The Astros’ six-game winning streak of more than a week ago is no more. Their bullpen blew leads on three separate occasions last week. These instances are unavoidable, as even the game’s most effective bullpens can falter, but it’s the nature in which the Astros have lost recent games that’s fairly concerning. Key relievers have turned in particularly ugly outings as of late.
Ryne Stanek, who has been the bridge to closer Ryan Pressly for most of the season, could not find the strike zone last Tuesday night against the A’s and helped propel them to victory. For the month of May, Stanek has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 11 to 10.