Houston Astros fans enraged as team blows late lead in extra-innings loss to Minnesota Twins: "I’m so annoyed with this team right now"
Things were looking pretty good for the Houston Astros on Monday in the team's series opener against the American League Central-leading Minnesota Twins.
Jose Altuve's seventh-inning grand slam off of Twins relief pitcher Kohl Stewart gave Houston a 5-4 lead that it held on until the ninth.
However, Astros closer Ryan Pressly gave up a game-tying home run to recent Twins' call-up Royce Lewis in the top of the ninth, and Minnesota scored two more in the top of the 10th off on a Ryan Jeffers home run of much-maligned Houston reliever Bryan Abreu to steal away a 7-5 victory.
Needless to say, with the Astros still being held off at arm's length by the Texas Rangers atop the AL West standings, losing games like Monday's setback hurt all the more.
The loss dropped the Astros to 31-21 on the season, 2.5 games behind the Rangers, meanwhile, Texas blanked the Detroit Tigers 5-0 on Monday afternoon.
Lewis, the Twins' No. 2 prospect, was making his return to MLB one year after suffering an ACL injury that required surgery.
Lewis told MLB.com:
"It feels so surreal, right? I think something special is going to happen tonight. I couldn’t tell you what, but it just feels like it’s kind of like that time. I’m just excited."
Houston Astros fans felt that "something special" was Altuve's grand slam, which came after Stewart relieved AL ERA leader Sonny Gray in the seventh.
Alas, it was not meant to be for the home side on Monday.
Houston Astros fans are not seeing the dominant Ryan Pressly that they've gotten used to over the past few years. Monday was his first blown save of the year in 11 opportunities.
However, Pressly's ERA has jumped nearly a full run over the past two seasons and currently sits at 3.22 after Monday's debacle.
The Astros are still 10 games over .500, but for some fans of the 2022 World Series champions, that is nowhere near good enough.
Houston Astros have two more games against the Twins
The Astros play the Twins twice more, on Tuesday and Wednesday night, before welcoming the Los Angeles Angels to Houston for a showdown between AL West rivals.
After their four games with the Angels, the Astros head north of the border for a four-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays.