Houston 8, St. Louis 5: Astros beat old foe.

June is the time of year when the pretenders start to separate from the pack or the pretenders come back down to earth. It’s common for mediocre teams to have a good month or even two, but after about 80 games you usually know who the good teams are. After two months of baseball, the Astros are off to a bad start, but wins like tonight will keep fans interested, even hopeful.

The night got off to an inauspicious start, as the Cardinals got on board in the top of the first with a solo home run by Alec Burleson; However, the Cardinals wouldn’t hold the lead for long.

Late in the first period, after a run, Altuve and Bregman found themselves in scoring position with no outs. Yordan would have liked to drive both, but he still managed to bring Altuve home from third via a slow pitch. No points would have been scored if he had smoked a line into third place; baseball is a weird game.

Later in the inning, Jake Meyers drove in a run via another weak ground ball to first base, giving the Astros their first lead. They wouldn’t give it up.

Spencer Arrighetti wasn’t very good today, but you kind of have to give him some breathing room because he took a hard hit to his left calf in the second half. He managed to hold on for three rounds, but it was clear he wasn’t 100%.

Spencer allowed just one earned run in three innings, but it was more luck than skill as he walked three and allowed two more hits after the first homer. He generated a good number of whiffs, however, and his CSW% was an encouraging 33%. To be an innings-eating back-of-the-rotation starter, he will need to reduce his walk rate.

The offense had its best run in the bottom of the third. Jeremy Pena hit a double rocket to right to make it 3-1. Check it out below.

Pena doesn’t have to be a great hitter to be a valuable player. As an elite defensive shortstop, he can be average at the plate while producing three wins above replacement. If he can become a consistently above-average hitter, then he will be a perineum star player. He’s hitting very well this year, but he’s always had the ability to hit very well in small samples, the real test will be whether he can continue that success over a long season.
Yanier Diaz, another promising young Astro, extended the lead to five with a three-run homer later in the 3rd.

The Cardinals made a good comeback in the late innings with two home runs, but their win probability never exceeded 20%.

Pressley entered the game in the ninth in an attempt to earn his first save of the season. RP the RP, made a vintage outing, striking out one without allowing a baserunner or any hard contact. He hasn’t had good results this season, but a lot of that is due to bad luck since his FIP and XFIP are both below three.

Final score: Astros 8, Cards 5.

Comments:

This month is an inflection point for Houston’s season and they need to solidify their first base position. The Astros are hoping Abreu can return to his old self, but that seems like wishful thinking at this point. Father Time is undefeated.

Kyle Gibson made less money than Hader this offseason and, while he doesn’t light the world on fire, he provides something the Astros really need right now: starting pitching depth.
As much as fans hated to see Jake Ordorizzi pitching in 2022, he would have been much more valuable to the Astros if they hadn’t been so healthy that year. With the injuries the Astros have struggled with this season, I imagine Crane and Co would probably want to invest more in pitching depth this past offseason.