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Houston Astros starting pitcher Cristian Javier throws to the Texas Rangers in the first inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

ARLINGTON — A closer’s absence cripples thin bullpens. The Astros constructed one immune from such a fate. Depth separates this group from others during this golden Astros era, which included five or six seasons when October loomed and lingering questions enveloped an enigmatic relief corps. 

Few Houston bullpens of the past have seemed more settled than this one. It spent the season’s first four months atop almost all major league leader boards. Adversity arrived for the first time in August. On Wednesday, it ended its most mundane month with a flair. 

With closer Ryan Pressly still on the injured list and veteran Héctor Neris unavailable after throwing Tuesday, four relievers teamed to fire four scoreless innings and finish a 5-3 victory over the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. Phil Maton, Ryne Stanek, Will Smith and Rafael Montero teamed to strike out three and allow just two baserunners.

“It’s something we’ve kind of seen throughout the course of the year,” Stanek said. “We’ve got a plethora of guys that are more than capable of going out there and getting big outs.”

Smith surrendered a one-out double to Nathaniel Lowe during the eighth inning. Ezequiel Duran struck a single against Montero in the ninth. No other runner reached against the foursome, perhaps the start of a surge into September. 

Calling August a struggle for this bullpen is a stretch. Prior to Wednesday’s game, Astros relievers boasted a 3.67 ERA this month. Thirteen bullpens had a lower one. 

A 2.64 fielding independent pitching and .368 batting average on balls in play suggest poor luck is at least in part to blame for the swoon. And no bullpen threw fewer innings than Houston’s, rendering its sample size smaller to judge. 

Small sample size and sour luck won’t suffice as excuses if this unit unravels in October, but Wednesday afternoon more reflected the bullpen Houston has relied upon all season. None of the four relievers issued a walk. They required 44 pitches to procure the game’s final 12 outs. When it ended, Houston’s bullpen had a 2.93 ERA. No team has a lower one.

Montero finished the ninth on 13 pitches, rendering an afternoon of mediocre production moot. The Astros struck 11 hits against four Rangers pitchers. Ten were singles. Houston stranded 13 baserunners and finished 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position, refusing to afford its pitching the comfortable cushion it deserved.

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A struggle to score should not overshadow Houston’s wonderful approach against Rangers ace Martín Pérez. The Astros pummeled Pérez for seven earned runs across five innings earlier in August at Minute Maid Park, but the crafty southpaw has handled this lineup in the past. 

On Wednesday, nine Astros allowed Texas’ lefty to self-destruct. Houston worked four walks in the five innings he threw. Three of Pérez’s free passes came around to score. 

Pérez issued just 2.9 walks per nine innings across his 25 previous starts. The southpaw subsists on weak contact early in counts, moving a cutter and sinker to each side of home plate to keep lineups off-balance. Opponents are often aggressive against him. 

The Astros struck a shrewd balance between patience and pouncing. They frequently fell behind in counts but did not chase Pérez’s assortment of putaway pitches. Jose Altuve began the game in an 0-2 hole. He saw five more pitches and coaxed Pérez’s first free pass — a harbinger of Houston’s approach across the next five frames.

Pérez surrendered five earned runs. He is fortunate the Astros could not add more. They stranded eight baserunners against him and finished 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Altuve smacked a two-run double during the second for the biggest blow, offering starter Cristian Javier a much-needed reprieve. 

Javier threw 21 pitches before procuring an out. He needed 38 to finish an interminable first inning. Javier walked two of the first three Rangers he saw. In between, Corey Seager smacked a hanging slider into Texas’ bullpen, affording his club a one-run advantage. 

“The breaking ball just wasn’t working, and I think a lot of the hitters were sitting on the fastball, and that’s why they were able to get a lot of foul balls there,” Javier said through an interpreter. 

Javier threw 14 breaking balls in the first inning. One of them generated a swing and miss. Texas spoiled 10 four-seam fastballs foul, too, forcing manager Dusty Baker to activate his bullpen while Javier’s pitch count grew. Maton loosened while Javier faced Leody Taveras. 

“He was closing in on 40 pitches,” Baker said. “He was down to this last batter before we’d have to go to the bullpen. 

Javier forced Taveras to fly out on his 38th, allowing him at least one more frame. He flew through the next four. Lowe struck a run-scoring single in the fifth to trim Houston’s lead, but Javier stranded him with a fielder’s choice from Adolis García. He exited the field after 96 pitches — and perhaps could have contributed another inning.

Baker instead opted for baseball’s best bullpen. For one of the few times this month, it resembled the form — even without two integral members.

“It’s been why the bullpen has been able to be a little more rested. Because you can lean on everybody, as opposed to leaning on one or two guys,” Stanek said. “That’s what makes a good bullpen: having options and not having to run a guy past his limit.”

Chandler Rome joined the Houston Chronicle in 2018 to cover the Astros after spending one year in Tuscaloosa covering Alabama football - during which Nick Saban asked if he attended college. He did, at LSU, where he covered the Tigers baseball team for nearly four years. He covered most of the Astros' 2015 playoff run, too, as an intern for MLB.com