Josh Hader is $95 million Astros disaster in Tigers AL Wild Card sweep

The Astros didn’t get what they paid for.Josh Hader, their $95 million closer, yielded the fatal bases-clearing double to pinch-hitter Andy Ibanez in a tie game in the eighth inning of Wednesday’s 5-2 Wild Card loss to the Tigers that clinched Detroit’s two-game sweep.Hader surrendered one run on three hits and two walks over 1 1/3 innings, while also allowing both inherited runners to score to conclude the first season of his five-year pact.The southpaw posted a 3.80 ERA in the regular season.“The one pitch got me.I made a mistake, and he took advantage of it,” Hader said, according to the Houston Chronicle.

“It’s easy to say I could have thrown a different pitch, but if I execute that pitch, he swings and misses, so you just tip your cap to him.He did his job, and I did not do my job.

It’s always one or the other.”Houston shocked the baseball community this offseason when it gave Hader a five-year, $95 million pact since most teams avoid giving closers those types of deals due to the fickle nature of the position.The Astros surely figured that Hader would be a postseason weapon, especially in this era where teams to go their bullpens usually quite early (see Hader’s former team, the Brewers).Hader entered a 2-2 game Wednesday with men on first and second on after Ryan Pressly allowed the tying run to score on a wild pitch earlier in the frame.In an ominous sign, Hader walked Spencer Torkelson on four pitches to load the bases.The Tigers then pinch-hit Ibanez, a righty.Hader got ahead 1-2 against Ibanez but then made a huge mistake, throwing a 98-mph sinker middle-middle.

Ibanez promptly roped a 105-mph double to left field that stayed fair to put the Tigers ahead, 5-2.“I think as soon as I made the contact, I was just pushing for the ball to be fair,” Ibanez said.“Most importantly, I was pushing for the runners on the base to go, go, go, go, go.”Hader returned for the ninth and pitched a scoreless inning while working around two sin...