Somewhat buried in the Astros’ second consecutive last-at-bat win was the late-inning defense that facilitated the need for Houston to rally against the Kansas City Royals in the first place.
Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena committed a fielding error leading off the ninth inning on Friday that set the table for Royals third baseman Paul DeJong to hit a game-tying, two-run home run off Houston closer Josh Hader. The reliever nevertheless earned the victory after the Astros recorded a walk-off, 3-2 victory on an RBI double by Jose Altuve in the ninth that secured at worst a split of this four-game weekend series.
The two teams will meet again Saturday night in Houston.
Pena committed a one-out fielding error in the seventh inning on Thursday that fueled the Royals’ three-run frame, an uprising that erased the Astros’ 2-0 lead. Houston rallied for a 6-3 victory with four runs in the bottom of the eighth, but when Pena erred again in the second game of the series, it bumped his season total to 18 errors. He committed 14 in 150 games last season.
“If there is someone that I want a ground ball to go to in any inning, it’s Jeremy Pena,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “There’s a reason why he’s a Gold Glove shortstop. There’s a reason why he’s the shortstop for this team, and he will be for many, many years. He’s a really reliable, solid shortstop.
“You go through stretches where stuff happens. (Saturday) he’s going to be playing shortstop for the Houston Astros because he is one of the best in the game.”
Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (6-9, 4.39 ERA) is the scheduled starter for Houston on Saturday. He did not factor into the decision of a 6-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday after allowing three runs on two hits and three walks with four strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings.
The Astros improved to 5-0 with Kikuchi as the starter since his July 29 acquisition, and Kikuchi is 2-0 with a 2.89 ERA and 35 strikeouts over 28 innings following his trade from the Toronto Blue Jays.
Kikuchi is 2-2 with a 5.80 ERA over eight career starts against the Royals. In his most recent appearance against them, Kikuchi allowed two runs on five hits with four strikeouts over six innings in a 5-3 road win for the Blue Jays on April 22.
Left-hander Cole Ragans (10-8, 3.28 ERA) has the starting assignment for the Royals on Saturday. He did not factor into the decision of a 4-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Monday after allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits and a season-high-tying four walks with four strikeouts over four innings.
In his third major league season, Ragans has set career highs in wins, starts (27) and strikeouts (187), and has 12 quality starts over his past 18 outings with a 2.85 ERA.
Ragans is 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA in six career appearances (five starts) against the Astros. In his most recent start against them on April 9, Ragans allowed three runs on 10 hits and one walks with five strikeouts over five innings in a 4-3 home victory. He did not figure into the decision.
Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino will undergo surgery to repair a broken right thumb sustained in the eighth inning on Thursday and be sidelined for six to eight weeks. Pasquantino, whose 97 RBIs pace the club, suffered the injury during a collision with the Astros’ Yainer Diaz.
Salvador Perez manned first base on Friday. Royals manager Matt Quatraro said he will rotate players at the position with Pasquantino sidelined.
“That team concept has to continue,” Quatraro said. “No one person is going to carry the weight of Vinnie on a daily basis, but we have plenty of good major league players here to contribute to winning baseball.”
–Field Level Media
