Josh Hader picks up third win with scoreless ninth

What an odd night for Hader. First, he came on and pitched a scoreless ninth. Then, when the Astros took a one-run lead in the 10th, he came back out for the bottom of the inning. That wouldn’t be too weird for most closers, but Hader rarely throws multiple innings. He’d only gotten more than three outs twice this season and finished two innings once. He didn’t have it in his second inning, and that was clear from the jump. He walked three batters to set up a walk-off single by Josh Naylor in a critical loss for the Astros. In the end, he threw 44 pitches. The last time he threw over 20 was over a month ago, he hadn’t thrown 30 all year, and he hadn’t thrown at least 44 since 2019. Astros’ starter Ethan Pecko only threw 51 in this game and Hader clearly didn’t have that many in his tank.

Hader got the call in the top of the ninth to close out the game against the Royals with a two-run lead. He worked around a base hit, striking out the final batter to secure the win for Houston with his 26th save.

He got Edmundo Sosa to strike out on three pitches, induced a weak groundout from Kyle Schwarber, then got Trea Turner to ground out to end the game. It’s revenge for a run allowed on Tuesday -- the only run allowed Hader has given up in September or August this year. He should remain locked-and-loaded in lineups as the Astros try to chase down another AL West crown.

Working with a two-run lead, Hader gave up a single and then an RBI double to start the ninth, but he retired J.T. Realmuto, Derek Hill and Kyle Schwarber afterwards to end the game. The run Hader allowed was his first in 22 appearances dating back to July 20. His ERA increased from 0.69 to 0.89.

It’s Hader’s 19th straight scoreless appearance. He’s sporting a 0.72 ERA in 38 games overall.

Hader didn’t strike anyone out and did allow a hit, but it’s another effective outing for the 32-year-old. He’s now up to 21 saves on the year, and the scoreless outing lowers his ERA to a shiny 0.74. Hader remains one of the best relievers in the sport, and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon.

Hader save was his 19th of the year. He lowered his ERA to 0.81. After starting the season on the injured list, Hader has been at the top of his game this season as one of the better closer options in the league.

Entering in a one run game, Hader did not make things easy on himself by walking Travis d’Arnaud to start the ninth inning. Then, Adam Frazier came on to pinch-run and stole second base to make it even more tense. Yet, Hader slammed the door after and converted his 18th straight save without blowing a chance so far this season.

Hader received the call to protect a narrow one-run lead in the final frame and required just eight pitches to slam the door against the bottom of San Francisco’s lineup. He retired Andrew Knizner and Christian Koss on a pair of pop ups before coaxing a game-ending grounder from Jung Hoo Lee. This latest effort came after tossing two scoreless frames earlier in the series on Monday night to pick up a win. The 32-year-old veteran closer has been simply magnificent, recording a microscopic 0.96 ERA, 0.71 WHIP and 38/10 K/BB ratio across 28 innings since making his season debut back on June 3. He’s gone a perfect 17-for-17 in save opportunities during that span. He’s on track to finish as a top-10 closer, despite missing the first two months of the season to a biceps injury.

Hader hadn’t gotten more than three outs in an appearance this season, but the Astros asked him to continue after an 11-pitch ninth tonight and he needed only another 11 pitches to get through the 10th. Hader lowered his ERA to an even 1.00 through 27 innings. He’ll probably get Tuesday off after this, perhaps setting up a save chance for Bryan Abreu.