Houston Astros Part of Ugly MLB History in Series Loss to Pittsburgh Pirates

The three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates is one the Houston Astros would love to quickly forget and put behind them.

Jul 29, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros relief pitcher Josh Hader (71) reacts and Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Michael A. Taylor (18) rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the ninth inning at Minute Maid Park. / Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Astros are about to embark on a brutal stretch of their schedule.

Any little edge that is presented to them during this stretch they will have to take advantage of. That is something they were unable to do during their three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates earlier this week.

The Astros hosted their former NL Central rivals for three games at Minute Maid Park. They have no one to blame for the outcome of this series but themselves, as the Pirates handed them game after game on a silver platter.

In the first contest of the series, Houston was able to find some success against rookie phenom Paul Skenes. They had a lead when he exited the game, holding a 2-1 edge into the eighth inning. That is when things unraveled as Ryan Pressly and Josh Hader imploded.

Pressly allowed four base runners, giving up one run on an Oneil Cruz double. Hader walked two men and then gave up a three-home bomb to Michael A. Taylor, leading to the 5-3 loss.

In Game 2, the Astros never led.

Pittsburgh scored in the second and fourth innings to take a 3-0 lead before Houston scored one in the bottom of the fourth. The Pirates would tack on three more later, resulting in a 6-2 final score.

Game 3, Pittsburgh jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning. But, this time, the Astros were able to take advantage of the Pirates' miscues and scratched and clawed their way back into the game.

Cruz committed a throwing error in the second inning that aided in Houston scoring their first run. Two more runs were scored in the fourth courtesy of a second Cruz error. They would eventually get the lead in the sixth inning and come away with a 5-4 win.

It was an ugly series by both teams, one that has the Astros on the wrong end of history. According to OptaSTATS on X, Pittsburgh is the first team in the modern era to strike out 35+ times and commit eight-plus errors in a three-game series without extra innings being played.

Despite their awful performance, the Pirates won the series against the Astros to keep pace in the National League playoff series. If Houston cannot take advantage of games being placed on a silver platter like that, they are in for a rough five weeks.