Astros drop opener to Royals, fall out of 1st in AL West

HOUSTON -- So much for the Astros being able to capitalize on what appeared to be a favorable portion of their schedule in their quest to win another American League West title.

The Royals, having beat the Astros in two of three games last weekend in Kansas City, stormed into Minute Maid Park on Friday night and beat Houston, 7-5, knocking it from first place in the AL West. The Rangers, who beat the Mariners, are a half-game ahead of the Astros, with the Mariners in third place, a half-game back of the Astros.

“Very frustrating, obviously,” Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez said. “We have a plan and we haven’t been able to get the results we want. Hopefully we can find an opening, and hopefully this team can get through and leave these losses in the past.”

• Games remaining (8): vs. KC (2), at SEA (3), at AZ (3)
• Standings update: The Astros (85-69) are in second place in the AL West, a half-game behind the Rangers (85-68), who beat the Mariners on Friday. Seattle (84-69) is a half-game behind Houston. The Astros hold the season tiebreaker against the Rangers, but not the Mariners.

The Astros are 8-11 in September, including 3-7 in their past 10 games with two losses to the A’s and three to the Royals. Houston needs to win its final two home games to finish the season with a winning record at Minute Maid Park, where the Astros have dropped 15 of their past 21 games. The last division winner to have a losing record at home was the 2001 Braves.

“You can’t cry over spilled milk, you can’t bring it back,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “It’s very frustrating. The guys are a little frustrated, but we’re still in a good position. We’ll come back and get ‘em tomorrow.”

The Astros have dominated the AL West in the past few years, so this group isn’t used to the division race coming down to the wire. Still, Alvarez said the players aren’t wilting under the pressure of a pennant race.

“We understand this division is going to go down to the last game of the season,” he said. “Talking to some of the guys, tomorrow, we’re going to have to flip that switch and activate playoff mode.”

Astros starter Framber Valdez allowed the first five batters he faced to reach, including a strikeout-passed ball on catcher Martín Maldonado to start the game. The first four batters scored as the Astros, trailing 4-0, were forced to battle from behind once again.

“It surprised me,” Valdez said. “They had luck on their side today. They had some good luck today to come here and get this win today.”

Valdez gave up seven runs (six earned) on four hits and three walks and struck out 10 batters in 5 1/3 innings. He also hit two batters to start the sixth, and both of them scored. Valdez also didn’t help his cause in the sixth, when he unsuccessfully tried to get an out at third on a Logan Porter bunt.

“They hit some balls hard, and after that, they didn’t hit the ball very well,” Baker said. “We left runners on third [with] less than two outs, which was the difference in the game. The ball wasn’t bouncing our way.”

Chas McCormick’s three-run homer in the eighth drew the Astros to within two runs, 7-5, but Jeremy Peña flied out to end the inning and strand two runners. Houston was 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine on base. Kyle Tucker led off the fourth with a triple and was stranded.

“We just didn’t pick up the RBIs, which I talk about all the time, especially with less than two outs,” Baker said. “That’s what you live for during the game, those opportunities like that. We just didn’t get it done tonight.”

Astros second baseman Jose Altuve (2-for-4) simply tipped his cap to Royals starter Cole Ragans, who gave up two runs on three hits and four walks in six innings.

“He’s been pitching really good,” he said “His curveball is amazing. He threw 99 [mph] up in the zone [and his] curveball mix, it’s almost unhittable. There’s not a lot more we could do against him because he’s tough. He’s probably one of the best guys that we have faced this year.”