Nothing comes easy for these Astros but they still control their fate in AL West despite ugly loss

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Before their game began Friday night, the Houston Astros received a boon. Some 2,000 miles away, a Twins team playing out its season gouged Rangers starter Jacob deGrom for eight runs. The Astros, then, sent their own ace to the mound aiming to reach the brink of the playoffs.

For five innings, Hunter Brown weaved through traffic and held down a depleted A’s lineup while his own offered minimal support. Brown finished the fifth inning with a 1-0 lead and at 91 pitches. Bennett Sousa began to warm in the visitors’ bullpen at Sutter Health Park before the inning ended.

Three preceding days had taxed the Astros’ bullpen. In none of those games had their starter completed the third inning. They won two of them, still, putting them in position to pare their magic number to one to clinch the American League West with a win Friday night after the Rangers’ loss went final.

AL WEST:Playoff scenarios with two games left.

To consider the result foregone would contradict everything about a season that became unprecedented Friday. An error undid Brown’s outing, a six-run inning for the A’s unraveled after it, and a 6-5 loss left the Astros‘ playoff hopes still precarious while guaranteeing them a non-winning season.

Houston fell to 79-81, tied atop the division with the Rangers, and with the tiebreaker. Whoever claims the dismal AL West will become MLB’s first division champion in a full-length season with a non-winning record. The Astros will have their worst record in a full season since 2014, when they lost 92 games.

“I think we’re controlling our future right now,” said second baseman Jose Altuve. “If we win these next two games, we’re in … So we’ve just got to focus on what we do in this clubhouse. We’ve got the players to do it. And like I said, our focus is going to be 100 percent on our game tomorrow, and we’ve got to go out there and win it.”

Altuve was accurate. The Astros winning their final two games would decide the AL West regardless of Texas’ results. They could still clinch Saturday but would need both a win over the A’s and a Texas loss. They should know if that is possible before first pitch, as the Rangers play a day game at Minnesota.

ATHLETICS 6, ASTROS 5

a-singled for Cortes in the 6th. b-walked for Barrosa in the 8th. c-walked for Wade in the 9th.

1-ran for Stefanic in the 6th. 2-ran for Velázquez in the 9th.

E_Paredes (9), Altuve (6). LOB_Houston 5, Athletics 8. 2B_Diaz (15). 3B_Bolte (2). HR_Walker (28), off Lopez; Smith (21), off Johnson. RBIs_Walker (85), Smith (55), Altuve (47), Diaz (44), Stefanic 2 (4), Heim (43), Bolte 2 (38), Butler (62). SF_Altuve. S_Walton.

Runners left in scoring position_Houston 3 (Spence, Smith 2); Athletics 3 (Gelof 2, Heim). RISP_Houston 1 for 4; Athletics 3 for 9.

GIDP_Peña, Butler.

DP_Houston 1 (Peña, Altuve, Walker); 1 (Walton, McNeil, White).

Sousa pitched to 3 batters in the 6th

Inherited runners-scored_Sousa 2-2, Blubaugh 2-2, Hendrickson 2-0, Medina 3-3. WP_Medina.

ABS Challenge_Brown (Ball-Confirmed); Brown (Ball-Overturned to Strike); McNeil (Strike-Confirmed); Brown (Ball-Confirmed); Walton (Strike-Confirmed).

Umpires_Home, Ryan Wills; First, Gabe Morales; Second, Ryan Additon; Third, Will Little.

T_2:55. A_9,012 (14,014).

“We have to really turn the corner here and turn the page on this one and get ready for tomorrow,” said manager Joe Espada. “We still control our destiny.”

It is the saving grace for a season that has seen Houston unable repeatedly to sustain momentum or to capitalize on chances like the one that arose Friday. A loss that cost the Astros breathing room pivoted on a critical sequence in the sixth inning, but only as their offense struggled against lefty Jacob Lopez.

Brown took a one-run lead into the sixth as a result. Jeff McNeil struck a leadoff single. Brown induced a potential double-play ground ball to shortstop Jeremy Peña, but Altuve did not catch his low throw.

“I missed it,” said Altuve, who deemed it “100 percent, absolutely” a play he should make.

“Clearly, I think … that’s how they started getting some guys on and they were able to push them across,” Brown said. “Things like that happen. I don’t think the pitch that I gave up the single to McNeil on was all that executed, I could have thrown a better pitch than that. But that’s baseball.”

What should have yielded at least one out left runners on first and second with no outs. A bunt put both in scoring position. Espada faced a decision. Brown stood at 100 pitches. Astros relievers had worked 20 innings over the past three days. Brown’s career high is 108 pitches, and he was on four days’ rest.

Carlos Cortes, a left-handed hitter, loomed for the A’s. Cortes had singled and walked in two trips to the plate against Brown in the game. Brown, still, is the Astros’ ace. Espada said he considered allowing him to continue but emerged and signaled to the bullpen for Sousa well before reaching the mound.

“Cortes has had some success against him, today and in the past,” Espada said. “I trust in Hunter, but I thought that was a good time to bring Sousa in there against some of these righties. He’s pitched really well against right-handed hitters this season.”

Brown, who did not appear pleased as he left the mound, indicated he would have welcomed a chance to continue in the game but affirmed there was “no discussion” about the possibility.

“I felt like I was in a good spot in the order,” Brown said. “With the last couple days, the bullpen’s banged up. But clearly, Joe wasn’t interested in having a conversation about it. He’s the final decision-maker and that’s what it is. You either come out of the game or stay in when they tell you to. So that’s just simple as that.”

Espada said he thought it “was a really good spot for Sousa to try to get some swing-and-miss and try to get out of that inning.” Sousa entered holding right-handed hitters to a .194 average. He faced three and did not record an out. Pinch-hitter Michael Stefanic, Tommy White and Jonah Heim all singled to give the A’s a 3-1 lead. Henry Bolte tripled off AJ Blubaugh and bolted home on a chopper to cap a six-run inning.

“We just couldn’t execute some pitches there,” Espada said. “Trying to minimize the damage and we couldn’t get it done. But that’s part of this game. We’ve got to turn the corner, man. We’ve got to forget about it.”

An eighth-inning rally fell short, necessitating it. Hayden Wesneski will start for the Astros on Saturday, with their pitching plans for a potentially critical game 162 uncertain. Peter Lambert, who threw 62 pitches Thursday, said he expected to be available in some capacity if needed in the season finale. But the turnaround would rule out a traditional start, and neither Brown nor Wesneski will be options.

If the Rangers win on Saturday, or the Astros lose, the AL West will be decided on the season’s final day. If both occur, a nightmare scenario for the Astros, they would go into the season finale needing both a win and a Rangers loss to win the division. A win Friday would have made their position more enviable. Missing out reduces their margin for error entering the final weekend.

“Tomorrow’s another day,” Altuve said.

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This article originally published at Nothing comes easy for these Astros but they still control their fate in AL West despite ugly loss.