Egregious replay call enrages Astros fans but their anger is misplaced

Houston Astros fans are waking up on Wednesday morning still fuming about the horrific umpiring decision during Tuesday's game against the Detroit Tigers. At the top of the fourth inning, Yainer Diaz was thrown out at the dish for the final out of the inning, but replay reviews clearly showed that the Astros' catcher beat the tag.

Astros manager Joe Espada challenged the play, but the call was upheld — even worse, it was actually confirmed. Instead of the Astros leading 1-0 with their ace on the mound, Houston and Detroit remained scoreless, and the Tigers walked it off (literally) in the ninth inning after Kaleb Ort issued a bases-loaded walk to Gleyber Torres.

While the play did (and should) upset the Astros fanbase, the fact of the matter is that Houston has much bigger problems than not having a call go their way. Tuesday's 1-0 loss to the Tigers represented the third straight game in which the Astros' bats have gone stone cold.

Houston hasn't scored a single run since Saturday's game against the Baltimore Orioles. Before that, they were shut out by the O's 7-0 on Friday, meaning that Houston has been outscored 34-5 in their last five games.

Egregious replay call enrages Astros fans but their anger is misplaced

Houston is in a funk at the moment. Thankfully, the Seattle Mariners have been equally as bad; otherwise, the Astros would be staring up at them in the AL West standings. Heading into play on Wednesday, Houston holds a slim 1½ game lead over their division rivals from the Emerald City.

Some of Houston's most reliable bats have gone silent. While trade deadline additions like Carlos Correa and Ramon Urías have posted good numbers over the past two weeks, Diaz, Jeremy Peña, Cam Smith, and Mauricio Dubón all have an OPS below .650.

While the team's pitching performance can't be overlooked either, the Astros' lineup has to start producing or else their playoff push could be over before it begins. And for those fans hoping to see big things from Yordan Alvarez when he returns, don't forget that he was hitting just .210 before his trip to the IL.

Astros fans can cry foul all they want following the horrendous mistake during Tuesday's replay review, but it's going to take more than just one run to beat the majority of teams over the next few weeks.

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