With 'game-changing plays,' Astros' defense a difference-maker in series-opening win over Guardians
CLEVELAND - Jacob Melton ascended the Houston Astros ' minor-league system aware of a standard. Defense was a hallmark of the franchise's most decorated era. Melton, the outfield prospect with a reputation for range in the minors, this week joined a major-league club aiming to establish it again.
"That's the expectation in this organization," Melton said Friday night. "You've seen it the last - I don't even know how many years to count. This organization's always been very good defensively. That's an emphasis in the minor leagues, to develop and get better in all facets of the game."
The standard slipped in recent seasons. Houston ranked in the bottom half of major-league teams in defensive runs saved each of the last two seasons, per Sports Info Solutions, and fell to 19th last year in Statcast outs above average. Manager Joe Espada has made reversing the trend a stated priority.
Metrics, so far, are somewhat mixed. The Astros awoke Friday rated 18th in defensive runs saved, albeit with improved infield marks. Statcast ranked them second in team outs above average behind only the Cardinals. A 4-2 win over the Guardians , then, illustrated how impactful that facet of play can be.
A string of difficult defense plays helped Houston seize the opener of a series at Progressive Field and rookie starter Colton Gordon secure his first major-league win. One game does not guarantee overall improvement. But for the Astros, it perhaps embodied an ideal.
"I think that was the best I've seen us make plays when we really needed to make big plays, big moments," Espada said afterward. "I think it was game-changing plays."
Several were made by an outfield missing an emergent defender. Against Guardians left-hander Logan Allen, Espada wrote a lineup with Jake Meyers in center field, Mauricio Dubón in left and Cam Smith in right - all right-handed hitters and one of the stronger defensive outfields his current roster allows.
Smith, who entered Friday tied for second in defensive runs saved among major-league right fielders, was scratched pregame due to illness. Melton replaced him in right field. Gordon's five innings of one-run ball, then, were bookended by critical plays from his corner outfielders.
Angel Martínez led off Cleveland's first inning with a single to left field and opted to test Dubon's arm. Dubón unleashed an accurate one-hop throw to second base to retire him. That decision was perhaps more questionable than the one that occurred two batters later.
José Ramírez, the dynamic Guardians third baseman, crushed a Gordon fastball 370 feet to left. Statcast deemed it a home run in 19 major-league ballparks. Progressive Field's high left-field wall kept it in play. Ramírez, who stole 41 bases last season, rounded first seeking a double.
"The first one, he kind of had time," said second baseman Brendan Rodgers, who caught both of Dubon's throws. "He made a low line-drive throw. Perfect throw. Not many guys put it on the money like that.
"The second one, he kind of had to rush a little bit. Ramírez can run. It kind of moved him a little more. But he threw that ball in the air to me.
"I was standing there waiting for it like, ‘I'm not even going to have to move.' And it hit me right in the chest from my side angle, and I was able to get a good tag on him pretty quick."
Ramírez dived headfirst to no avail. Rodgers applied a tag to end the inning. Gordon gave an emphatic fist pump, out of a first inning in which he allowed two hits and faced the minimum.
"(Dubón) with the first two plays of the game really started the day and saved the day at the same time," Gordon said. "I told him, ‘I get why they hand out those Gold Gloves to you now.'"
Dubón, who won the AL utility Gold Glove in 2023, is the sixth Astros player to have two outfield assists in one inning. Houston entered Friday with five as a team this season. Dubón made just his third start in left field, though he has appeared there in another 14 games this year.
"He's special," shortstop Jeremy Peña said. "It's not easy to do, where he bounces around … But he's got a great arm, he's got a great sense of the game, great sense on defense."
Martínez endured a tough evening. Meyers made a sliding catch on his sinking line drive to end the third inning. Statcast assessed it an .870 expected batting average. He came up again in the fifth with two outs and runners on first and third.
Cleveland had already scored once in the inning to pare Houston's lead to 3-1. A reliever warmed behind Gordon, perhaps facing his final batter and needing one more out to qualify for a win. Martínez sliced his first-pitch fastball down the right-field line.
Melton, sprinting, caught the ball on a headfirst dive as he crossed the line, sliding along the dirt into the short wall. Espada, his view of the play blocked, popped from the dugout thinking Melton had dived into the wall. Melton raised his glove to display a catch that saved at least one run, possibly two.
"Probably the first time you guys have seen that; I've seen that for like four or five years," Gordon said. "He gets after it every day. … I know any ball he's running full-speed for he's got a chance on."
Melton covered 80 feet to make the catch, per MLB.com. Espada termed it "a game-changing play," one made in an outfield Melton has never patrolled.
"I got a peek at the wall on the way over there," Melton said. "That's one thing I've seen so far up here is a lot less foul ground than most minor-league stadiums. So it's something that was kind of in the back of my mind. But I don't think it was ever a thought to slow up and not catch that ball.
"Obviously, a pretty cool play. But it's the same effort I would have given in Low-A, same in Double-A, Triple-A. I think that's just kind of who I am as a player is I'm always going to go all the way to the wall. That's part of my game and I take pride in that."
In its wake, Houston handed a three-run lead to its bullpen. Peña made a charging play on Nolan Jones' chopper in the seventh, notching the inning's first out after Gabriel Arias' leadoff double off Bryan King. Rodgers made a diving play on Daniel Schneemann's grounder in the ninth, preventing Cleveland from bringing the tying run to the plate against closer Josh Hader and punctuating a theme of the evening.
"We've been playing great defense," Peña said. "We take pride in the fundamentals and doing the little things right - defense, baserunning, good pitching - and we displayed that tonight."
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