Bullpen meltdown ruins Bo Porter’s birthday

Bo Porter‘s 42nd birthday turned out to be one he won’t soon forget — and not in a good way. The Astros skipper said all he wanted for his birthday was a win. Unfortunately, a bullpen meltdown of epic proportions kept that from happening.

A grand slam from Chris Carter and six solid innings of work from Scott Feldman appeared to be the perfect gifts to help Porter’s Astros end a 5-game losing streak. But, in the seventh, Bo’s special day turned into a nightmare.

Eight runs. Six hits (3 of them homers). Four walks. Three “relievers”. 74 pitches. 55 minutes.

Those are the gory numbers that came out of a seventh inning in Anaheim that turned a 5-2 Astros lead into a 10-5 deficit. Anthony Bass started the inning, tasked with the job of getting three outs. Needless to say, he failed miserably. After allowing a single to C.J. Cron and striking out Hank Conger, Bass threw a fastball right down the middle to pinch-hitter David Freese. Freese, who had struck out in his three previous pinch-hit appearances this season, hammered the fat pitch over the centerfield fence to make it a 5-4 game.

Three batters later, Albert Pujols hit another 2-run homer to give the Angels the lead and send Bass to the showers. Tony Sipp came in and failed to retire either of the three batters he faced. Josh Zeid was next. Maybe he could get one out before any more damage was done. Nope. Zeid coughed up a 3-run blast to the first batter he saw. Meltdown complete. The Angels went on to win 11-5, handing the Astros their sixth straight defeat in demoralizing fashion.

The Astros bullpen is the worst in the league. I’d quote some more numbers but I don’t think that’s really necessary. Much like Jerome Williams before them, Anthony Bass and Josh Zeid do not belong on a major league roster. How does the old saying go? Something about doing the same thing and expecting different results?