The Houston Astros did all they could to go up 2-0 in the road series against the San Diego Padres, but ultimately lost in a close 3-2 game.
The Houston Astros entered the matchup on Saturday night hoping to go up 2-0 in this road series against the San Diego Padres, but were unable to as they fell in a tight 3-2 ball game.
With that said, it is time to recap what happened on Saturday, and see what the Astros can do to bounce back.
In Saturday night's game, the starting pitching matchup was between Peter Lambert for the Astros and Michael King for the Padres.
For the Astros, Lambert gave up three runs in the first five innings but was able to get three strikeouts. However, the bright side is the fact that the rest of the Astros' pitchers did not allow a single hit in the final four innings, which could help them to create momentum for Sunday.
On the Padres' side, King allowed just one run in his six innings pitched while also adding six strikeouts, which put the Padres in a solid position heading into the seventh inning. The rest of the Padres' pitchers did a good job as they allowed just one run and combined for five strikeouts, with Mason Miller earning the save.
In terms of the scoring, the first inning saw Jackson Merrill of the Padres hit a fielder's choice to the right side of the field, which brought Fernando Tatis Jr. home to give San Diego a 1-0 lead.
The second inning saw a response from the Astros as Taylor Trammell hit a home run to right center field, which evened the game at 1-1. In the third inning, Merrill struck again as he hit a home run to center field and put the Padres back on top with a 2-1 advantage.
The Padres' final run of the night came in the fourth inning as Gavin Sheets scored on an error by Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena, which extended the San Diego lead to 3-1. In the ninth inning, the Astros added another run on a single hit from Yainer Diaz that brought Christian Walker home and trimmed the lead to 3-2.
After cutting the advantage to a single run, Lamonte Wade Jr. was grounded out at third, which ended the game and tied the series heading into Sunday's third and final matchup.
Looking at how Saturday's game turned out, it was a tough loss for the Astros, but there are still some good takeaways.
The first positive being that they held a shutout after the fifth inning, and have an opportunity to replicate that success tonight. Additionally, if the Astros can clean up the errors, that would have taken a run off the board, and after a one-run loss, that should be an area of focus for Houston.
On the other hand, the Astros may also be hoping to get a little bit more from Yordan Alvarez, who leads the MLB in batting average with a .325. In this series, Alvarez does have an RBI, a walk, and was able to score a run, but as one of the best batters in the MLB, he does need to step up in tight games when the Astros need a run.
If Alvarez can step up tonight and potentially hit one out of the park, that could be the difference in this series being won by Houston or San Diego.
Looking ahead to the final matchup of the series, the starting pitchers will be Cristian Javier for the Astros and Randy Vasquez for the Padres. Javier currently holds a record of 1-2 on the season compared to Vasquez's record of 7-6, so it will be interesting to see which pitcher can make the biggest impact and potentially shut down the opposing offense.
For the Astros being able to win tonight's game would be huge to create momentum, but could help Houston to create the separation they need in the standings.
As of now the Astros have a 0.5 game lead over the Texas Rangers and a four game lead over the Seattle Mariners for the lead in the AL West, meaning that from this point forward each game gets more and more important for postseason standings.
If the Astros are able to win tonight, that not only gives them the chance to win a hard-fought series against the Padres, but also puts them in a position to build on that momentum as they prepare for another three-game series against the San Francisco Giants starting Monday night.
