the first inning and sat at 51 pitches after the second, said he “was throwing some quality pitches early in counts, I just wasn’t really getting the quick outs.” Kai-Wei Teng started to warm with two outs in the second before Lambert induced a fly out from Luis García Jr. that stranded the bases loaded. He covered his next three innings on 34 pitches.
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“He threw a ton of strikes, started getting some quicker outs,” Espada said. “Where we’re at right now, we just needed to try to get a little bit more out of him. And he did, he stepped up and he really picked us up.”
Houston needs others to follow. Lambert ended the night at 142 ⅓ innings this season between Triple-A and the majors. He is close to his career-high of 149 ⅔ innings, set in 2019, with a month still to play — plus more if the Astros reach the playoffs. Maintaining their most consistent starter for such a possibility seems paramount, a balance they must strike with trying to get there. They held a half-game lead in the woeful AL West after play Wednesday.
The same applies to the bullpen. Sousa had recorded five outs on eight pitches Tuesday, retiring all five hitters he faced. Yet his splits across 21 outings in an injury-shortened season were unusual. Sousa held left-handed hitters to a .433 OPS in his 44 appearances last year. They entered Wednesday hitting .324 with an .807 OPS in 40 plate appearances against him this season.
“I just think guys know I like the slider,” Sousa said Wednesday night. “I still think I’m putting the slider in decent spots. But I’m just throwing it too much maybe, and they’re sitting on it and the element of surprise maybe is not there fully.”
Of the 28 pitches Sousa threw Wednesday night, 23 were sliders. Yankees hitters whiffed on five of 13 swings against it, but all four they put into play went for hits. Some bad batted-ball luck was involved. Trent Grisham flared a slider for a leadoff single at 69.2 mph off the bat. After Ben Rice walked, García pulled a slider on the ground, just past first baseman Christian Walker, for an infield single.
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Harder contact followed. Cody Bellinger drove a fastball off the base of the center-field wall for a two-run double. Spencer Jones lined a slider for an RBI single and Jazz Chisholm Jr. lifted another for a run-scoring double. All five hits against Sousa were from left-handed hitters as the Yankees opened a four-run lead they did not relinquish.
“Made some good pitches early, they kind of get it out there, get on base,” Sousa said. “And then later in the inning, still thought I made some good pitches, they just got more barrel on it.”
That the Astros’ lineup totaled four hits Wednesday, a night after stirring for nine runs, lessened their pitchers’ margin for error. That group’s consistency remains suspect, and the club’s 53-19 mark when scoring four or more runs illustrates how much the final 29 games could hinge on it. Opening up leads could offer Espada more flexibility with how he deploys his bullpen, as well.
That Tatsuya Imai, who has pitched three times in August, appears all but shelved — he did not warm Wednesday — renders that essentially a seven-man group right now. The Astros will be able to add a pitcher when rosters expand Sept. 1. For now, they’re piecing things together amid a playoff hunt. Wesneski will take the mound and mantle Thursday opposite Gerrit Cole, game three of 13 in a row.
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