Jose Altuve had a couple Hall of Fame moments on Wednesday, while the Rockies lacked any game-changing ones of their own.
Houston’s star second baseman laid down a crafty bunt in the opening inning that helped the Astros take an early lead, and then delivered a two-out, two-RBI single later in the game that passed Jeff Bagwell on the club’s all-time hits list and ended up being the difference in the game.
That led to a 5-3 defeat for Colorado at Coors Field. With that, the Rockies dropped to 19-67 — remaining on pace to eclipse the 2024 White Sox’s modern record of 121 losses — and are now 8-34 at home, the worst home record in the majors.
“That bunt game has always been part of (Altuve’s) game,” interim manager Warren Schaeffer said. “And then in the sixth, that’s the matchup we wanted against (Jake Bird). Altuve just got the job done. He’s a really good player.”
The Astros struck first in the opening inning. Jake Meyers roped a double, then Altuve laid down bunt single to the left side of the infield, recognizing that third baseman Ryan McMahon was playing extremely deep. That advanced Meyers to third, and then he scored on Cam Smith’s single.
“He did that to me last year, too, two times,” starting pitcher Austin Gomber said. “Situationally, it was a good play with a guy in scoring position. I don’t think anybody was expecting him to lay down a bunt there, with his abilitiy to drive in runs. It was great execution, and that’s why he’s (possibly) going to have 3,000 hits one day.”
Houston added on off Gomber in the second via Shay Whitcomb’s no-doubt homer 451-feet to left-center on a piped fastball. It was Whitcomb’s first career homer and the longest homer by an Astro this season.
But Mikey Moniak erased the deficit in the bottom of the frame with his own long ball, a 420-foot two-run homer to center off Houston’s Hunter Brown. It was the one shining moment for Colorado’s offense all night.
Three quiet innings followed before Houston re-asserted control of the game with a three-run sixth off Colorado’s bullpen combo of Angel Chivilli and Jake Bird. Gomber finished with two earned runs over five innings, with eight hits, a walk and a strikeout on 78 pitches.
Gomber said he was satisfied with how he “was able to pull it together there in the middle innings and keep us in the game.” Schaeffer agreed.
“The first two innings he didn’t have the stuff he wanted to, but he settled in and gave us a professional outing,” Schaeffer said.
The Astros notched a single and a walk off Chivilli, then manager Warren Schaeffer tabbed Jake Bird, the normally reliable right-hander who has been struggling lately with a 7.45 ERA in his last nine games.
Bird plunked the first batter his faced, Meyers, with a fastball. Then Altuve, hit a two-out single to center to score two. It was the second baseman’s 2,315th career hit, surpassing Bagwell (fellow Hall of Famer Craig Biggio holds the franchise’s top mark with 3,060) and giving Houston a 4-2 lead.
The Astros added on the next batter, when Smith roped a liner back at Bird’s feet. It deflected off the pitcher and allowed Meyers to score to make it 5-2.
Houston almost plated another run in the seventh off Tyler Kinley, but the slow-running Cooper Hummel was hosed at the plate off an impressive outfield relay. Yanquiel Fernández, making his MLB debut in right field, threw the ball to second baseman Thairo Estrada, who delivered a perfect strike to catcher Hunter Goodman.
“The assist was good to see, because that’s what he’s got in him, a nice, strong arm,” Schaeffer said. “And he got himself into a couple good counts to hit in during his first two ABs. It’s good to see him out there, get the blood flowing and get that first one out of the way.”
Fernández, the first Cuban player to debut for the Rockies, finished 0 for 3 with a strikeout at the plate in his debut.
“It feels good to get in the rhythm of being up here,” Fernández said. “And it feels good to get the debut out of the way.”
But while the defense bowed up and the bullpen locked down, the Colorado offense couldn’t get anything significant going down the stretch.
The Rockies only mustered one baserunner in two innings against the Astros’ bullpen combination of Steven Okert and Kaleb Ort, but made things interesting in the ninth against southpaw Bennett Sousa.
Brenton Doyle and Michael Toglia hit identical bloop singles to right, but then Kyle Farmer grounded into a double play — started by who else but Altuve — and then Tyler Freeman K’d to end the game and limit the damage to one run.
In Thursday’s matinee, the Rockies will look to avoid being swept for the 13th time this season. Colorado played better in June, with its 10 wins more than the club had in April and May combined, but the Rockies have taken a step back to start July.
“Players are definitely frustrated,” Gomber said. “We’re playing a better brand of baseball lately, and we’re in it most nights, it just hasn’t gone our way. But the fight is there — Sunday in Milwaukee (coming back to win in extras) showed that, because we could’ve easily rolled over there, and we didn’t.”
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Thursday’s pitching matchup
Astros LHP Brandon Walter (1-1, 3.34 ERA) at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (1-9, 5.56)
1:10 p.m. Thursday, Coors Field
TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region); MLB Network.
Radio: 850 AM, 94.1 FM
Trending: Hitters are keyed in on Kyle Freeland more than at any point in his career. Freeland’s XBA (expected batting average) of .302 is the highest it’s been in his nine-year tenure with the Rockies, and ranks in the bottom 3% of all MLB pitchers. Hitters are also finding the launch angle sweet spot against him a career-worst 37% of the time.
Pitching probables
Friday: White Sox RHP Adrian Houser (3-2, 1.90) at Rockies RHP Antonio Senzatela (3-11, 6.69), 6:10 p.m.
Saturday: White Sox RHP Jonathan Cannon (2-7, 4.59) at Rockies RHP German Marquez (3-9, 5.62), 7:10 p.m.
Sunday: White Sox RHP Shane Smith (3-6, 3.86) at Rockies RHP Chase Dollander (2-9, 6.65), 1:10 p.m.
— Kyle Newman, The Denver Post