HOUSTON -- The charter flight to Cleveland following Sunday’s 7-5, 10-inning loss to the Cardinals at Daikin Park will give the Astros a chance for some internal conversations, if not an opportunity to totally wash away a tough homestand that came on the heels of a disastrous road trip.
Not much is going right for the Astros these days, including too many costly walks and hit batters, defensive miscues and missed opportunities at the plate. The players will remind you that it’s early in the season and they have enough talent to get it turned around -- familiar talking points for any team that’s struggling in mid-April.
The Astros suffered their fourth consecutive loss Sunday, when they came back from three runs down in the eighth inning to force extras, only to lose the game in the 10th on a three-run double by Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn. A fielding error by rookie Brice Matthews at third base and a hit batter by reliever Bryan King loaded the bases for Winn, who went 5-for-15 with seven RBIs in the series against his hometown club.
“We have to analyze more and see where everything is going wrong in terms of pretty much everything,” Astros shortstop Carlos Correa said. “The offense was shut down, I feel like. We definitely have to look at each other in the mirror and see what things we can do better.”
After starting the season 6-3, the Astros have gone 2-12 while enduring a rash of injuries to important players, including four starting pitchers and three key position players landing on the injured list. It’s taken a toll, especially on a pitching staff that has had only four starters finish six innings in 23 games.
Mike Burrows, one of the handful of pitchers Astros general manager Dana Brown acquired this offseason to bolster the team’s pitching depth, looked like he was primed for Houston’s best start of the season Sunday. He retired the first 14 batters he faced before five consecutive Cardinals reached in the fifth, with four of them scoring to put St. Louis ahead, 4-1.
Yordan Alvarez’s Major League-leading 10th homer and a two-run single by Isaac Paredes in the eighth inning tied the game before the Cardinals pushed three across in the 10th.
“It seemed like the first two games we played in the homestand, things were getting better and then the Cardinals came in and completely dominated in every part of the game,” Correa said. “We just have to definitely look at this series and start making adjustments.”
Matthews, the rookie who made his debut last year, entered the game as a pinch-runner for Paredes in the eighth and was promptly picked off first. He took over for Paredes at third in the ninth and misplayed a grounder off the bat of Jordan Walker in the 10th. King then plunked Ramón Urías to load the bases for Winn.
Matthews said it’s a play he should make “a hundred times out of hundred,” but that’s not the way things are working out for the Astros.
“Mental mistakes, [stuff] that can’t happen, stuff that doesn’t normally happen, but we’ve got to figure it out,” Matthews said. “We’ve got to play better. Nobody likes playing like this and it’s frustrating, but we’ve got a game tomorrow so we‘ve got to get ready for that.”
When asked about the play, Astros manager Joe Espada chose to focus on the positive.
“I like to focus on the fact that we fought to the end,” he said. “Our offense stayed in the game and we had a shot to win the game, and that's important for us to continue to compete and continue to stay within reach to win those games.”
The Astros started 7-19 two years ago and rallied to win the AL West, but that felt like an underachieving team that was waiting to hit its stride. This year’s team has more issues to overcome, beginning with finding a way to stabilize a starting rotation that’s been rocked by injuries and the adverse effect that has had on the bullpen.
The baseball calendar doesn’t stop. The Astros will open a three-game series Monday in Cleveland, where Houston will try to snap an eight-game road losing streak.
“I think there's a lot more we can give, and a lot better baseball we can play,” Correa said. “It’s a game of adjustments, and we’ve got to start making them.”