Initial Optimism
Last night's game against the Mariners started with a lot of promise for our Houston Astros. In the bottom of the 1st inning, Jeremy Peña was hit by a pitch and showed some aggressive baserunning by stealing both second and third! Although Jon Singleton earned a walk and Victor Caratini struck out, it seemed like we had the Mariners on their heels early on. We were oh-so-close to making something happen right from the get-go!
Leading Through Three
We finally broke the deadlock in the bottom of the 3rd. Jon Singleton hit a ground rule double and then scored thanks to a Victor Caratini single and a throwing error by Mariners’ center fielder, Julio Rodríguez. Caratini advanced to second on the error, bringing that first run home and giving us a 1-0 lead! This was the kind of gritty performance we’ve come to expect from the Astros.
Mid-Game Woes
Things took a turn for the worse in the top of the 6th when our third baseman, Shay Whitcomb, made a fielding error that allowed Dylan Moore to reach base. It snowballed from there as Victor Robles and Julio Rodríguez got on base. The Mariners capitalized with Justin Turner knocking in a couple of runs, and we suddenly found ourselves down 2-1.
Late Inning Collapse
The game really slipped away from us in the 7th inning. Mitch Garver homered off Ronel Blanco to extend their lead. Further fielding errors by Whitcomb added to our misery. With runs pouring in, our Astros found themselves trailing 5-1 by the middle of the 7th inning. The Mariners didn't let up, adding three more runs in the 9th inning to secure an 8-1 lead. Ouch.A Gloomy Ending
The bottom of the 9th inning saw no resurgence from our bats. César Salazar, Jason Heyward, and Shay Whitcomb were all retired to end what was an ultimately disappointing night for our Astros. This game is a tough pill to swallow, but let’s hope we can regroup and come back stronger next time!
Final Thoughts
One of the glaring points of our loss was the defensive errors; those errors killed our momentum and gave the Mariners free runs. While Jeremy Peña and Jon Singleton had some standout moments, it's clear we need more consistency up and down the lineup. Let’s not get disheartened Astros fans; there's still plenty of baseball left this season!
Let’s go, Astros!
Scoreboard for Mariners @ Astros (September 25th, 2024)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 1 |