'Gut-check time': Astros determined to steer out of early funk

CHICAGO -- Everybody loves a good comeback story. Nobody would love one more than the Astros, who have stumbled out of the gate to start the season and have dug themselves such a hole that the word frustration doesn’t even begin to describe the mood in the clubhouse these days.

There’s shock. Disbelief. Anger. And, yes, even hope, despite the Astros dropping their fifth consecutive game Thursday afternoon with a 3-1 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Houston, which has been swept four times already, is 7-19 -- its worst record through 26 games since a 6-20 mark in 1969.

“It’s like a slap in the face,” center fielder Mauricio Dubón said. “There’s no other way to put it. We’ve just got to find ways. Things are not going our way right now [in] the first 26 games ... It just sucks.”

Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander said there isn’t any sugarcoating about where the Astros sit.

“The talent’s there,” he said. “It’s a gut-check time. You’ve got to fight.”

The disgruntlement even got the best of first-year manager Joe Espada, who wasn’t around to see former Astros reliever Héctor Neris collect his second consecutive save against his former team. Espada was ejected after coming out of the dugout prior to the start of the ninth and telling plate umpire Jansen Visconti he didn’t like his strike zone.

“I just did not agree with his strike zone today,” Espada said matter-of-factly. “I thought there was pitches that didn’t go our way and I didn’t agree with them. I just got tired of watching.”

Espada reiterated his belief that his team can turn it around, but said some things need to change.

“They want to get back to playing the type of baseball that we’re capable of, but it’s not happening,” he said. “And it’s not going to happen unless we change. No one is going to hand us anything. There’s got to be a little more urgency, there’s got to be more fire in the middle of the game when we find ourselves with our backs against the corner. We’ve got to fight. If we do that, we’ll be fine.”

In losing eight of their past nine games, the Astros are averaging 2.4 runs per game and have posted a .592 OPS as a team. They’ve hit only two homers in the past six games and are batting .200 with runners in scoring position in that span. They were 2-for-20 with runners in scoring position in the Cubs series.

It appeared as though the Astros could be headed for a breakout day offensively when Jose Altuve reached on an infield hit to start the game and Alex Bregman followed with a single through the right side on a perfect hit-and-run. Altuve scored on a sac fly, but the Astros managed only two hits the rest of the game, including Bregman’s 1,000th career hit in the sixth.

“We know we have a good team and these guys in here would never, ever give up on one another,” Bregman said. “We never ever would just fold. We’re going to fight, and that’s what this team is made of.”

Verlander made his second start Thursday since coming off the IL to begin the season and threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out seven batters and walking four, including Mike Tauchman three times. The walks stuck in his craw more than anything else.

“Overall, it’s kind of tough for me to walk away super positive,” he said. “Obviously, kept us in the game, but I would have liked to have been able to throw more than 4 1/3. That's where the walks really irk me.”

Since 1900, the 1914 Boston “Miracle” Braves are the only team to lose at least 18 of their first 26 games and still make the postseason in a non-strike impacted season. The Astros are chasing a comeback story for the ages.

“If you told me we were going to be like this after we came out of camp, I would have called [expletive],” Dubón said. “Things are not going our way right now. We’ve just got to battle through and stay positive and keep going and play baseball.”