The Astros "in a Good Spot" Despite Failing to Capitalize in Oakland.

By Gordon Liang

9/27/2021

The Astros trimmed their magic number to three last Wednesday night. A fifth straight postseason seemed inevitable that night as they were set to clinch on Friday night at the earliest. Four days, four games and four losses later, the playoffs are still high but the Oakland Athletics certainly did their job last weekend by sweeping the Astros and delaying the inevitable (not only for the Astros but for themselves as well as their elimination number still sat at one all series). The Astros’ magic number with six games left is at two and their competition, the Seattle Mariners, are on their hottest tear all season.

The Astros headed into Oakland with a 9-4 record against the inferior bay area team and they didn’t look to be slowing down early on. Four pitches in, the Astros had a runner on third with no outs as second-baseman Jose Altuve reached on a rare error by the best defensive third-baseman in the league Matt Chapman. Altuve scored on a sacrifice fly but that was all the Astros were able to collect from Frankie Montas in the first. Altuve struck again in the third inning with a solo homerun off Montas to put the Astros up 2-0. Brandon Bielak, who hadn’t allowed an earned run in 12.2 innings pitched heading into the game, had an inning to forget as he allowed three runs in his last inning of the night to put the Athletics ahead. Peter Solomon took over and continued his very impressive start to the major leagues going three scoreless innings. If Solomon can keep up anything close to his current performance he’ll be a force to be reckoned with. Right after Solomon’s night was done, the Athletics pounced and rallied for six runs in a loud seventh inning highlighted by Chad Pinder’s pinch-hit grand slam. The Athletics put on an encore in the eighth by scoring five runs off their former prospect Seth Martinez and that was all she wrote.

Game two had the exact opposite yet still familiar feel. Framber Valdez and Sean Manaea put on a showcase for their respective team. Like on Friday, Altuve led off the game with a bang hitting a first pitch double down the line to start the game by getting into scoring position for a second straight game. Manaea instantly flipped a switch and stranded Altuve at third base after he advanced on Alex Bregman’s sacrifice fly. Both offenses were quiet until Kyle Tucker golfed a sinker over the wall to put the Astros up 1-0. Just like the night before, the homerun lost meaning quickly. Valdez, who had been struggling to find his command since the sticky stuff crackdown, was cruising through five innings. After allowing a one-out single to Khris Davis and getting the next hitter to flyout in the sixth, Valdez found himself one pitch away from seven shutout innings.

He was sharp. Maybe too sharp. Valdez’s last pitch of the game was a curveball that hit ninth hitter Elvis Andrus to put the tying run into scoring position. In came Kendall Graveman who allowed a slow blooper that tied the game. Of all the blown saves Graveman had in Houston, this might’ve been his unluckiest as the game-tying single was hit no more than 60 miles per hour. Valdez finished his day with 6.2 innings pitched allowing just one run on three hits. Manaea ended his day with seven innings of one-run baseball, also allowing three hits. The Athletics later walked off in the ninth off a double from Starling Marte. The Athletics won the game but lost a player as Andrus needed help walking off the field after walking off the game.

Sunday’s game wasn’t any less heartbreaking. The Astros fell behind early on former-Astro Tony Kemp’s single up the middle off Jake Odorizzi, who was making his first start since hitting the Injured List. Odorizzi found himself in another jam the next inning but saw his way out. Harrison flew out to Chas McCormick and he was the only hitter to see Odorizzi a third time. Cristian Javier took the mound and he was sharp until he wasn’t. In his first inning of work he struck out the side and watched his team take the lead on Bregman’s leadoff homerun off Deolis Gueraa and Yuli Gurriel bolstered the lead on a double to score Yordan Alvarez from first base. Now pitching with a lead, Javier remained sharp, striking out two and getting the last hitter to pop out in foul territory. The seventh inning was a different story. He allowed a single to Kemp to lead off the inning and hit Yan Gomes to follow up. Suddenly the 8th and 9th hitters were on base with the top of the order due up. Vimael Machin pinch hit for Josh Harrison as the Athletics lost their second shortstop in as many days. A bunt put both runners in scoring position and a groundout by Marte put the Athletics within one. Phil Maton entered the game to face Matt Olson who drew a five-pitch walk bringing Mark Canha to the plate. Canha tied the game on a ground ball that Bregman mishandled. It was ruled a single somehow. The game was quiet until the ninth inning. After a very costly baserunning error from rookie Jose Siri, the Athletics found themselves in a spot to walk off for a second consecutive game. Machin was up to bunt yet again with . He laid one near Gurriel who wanted a double play. The attempt was futile and disastrous and Gurriel's dive deflected the bunt and instead of a double play, the Astros had no play. Canha walked it off on a double and the Athletics had their first sweep of the Astros since 2020.

The Astros were not worried after the game as they’re still heavily favored to clinch the AL West. They did trim their magic number to two when the Los Angeles Angels put the Mariners on blast Saturday night.

Per Danielle Lerner, Odorizzi said, “Nobody on our side is really panicking about this right now. We’re in a good spot.” Barring a tiebreaker situation, the Astros would have to go 1-5 and the Mariners would need to win every game in order for the Astros to miss the playoffs.