“We got outplayed,” Correa said (h/t MLB.com). “It’s as simple as that. They played better baseball. They played a really good brand of baseball and we didn’t. When you are facing one of the best teams in the league and we don’t show up, that’s going to happen.”
The Tigers hold the best record in the American League, and they showed why against the Astros. Detroit’s offense showed up in the first and third games of the series, scoring a combined 17 runs.
Then, Tigers’ ace Tarik Skubal led a shutout, extra-inning win in the middle game to help compete the sweep. Luckily for the Astros, the Mariners lost again on Wednesday and Houston remains on top of the AL West.
“We’re in a great spot besides the terrible play in the last week. We’ve got to acknowledge that, and we’ve got to recognize the things we are not doing very well right now in order for us to move forward, be better and be the team we know we can be,” Correa said (h/t MLB.com). “We want to look at the bigger picture, but also we want to have a fix for what’s been happening the last week. We got a good opportunity to do that in a four-game set in Baltimore.
“That’s where my head is at right now. I want to flush this series away. I want to start fresh tomorrow and go out there with a positive mind and go out there to win.”
Although the Astros pitching didn’t perform in two of the three games against Detroit, the offense has been in a major slump.
The Astros have scored just seven runs in their last six games combined, and are hitting .168 with five total extra-base hits. Houston’s been shutout in four of those games, including two against the Orioles who they’ll face next.
Tigers hold the Astros to just two runs all series and sweep ’em! pic.twitter.com/Oqb6ULCV2e
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 20, 2025
“We had a really good collective approach, but in baseball there’s some days that you pick up the bat and look at the pitcher and you don’t even know where to put your hands,” Correa said (h/t MLB.com). “You don’t even know what the hell you’re doing at the plate. It seems like it’s happening to a lot of us at the same time. We’ve got to put in a little more work and go out there and try to have those at-bats again.”
The Astros have been in the middle of a rut right now, but have been aided by the struggles of other teams within their division. Houston still leads the AL West by 1.5 games over the Mariners, but it needs to get things going in the right direction soon.
The Astros now travel to Baltimore to begin a four-game weekend series with the Orioles on Thursday.
“We’ve got to continue to grind and this is what happens in August,” Astros manager Joe Espada said (h/t MLB.com). “You fight through these tough stretches.”
