Astros insider: Wreaking havoc on the basepaths

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Houston Astros center fielder George Springer (4) steals second base during the third inning of Game 1 of the American League Division Series at Minute Maid Park on Friday, Oct. 4, 2019, in Houston.

The Tampa Bay Rays, as resourceful as they are, showed a hole in the team they stitched together this season. The Astros scratched at it and tore it open without having to swing a bat.

Houston's timely extra-base hits engineered their 6-2 win in Game 1 of the American League Division Series, but three stolen bases exposed the Rays' greatest vulnerability.

The Rays have proven they don't need a starter to go deep — although Tyler Glasnow's overpowering first four innings were responsible for keeping the Astros scoreless — because they have baseball's stingiest, most specialized bullpen.

"We're built on pitching and preventing runs," Rays manager Kevin Cash said.

The Astros understood that well. They prepared for the series knowing that if they struggled to reach an extra base, they could steal one (or two, or three).

"It was part of our strategy today," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said after Friday's win. "We felt like if we could put some pressure on them in some opportune times, we were going to be able to manufacture some runs too. This is not a pitching staff that you're just going to ambush and get away with it."

Hinch used a similar approach against the New York Yankees, who relied on tall, slow-moving relievers. The Astros stole nine bases off them in 2017 and 2018, including the playoffs.

"We put the ball in play quite a bit as a team," Hinch said. "When we can start runners and create some havoc and distract the pitcher a little bit, that's an extra element that we have in our tool shed, so to speak, and we use it when we need it."

The equation worked out as Hinch had expected: towering Glasnow's long delivery plus catcher Travis d'Arnaud's slow pop time let Houston rack up its most steals in a playoff game since Game 6 of the 2004 NLCS.

The Astros did such a textbook job at getting early jumps that Cash rested blame on the three pitchers that allowed George Springer, Yuli Gurriel and Alex Bregman to steal.

"No chance for Travis really on any of those," Cash said.

It does not help that d'Arnaud ranks 34th with a 1.99-second pop-time.

In the second inning, Springer walked and made himself a pest for Glasnow, the 6-8 righthander. Springer took second easily.

"I had a feeling," Glasnow said. "I'm not relatively, like, quick to home plate. Everyone I'm up against, I definitely need to keep that in mind. I know they have some pretty good base-stealers. Usually against me, guys are always trying to go pretty early. I wasn't too shocked."

Sure, because Houston has one of the best slugging lineups in baseball, "It's easy to stay stationary," as Springer said, but the shrewdest way to capitalize on singles and walks is to give the Rays more to worry about than the man in front of him.

"This is the time to go," Springer said.

Gurriel took advantage of Chaz Roe, Tampa Bay's third pitcher in the fifth inning.

"He was uber-focused on the hitter at the time and wasn't paying attention too much," Cash said of Roe.

Bregman's walk and stolen base sparked a two-out, two-run rally in the seventh. Yordan Álvarez and Gurriel drove in the runs with doubles.

"Nothing feels more important than a single or a double with a guy on second and the tack-on run," Hinch said. "Bregman's stolen base is huge. Yuli putting pressure on them was huge. George putting pressure on them was huge. It's not something we (don't) utilize until we have to. But it sure is nice to have it when you need it."

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