'We're better than that': 'Pen squanders Astros' hard-earned lead

HOUSTON -- The Astros, as has been the case in a few games this year, had their bullpen lined up pretty much the way they wanted it Sunday afternoon. After taking the lead over the Mariners in the seventh inning, Houston had Bryan Abreu for the eighth inning and Josh Hader for the ninth -- and a 75 percent win probability.

And as has been the case in a few games this season, the Astros’ best-laid plans just didn’t work.

Abreu hit the second hitter he faced in the eighth, which led to the game-tying run being scored one batter later, and Hader gave up a one-out homer to Cal Raleigh in the ninth that sent the Astros to a 5-4 loss to the Mariners in the series finale at Minute Maid Park. Houston fell to 1-9 in one-run games this season.

“It sucks,” manager Joe Espada said. “Because that’s kind of the way you plan for the game, and you get there and you’ve got the guys you believe in, and I keep believing in those guys because those guys are really good. We’ve just got to get the job done and put guys away. We’re better than that.”

Mariners starter Bryce Miller carried a two-hit shutout into the sixth inning before giving up two-run homers to Kyle Tucker in that frame and Jon Singleton in the seventh. Singleton’s blast put the Astros ahead, 4-3, and snapped Seattle’s club-record streak of 21 consecutive games with the starting pitcher allowing two or fewer earned runs.

Abreu struck out Luke Raley to start the eighth before hitting Dylan Moore with the next pitch. A balk pushed Moore to second, and Luis Urías’ RBI single tied the game. The blown save was the second of the year for Abreu, who has a 4.32 ERA.

“You just don’t see Bryan [on the] first pitch missing that bad with a fastball,” Espada said. “That’s just not who he is. He’s working on his mechanics. We’re trying different things, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to execute and we’ve got to get outs.”

The game was tied with one out in the ninth when Hader got ahead of Raleigh, 0-2, with two sliders. Then, a sinker caught too much of the plate, and Raleigh sent it into the Crawford Boxes to put Seattle ahead.

"I was looking for a fastball, trying to protect, and he left it in the middle,” Raleigh said. “I was looking for the heater the whole at-bat and [would] adjust to anything else. He made two good pitches before that. I didn't come off my plan, and he left it in the middle of the plate and I got to it."

Hader said there was no guarantee a third consecutive slider would have been as effective against Raleigh as the first two pitches of the at-bat were.

“There’s always that second guess that I could have thrown a slider, but I could have hung a slider and he could have hit it out, too,” he said. “Obviously, it’s always easier to second guess once the damage is done. Just didn’t execute my pitch. At the end of the day, execute your pitches, and sometimes they work out for you.”

The Astros were without Ryan Pressly because of his recent workload, so they turned to Abreu in the eighth instead. Abreu, Pressly and Hader, who signed a five-year, $95 million contract with Houston in January, were perhaps the most feared back-end bullpen trio entering the season. The Astros have eight blown saves and three saves converted through 34 games.

“It’s baseball, man,” Hader said. “Nothing’s ever easy in this game. You can write it up and say on paper [that] it always looks easier, but you’ve got to go out there and do what you do and execute and do everything in your power to do it. Obviously, it hasn’t fallen our way. We do what we do, we put in the work, we stick to our routines, and eventually it will turn around for us.”

The Astros haven’t had many leads in the ninth, so Hader has been called upon in games the club has been trailing or tied more than it’s been ahead. He’s been pitching out of his closer role for much of the year but has a 6.14 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP through 14 2/3 innings.

“We’ve got a tough team coming up [at the Yankees on Tuesday], but these guys are all fighters in this room,” Hader said. “We’re going to show up and play good baseball.”