Astros Diagnosis: Critical. Fall to Athletics 5-1

This is the Astros’ season in a nutshell.

The Athletics opened the scoring in the bottom of the first on this play, and right then you saw the season melting….melting….melting away.

The Astros did get the run back in the second —only one— after loading the bases with no outs. Cam Smith knocked in the run with a sacrifice fly.

Here’s how the As scored their second run.

That was pretty much it….For the game. And the season.

Those teams ahead of the Astros in the Division and WC standings all won: the Mariners, Tigers, Red Sox, and Guardians. One more Astros loss or one more Mariner win clinches the AL West for the Seattle boys. The Astros are now one game behind the Guardians and Tigers for the third WC position and two games behind the Red Sox, and the Astros lose the tie-breaker to all three teams.

In the middle of a four-game losing streak in games that mean everything, it feels like the Astros have quit. The Astros only had three hits. Starter Cristian Javier allowed four runs *three earned) in 4.2 IP.

For the last eight years, we’ve witnessed amazing heroism from the World Champion Astros. It doesn’t look like there will be any magic this year. This year, the music died.

Box Score Here.