Inside Astros' hellish road trip: More than just injuries. Poor pitching and old habits at bat

SEATTLE — The Houston Astros boarded their charter home Monday night carrying the weight of eight consecutive losses, a 1-9 road trip, and the sobering realization that the problems run deeper than the growing injury list that has already claimed three starting pitchers, their star shortstop, and starting center fielder.

Sunday’s news that Opening-Day starter Hunter Brown was headed to the injured list with an undisclosed ailment set the tone for a week in which the Astros also lost Cristian Javier and Tatsuya Imai to injury, watched fill-in starter Mike Burrows absorb a line drive off his lower back, and placed Jeremy Peña (hamstring) and Jake Meyers (oblique) on the IL. Yet even as the medical report lengthened, players insisted the losing streak is not simply a supply-chain issue.

“Every team goes through injuries,” shortstop Carlos Correa said after the 6-2 series-ending loss to the Mariners. “I don’t want to attach our failures to just injuries. Our failures are because we’re playing s----- baseball, simple as that.”

The numbers back the blunt assessment. Houston’s staff allowed 7.5 runs per game on the trip, ballooning the majors-worst ERA to 6.50 while issuing the most walks and surrendering the second-most home runs in the game. The offense, which entered Monday leading baseball in scoring, was held to two runs or fewer four times in the final eight games, including twice at hitter-friendly Coors Field and twice at T-Mobile Park.

Manager Joe Espada said the club is “trying” to curb the free passes—pitchers walked seven or more batters in four straight games before Burrows and J.P. France combined for one walk Monday—and is adjusting catcher positioning, early-count approaches, and pitch sequencing to reverse the trend.

At the plate, the Astros rediscovered their old habit of expanding the zone. After ranking near the top in walk rate during the opening homestand, they chased 42 percent of the pitches George Kirby threw in Monday’s 7 ⅔-inning stint and 28 percent against Logan Gilbert the night before, mustering only three runs and two extra-base hits across those defeats.

The rotation carnage has thrust a bullpen already missing $95 million closer Josh Hader into crisis. In three of the past five games a starter recorded three outs or fewer, forcing relievers to cover bulk innings and exposing Bryan Abreu, the interim closer, to back-to-back walk-off losses in Seattle. With 13 consecutive games beginning Friday and no off-day in sight, the Astros will lean on Triple-A reinforcements: left-hander Colton Gordon starts Tuesday against Colorado, and right-hander Spencer Arrighetti is expected to be added this week. Jason Alexander and Peter Lambert loom as depth options, meaning half of the upcoming rotation could begin the season in Sugar Land.

General manager Dana Brown spent the winter fortifying organizational pitching depth, but the simultaneous losses of Brown, Javier, and Imai stress-tested that plan earlier than anticipated. On the position-player side, the front office built redundancy into the infield, yet the simultaneous absences of Peña and Meyers leave the lineup without its leadoff man and primary center fielder for the foreseeable future.

Still, the clubhouse clings to recent history. Last season’s club started 7-19 and 12-24 under first-year manager Espada before rallying to win the American League West. The Astros will try to author a similar script beginning Tuesday at Minute Maid Park, where a 6-11 record offers ample time—if the current slide can be arrested.

“We’ve got to stay in this fight,” Espada said. “I’ve seen this before. We’ll go back home and we’ll start fresh tomorrow.”

Whether fresh translates to fixed will depend less on who returns from the trainer’s room and more on whether the healthy core can throw strikes, lay off borderline pitches, and rediscover the fundamentals that once defined a perennial contender.