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<\/a><\/p>\nCal Raleigh rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run, his 58th of the season, off a thigh-high changeup in the second inning. (Thomas Shea \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t have much to counter,\u201d Espada said after a series in which Houston was outscored 17-7 and witnessed its starting pitchers surrender 14 earned runs.<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s starter, Jason Alexander, yielded seven of them. Alexander embodies the entire Astros\u2019 season. Houston claimed him off waivers from the Athletics in May during a never-ending search for starting pitching depth. When it dwindled to the point of desperation, the Astros summoned someone more known for sharing a name with a sitcom star than anything he\u2019d done in sports.<\/p>\n
Alexander morphed into something so much more than his \u201cSeinfeld\u201d sobriquet. Houston won 10 of the first 11 starts he made, a stretch in which Alexander posted a 2.89 ERA. He had not pitched in the major leagues since 2022 but still stabilized the starting rotation of a first-place team.<\/p>\n
Alexander did so without anything near the stuff of his rotation-mates. As a result, commanding it is crucial. Sunday, he did not. J.P. Crawford crushed a hanging sweeper for a second-inning grand slam. Raleigh\u2019s 58th home run came on a thigh-high changeup.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe right pitches just didn\u2019t get made when they needed to,\u201d said Alexander, who secured just four outs. \u201cI was trying every way I could to get out of it, minimize the damage and give the team a chance to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
To do so, Alexander would\u2019ve needed to be near perfect. On Sunday, Houston\u2019s lineup scored fewer than four runs for the 79th time in 156 games. It finished the series 2-for-20 with runners in scoring position.<\/p>\n
Since attempting to address deficiencies during the trade deadline, the Astros are averaging 3.95 runs per game. Only four offenses have a lower OPS since the All-Star break than the .684 mark Houston has mustered.<\/p>\n
No American League lineup sees fewer pitches per plate appearance, a flaw showcased by Sunday\u2019s first inning. Isaac Paredes is supposed to solve it but is still recovering from the type of injury that has torpedoed this season. Paredes leads the sport in pitches seen per plate appearance.<\/p>\n
In the first inning, Paredes popped out on the first pitch Seattle starter Logan Gilbert threw him. Correa preceded it with a three-pitch groundout. Jes\u00fas S\u00e1nchez followed with another, continuing his brutal introduction to an almost indifferent fan base.<\/p>\n
S\u00e1nchez is hitting .198 since Houston acquired him at a trade deadline that is trending toward a flop from third-year general manager Dana Brown. One of his other acquisitions, Ram\u00f3n Ur\u00edas, hasn\u2019t taken an at-bat since Sept. 13. Correa, it should be noted, is slashing .285\/.342\/.425 since his arrival.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to go out there and win \u2014 that\u2019s what we have to do better,\u201d Correa said. \u201cGo out there and figure out a way to win. It doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s pretty or ugly. At the end of the day, it\u2019s about the \u2018W\u2019 in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
The toll injuries have taken can\u2019t be overlooked. Three-time All-Star Yordan Alvarez has appeared in just 48 games. Pe\u00f1a, Paredes and resurgent center fielder Jake Meyers all spent substantial time on the IL this season. But the depth of struggles beyond that must prompt some broader questions about philosophy or the type of hitters Houston employs.<\/p>\n
\u201cInjuries always are hard. We have Yordan, and he was hitting pretty good, and unfortunately, he got (his ankle sprained). He\u2019s our best hitter. We miss him,\u201d Altuve said. \u201cObviously, it\u2019s going to be hard, but somehow in these last six games, we have to win games. We have the opportunity to make it to the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is a good one, too. Six games remain against the dregs of this division: the transient A\u2019s and the terrible Los Angeles Angels. Winning both series is the bare-minimum expectation \u2014 perhaps dangerous for a team that already didn\u2019t meet one of those.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey played better than us,\u201d Altuve said.<\/p>\n
(Top photo of Jose Altuve striking out to end the game: Tim Warner \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2014 Before their dreams died, the Houston Astros announced a lineup change, apt for a star-crossed season…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173286,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[373,363,99],"class_list":["post-173285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-houston-astros","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}