Collision at home casts shadow on multiple rallies
Gurriel, Springer spark comebacks; Ausmus says suspension warranted
The Astros’ aggression at home plate Sunday helped shove them into the AllStar break on a rush of adrenaline — and left an opposing catcher in the hospital.
Yuli Gurriel was responsible for a good chunk of the onslaught, thanks to his grand slam in the sixth inning that pushed the Astros back into an eventual 11-10 triumph over the Los Angeles Angels in 10 innings.
Jake Marisnick was responsible for much of the rest of the aggression, plowing over Angels catcher Jonathan Lucroy at the plate in the eighth inning. Lucroy wound up in a hospital being evaluated for a possible concussion and broken nose.
Marisnick was ruled out to end the inning, and a crew-chief review upheld the call to boos from the Minute Maid Park crowd. The game was tied at 10 at the time, and the Astros
wound up celebrating two innings later on George Springer’s single that scored Josh Reddick, who led off the 10th with a double.
“This was huge,” Springer said of the Astros’ battling back from 7-2 and 10-8 deficits. “They were up big, we came back, and then they took the lead again. It was just a good game by each side after trading blows. It was good for us to come out on top.”
The Astros (57-33) wound up winning the series after dropping the opener 5-4 on Friday against the Angels (45-46).
They shut out the Angels 4-0 on Saturday behind a brilliant effort from All-Star Gerrit Cole, setting the stage for one of the season’s wildest games.
Sunday, as the dirt settled on the Astros’ seventh win in their past eight games, the stunning play at the plate that left Lucroy bloody and dazed was on everyone’s minds, and it prompted national debate on whether catchers are protected enough in such situations.
“Bad play,” Marisnick said. “I was running and see him take a step up the line like he was going to drop and go back, so I tried to take an in step and slide headfirst on the inside corner.”
Marisnick was trying to score from third on Springer’s fly ball to right field, and he jarred the ball loose when blasting Lucroy.
“I watched the play again, and he drops right in front of me,” Marisnick said. “Once I kind of made a decision, it was too late, and it was a bad play, and I hope he’s OK. It’s terrible. I wish him the best, and I hope he’s OK. I’ll reach out to him to make sure he’s OK.”
Astros manager A.J. Hinch said the umpires ruled Marisnick out because he “deviated” from his path, as prohibited in the MLB rulebook.
“I really hope he’s OK,” Hinch said of Lucroy. “That was an ugly play, and I never like to see any athlete get carted off the field. It was an unfortunate play. To see a veteran player in such a highly emotionally charged play go out like that, that’s the first thing I think about in this game.
“I don’t fault Jake. He wasn’t going after him. He tried to take a step (from) where Lucroy was going to go. It’s difficult in that little 1- to 3-foot circle where you’re trying to figure out going at full speed what’s going to happen.”
Hinch and Angels manager Brad Ausmus are former big league catchers, and Ausmus had a different perspective of the play than Marisnick and Hinch in looking out for his catcher.
“It looked like Marisnick took a step to the left and bowled into him with his arm up,” Ausmus said. “The call was right. MLB should probably take a look at it and consider some type of suspension, quite frankly.”
Meantime the Astros’ Jose Urquidy owns two big league starts, and the Astros own two sizable comeback victories with the rookie on the mound. His first start in the majors came at Colorado on Tuesday, a game the Astros rallied to win 9-8 despite Urquidy’s allowing a couple of early runs over 32⁄3 innings.
He left in the fourth with a 5-2 lead, but the Astros wound up needing to come back from an 8-5 deficit in that one.
On Sunday, following Urquidy’s early exit (five runs allowed in 21⁄3 innings), the Astros relied on six relievers, with All-Star Ryan Pressly (2-1) earning the victory by pitching the 10th.
Angels star outfielder Mike Trout inflicted the most damage on Astros pitching, with his 27th and 28th home runs of the season giving him four RBIs.