Houston just got absolutely drubbed, losing 14-4 on Sunday and getting swept by the Tampa Bay Rays, sending them tumbling back to a 75-75 record and shrinking their AL West lead to a terrifying 1½ games over the Rangers. With only 12 games left in their season, this was the absolute last thing the Astros needed, especially facing down the AL’s first playoff entrant.
One Ball Dropped, Everything Else Fell Apart
This whole mess kicked off with an error that felt like it doomed them from the jump. Jeremy Peña, usually a sure-handed shortstop, drifted under a pop-up in the third inning, put his glove by his left ear, and the ball just glanced off it, dropping to the turf. Isaac Paredes had already turned for the dugout, thinking the inning was over. Nope. A run scored on what should have been the final out. Then, Richie Palacios parked the very next pitch from Hayden Wesneski in the right-field seats, and just like that, a taut game turned into a full-blown rout.
Wesneski, who has been solid since elbow surgery, was cooked. He gave up three runs in the first and then four unearned runs in the third, three of those on Palacios’ homer. Then the bullpen got absolutely shelled, with the Rays piling on seven more runs off relievers. Brady Hopkins, making his MLB debut, gave up a two-run homer to Paredes in the sixth, which at least ended the Rays’ no-hit bid. Ronel Blanco worked the final 4⅓ innings but still got touched up for two two-run homers by Nick Fortes and Jonathan Aranda. Aranda then hit another two-run shot off Enyel De Los Santos. The Rays hammered out 15 hits, with Houston allowing more in just two other games this season. Manager Joe Espada even started emptying his bench in the sixth, pulling Peña and Alvarez for pinch-hitters and Christian Walker and Daulton Varsho for defense, all for “additional rest.” That’s how bad it was.
Houston’s Bat Went Cold Just When It Mattered Most
While the pitching had a nightmare, the lineup was utterly punchless for most of the series. They scored a pathetic seven runs across three games. Yordan Alvarez was missing for the first two, but even with him back on Sunday, the Astros went hitless until the sixth inning. When they finally did connect, it was too late to matter. They mustered only four hits on Sunday, three of which were home runs by Isaac Paredes (a two-run shot), Nick Allen, and Nelson Velázquez, all solo blasts with the game completely out of reach.
The Astros see themselves as contenders, and they had recent series wins against solid teams like the Yankees, White Sox, and Phillies that backed that up. But this weekend? This performance did absolutely nothing to strengthen their case against the AL’s best.
With just two weeks and 12 games left, Houston left Tropicana Field facing the possibility of its division lead dwindling to just one game. They proved they could hang with contenders, but this weekend was a disaster. They absolutely need to play better than this to salvage their season.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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