Josh

Hader

The Astros’ big three in the pen was supposed to be their greatest strength, but it never really worked out this way this year, even if no one was exactly bad from the group of Bryan Abreu, Pressly and Hader. Pressly was charged with three of the four runs today and took his first ever postseason blown save after earning 14 saves and four holds in 46 appearances previously. Hader gave up the big blow, which was a three-run double off the bat of Andy Ibáñez, and was charged with one run. He then pitched a scoreless ninth.

Hader, who gave up four runs to the Angels last time out, was able to close out the division clincher tonight. He improved to 33-for-37 in his save chances.

This was ugly. The only out Hader recorded came on a poorly executed bunt attempt as the Angels pushed his ERA up from 3.16 to 3.47 in this singular outing. They didn’t chase a single slider out of the zone and Hader didn’t force a single swing-and-miss. Just an atrocious outing.

Hader didn’t allow a hit and threw 11-of-16 pitches for strikes. He’s now picked up saves in both games of the series, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s not available Saturday. Hader now has 33 saves on the season.

Hader needed only seven pitches to get the save, and six of them were for strikes. He’s now up to 32 saves in his first year with the Astros, and while there have been maybe more clunkers than anticipated, he remains one of the best relief options in the sport.

Hader was brought in with a runner on third and two outs in the eighth and issued a wild pitch that scored the tying run. He didn’t have any further difficulties, but it still resulted in his third blown save of the year. Fortunately, he wound up with the win after the Astros took the lead in the 10th. Héctor Neris picked up the save in the bottom of the inning. It moved Hader to 8-7 on the season. He has as many wins this year as he did the previous three years combined.

The Astros weren’t expecting to use Hader with a 6-1 lead entering the ninth tonight, but Caleb Ferguson retired just one of the four batters he faced. It was Hader’s third appearance in four days, so he might be unavailable Monday now. If so, Ryan Pressly could geta chance to close.

The save was Hader’s 30th of the season, but only his first save since August 29th. He had two strikeouts in a perfect ninth inning. It was a good bounce back outing after Hader had been scored on in three of his last four appearances entering play Friday. He lowered his ERA to 3.36 on the year.

After Bobby Witt Jr. reached on a tough error to Jeremy Peña, Paul DeJong hit a two-run homer with two outs. It’d likely surprise most to learn that it’s Hader’s first blown save since Apr. 2 and only his second of the year. He does have seven losses, but he also has seven wins after getting one tonight. Since the beginning of July, his 25 appearances have resulted in 17 saves, four wins and three losses.

Hader’s save was his 29th of the season. He struck out one in a perfect inning and lowered his ERA to 3.19 on the year. Hader bounced back nicely after taking the loss against the Phillies in his last outing. He’s been scored on in just one of his last 13 outings.