HOUSTON -- When Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez strolled to the plate in the eighth inning while representing the tying run Wednesday night, not only did the fans who remained in the stands at Daikin Park start making some noise, closer Josh Hader began moving around in the bullpen in anticipation of a save opportunity that seemed unlikely only a few minutes earlier.
“You never know,” Hader said. "Baseball's a crazy sport. It was unbelievable. What a comeback, right?”
Indeed. The Astros pulled off their best comeback of the season by rallying from five runs down, scoring twice in the seventh inning and six times after two outs in the eighth, to stun the Pirates with an 11-9 victory. Houston had been 0-32 when trailing after seven innings this season.
Hader, who was activated from the injured list prior to Tuesday’s game, took a big league mound in the ninth for the first time in 10 months and retired three of the four batters he faced for his first save of the season and 228th of his career. His return, complete with the dimming of ballparks, flames on the scoreboard and menacing music, signaled Hader is back.
The eighth-inning comeback is a sign that perhaps the Astros are on their way back, too.
“The guys wanted to see Hader in the game,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “The fight in this group, man. … That was an unbelievable performance. We never quit, we played 27 outs, never out of the ballgame. That rally was all with two outs. Just the fight in this group. This is a big win, and Hader coming in and the whole light show, that was fun.”
The Pirates led, 8-3, after scoring three times in the seventh, including a two-run homer by Nick Gonzales, but a two-run homer by Isaac Paredes in the bottom of the inning kept the Astros close at 8-5 heading to the eighth.
Trailing, 9-5, the Astros had two outs and no runners on base in the eighth, and the Pirates had a 98 percent win probability, according to FanGraphs, after Brice Matthews struck out for the second out. The next eight Houston batters reached base, including back-to-back doubles by Nick Allen and Christian Vázquez and Alvarez’s fourth single of the game.
Christian Walker legged out an RBI infield single to cut the lead to 9-8, and pinch-runner Zach Cole scored on a wild pitch from Pittsburgh closer Gregory Soto on ball four to Paredes to tie the game. Cam Smith then shot a two-run triple down the right-field line to score Walker and Paredes and put the Astros ahead, 11-9.
The comeback was complete.
“A roller coaster, but we did it,” Smith said. “We came out on the other side. I love how we fight, I love how we compete. It was a long game, but it was fun.”
The game had been billed as a pitchers’ duel between the Astros’ Spencer Arrighetti, who was named American League Pitcher of the Month for May earlier Wednesday, and Pirates ace Paul Skenes, the reigning National League Cy Young winner. Neither pitcher could finish five innings, though.
Arrighetti gave up a grand slam in the fourth to nine-hole hitter Henry Davis, but the way the Astros forced Skenes to throw 109 pitches in 4 2/3 innings and get into the bullpen early paid off. The Pirates were forced to use Soto for the second night in a row and he allowed all four batters he faced to reach.
“There’s a lot of things that put us in a better spot for tomorrow and it all starts with us grinding at-bats through Skenes and getting to the bullpen,” Espada said.
Hader’s return from the IL -- and the pending returns of injured stars Jose Altuve and Hunter Brown -- have the Astros thinking they can make a playoff push. Pulling off an improbable rally with a string of terrific at-bats and a never-say-die mentality at the plate might be the springboard.
“We needed this,” Hader said. “It was huge. Just great at-bats from the guys, grinding at-bats, making them work. Shrinking the zone and getting pitches they can drive and making plays happen.”