SAN DIEGO — Before each regular-season game, Gary Pettis dared George Springer to hit him. Pettis positioned himself at second base while the Astros took batting practice. Springer stood in the righthanded batter's box. Pettis played a game with his outfielder to encourage hitting the other way. Springer never succeeded.
Springer rarely has to worry about directional hitting. He is a power hitter who can put the ball in any gap. He has hit more playoff home runs than any player in Astros history. Every hitter wants to use all fields to be more rounded, but rarely does it manifest in Springer’s game.
On Friday night, as the Astros again faced elimination, Springer arrived in the fifth inning. He’d struck out in each of his first two at-bats against Rays starter Blake Snell. Manager Kevin Cash did not want to give Springer a third look. With the leadoff hitter looming on deck, Cash called for menacing righthander Diego Castillo.
Castillo’s arsenal is vicious. His sinker averages 98 mph. His slider is filthy. In Tampa Bay’s self-proclaimed “stable of guys who throw 98,” Castillo resides as one of Cash’s most trusted arms. He turned to him Friday to preserve a 1-0 lead. Snell yielded a leadoff walk to Yuli Gurriel and a single to Aledmys Díaz, putting the tying run in scoring position.
Before Castillo could see Springer, he needed to manage nine-hole hitter Martín Maldonado. Maldonado’s direction was clear to everyone in the ballpark. The Astros do not bunt often, but if there was ever a time where one was needed, it was here.
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In the dugout, Maldonado asked Astros hitting coach Alex Cintrón to find his previous at-bats against Castillo. He’d faced the man twice in 2019 — once with the Royals and again with the Astros on Aug. 28.
Former Astros manager A.J. Hinch asked Maldonado to bunt that time, too. Díaz stood at second base. Castillo threw a power sinker. Maldonado bunted it straight to the mound, where Castillo threw Díaz out at third base. Moments before facing him again, the memory was unsavory for Maldonado.
“I’m going up there like ‘Oh god, I have to bunt against this guy,’” Maldonado said.
Maldonado squared from the moment he entered the batter’s box. Curiously, Castillo threw a slider — an easier pitch to bunt than the high-velocity sinker. It flew high and Maldonado let it go. Castillo came back with yet another slider, which Maldonado successfully sent up the third-base line. He was thrown out, but the runners advanced to second and third.
“We have a team to where we don’t really bunt a whole lot,” outfielder Kyle Tucker quipped. “With our offense, you don’t see that a whole lot, but I thought it was a good call.”
“That put a little more pressure on them to try to get those outs and force a little bit.”
Springer arrived in a familiar scenario. Tampa brought the infield in and shaded him to pull, placing second baseman Mike Brosseau more near the bag. It left a space between first and second — just where Pettis always stands.
Castillo started Springer with a slider that sailed inside. He returned with a 96.8 mph sinker that sailed onto the outer half. Springer stuck his bat head out and hit the baseball where it was pitched. It bounced in the land Brosseau vacated and into right field.
“That was perfect by George,” Baker said.
José Altuve ambushed Castillo’s next pitch into the left-field corner. Springer sprinted around the base paths. Omar Lopez, filling in for Pettis while he’s away battling cancer, waved him around third base — an aggressive move that Pettis has mastered. Springer slid in well ahead of the throw. Lopez lost his mind in celebration. Pettis, seated in a suite, observed it all.
“George hasn’t hit him yet, but he would have hit him today,” Baker said. “I’m sure Gary Pettis was very, very, very happy and we were even happier than Gary was.”
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