Jose Altuve goes hitless in series as Astros make pitch to halt AL West drop
Last-place Houston has a problem, well, several of them with its pitching staff.
Jose Altuve goes hitless in series as Astros make pitch to halt AL West drop originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . Jose Altuve looked frustrated.
Nothing appeared to be going right for the Houston Astros second baseman . Attempting to protect a 2-0 advantage in the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday, Altuve pivoted and reached out to snare Daniel Schneemann's sharp one-out grounder. Altuve booted the attempt.
Although ruled a single, the effort was one Altuve often executes. What likely aggravated Altuve more was that his defense couldn't make up for his offense. Altuve failed to generate a hit during the three-game MLB series at Progressive Field, going 0-for-14.
Most MLB insiders believed the Astros' pitching staff would hamper the team's quest to compete in the AL West, but few could have predicted this big a falloff. Fifteen games into the season, the Astros led the league with a 146 team wRC+, but they dropped six straight and were 6-9. The losing streak reached eight games following a 6-2 road loss to the Seattle Mariners .