Rally Comes Up Short as Astros Fall 3-2 to Padres in San Diego

It was set up to be a solid pitching matchup, with Astros SP Peter Lambert (entered game with 3.06 ERA) and Padres SP Michael King (entered game with 3.45 ERA) taking the mound today. Those two held up their end of the deal for a terrific matchup today at Petco Park.

The Astros offense, however, did not.

Houston’s bats were held to just 5 hits while striking out 11 times in a game they were able to muster only 2 runs, as the fell to the Padres in San Diego 3-1.

Houston scored it’s first run on a solo HR by Taylor Trammell in the 2nd. Trammell’s 7th HR of the season tied the game at 1 after San Diego scratched a run against Lambert (L, 8-6) in the bottom of the 1st. It was the only run King (W, 7-8) would allow.

Two walks in the first inning sandwiching a hit let to a sacrifice fly by Jackson Merrill to score Fernando Tatis Jr. in the first to give the Padres the lead. Trammell’s solo HR answered that run to tie the game at 1.

In the bottom of the 3rd, Merrill would get Lambert again, this time for a solo HR. Merrill’s 17th homer of the season made it 2-1 Padres.

In the bottom of the 4th, Gavin Sheets would lead off with a swinging bunt for a single. Two groundouts would advance him to 3rd. Tatis would then hit a grounder to short that should have ended the inning, but an error by Jeremy Pena allowed Tatis to reach and Sheets to score to make it a 3-1 Padres lead.

In the 9th the Padres would send their closer Mason Miller (S, 29) to the mound. Miller has established himself as one of the best closers in the game thanks to his 100+MPH heat.

Christian Walker would lead off the 9th and be hit by a 101.6 MPH fastball on the hand. He would stay in the game, and then advance to 2nd on a wild pitch. Daulton Varsho grounded out, advancing Walker to 3rd with 1 out. Cam Smith would go down looking at a slider for the second out.

Yainer Diaz then poked a single to left to score Walker to close the gap to 3-2. LaMonte Wade Jr. would then pinch hit for Jake Meyers, but he would ground to 3rd to end the game.

News & Notes:

Cristian Javier will get the start Sunday for the Astros in the series finale.

Yordan Alvarez entered play today leading MLB in AVG and HR. He leads the AL in RBI. No player has led MLB in all 3 categories since Mickey Mantle in 1956.

According to reports, the Astros are seeking a right handed outfield bat. Austin Hays, Rob Refsnyder and Jorge Soler are considered candidates, according to Chandler Rome.

Mike Burrows threw 55 pitches in three innings at the Astros complex today. He is scheduled to make a rehab start for Triple-A Sugar Land next week according to Rome.