2016 Houston Astros Regular Season

The Astros lost 2 of 3 to the Chicago Cubs. What it basically came down to in this series was pitching. When Houston pitched well they won and when they didn't they lost. But wait, that's not entirely true. The Astros allowed just 2 runs in the series opener and their offense struggled. Okay, that's being kind. If we're calling spades spades the offense sucked. The base coaching sucked and even though they had base runners they promptly ran themselves out of contention trying to steal bases and being caught and trying to push a hit into something more and being caught. Last night the Astros offense didn't show up really until the 9th inning. They did score a run in the 4th and 2 more in the sixth but they blew a big opportunity in the sixth to score more but with one out and men on 1st and 3rd Evan Gattis flew out and Colby Rasmus also flew out to end the threat. The Astros did score 5 runs but after allowing 9 runs in the first 4 innings Houston never really stood a chance. Mike Fiers was supposed to pitch last night but apparently he sent his doppelganger Mike Mis-Fiers to throw batting practice to the Cubs. Thru 2.1 innings of work gave up 7 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks and no Ks. Jandel Gustav went out in relief of Mis-Fiers and gave up 2 more runs on 3 hits in 1.2 innings of relief. I'm not sure you could call what Gustav did "relief" although I'm sure Mis-Fiers was relieved to get to go sit down because I'm sure he was feeling a little abused by the Cubs hitters. The Astros ended the week going 3-4 splitting 4 games with Cleveland and losing this series to Chicago. Houston has failed miserably to take advantage of the opportunity to make a move in the Wild Card. I told you that Houston was going through a rough stretch of games beginning a week ago Friday with a road trip to face the Rangers. It was going to be a stretch that would make or break the Astros playoff chances and it appears they are going to be broken. I have no hope of Houston doing anything but continue to struggle against the Rangers over the next 3 games beginning tonight and I sincerely believe the Astros will be doing well not to be swept by the A-holes from Arlington. This is not the Astros season. Last year they looked like a team of destiny until an 8th and 9th inning meltdown by the bullpen in what would have been a series clinching win over eventual champion Kansas City derailed Cinderella and prevented her from going to the ball. This year Cinderella has looked more like an ugly step-sister showing off warts and all. It's looking like yet another September to forget for the Astros and they are ending the season only a little better than they began it in April. If I sound all gloom and doom I'm not really being anything but a realist and what my eyeballs are telling me is this team kind of stinks right now. No pitching, no timely hitting and they can't seem to find a third baseman who can keep from making throwing errors. Sports Illustrated had the Astros on the cover of their magazine saying the Astros would win the World Series in 2017 so that's where I'm hanging my new hat because the 2016 Astros took a big crap in my old one.

The Astros lost the Rangers---again. This time it took a little longer, 12 innings to be exact, but a solo HR in the top of the 12th by Redneck Oh-der was the game winner. The Astros tied the game in the bottom of the 9th on an Evan Gattis solo homer but that was the end of the Astros clutch hitting for the night. The Astros have multiple stab wounds from the fork being stuck in them but last night was the last straw. If it was up to me I would have taken the fork and gone all Freddie Krueger on them.

 

A month ago it looked like Jose Altuve was a shoe-in for AL MVP but he has had the most epic crash and burn since the Hindenburg. On August 20 Altuve was at his high water mark on the season in batting average at .366. This was far and away the best batting average in the majors and he looked unstoppable for his 2nd batting title in 3 years. But, since that fateful day he can't find his ass with either hand much less hit a baseball with any consistency. After going 0-5 in the Astros 12 inning loss he has officially lost 29 points on this BA. He now is hitting .337 on the season but for the month of September, 11 games in all, he's hitting a paltry .178 with an OBP of .245 and a SLG % of .267. This crash and burn comes in just 21 games since that August 20th when the skies were blue and the fall was in the air. I'm not sure if there has ever been this epic of a slump for a player this good. Altuve is still 3rd overall in BA in baseball but the Nationals Daniel Murphy (.347) and Colorado's DJ LaMehieu (.245) passed him up a little over a week ago. Altuve still has the best BA in the AL but Boston's Dustin Pedroia isn't far behind at .330. As for MVP? An MVP doesn't disappear in the most critical stretch of games of a season the way Altuve has. In the last 15 games he's hit just .180 at a time when an MVP candidate on a playoff contender needs to be leading his team instead of dragging it down. He can still rebound and save his season from a personal standpoint but right now it looks like he's fighting himself and he looks a little lost at the plate. At a time like this a good hitting coach would be able to help. A player of Altuve's caliber shouldn't be in this kind of slump for 3 freaking weeks. I think the Astros hitting coach is just collecting a paycheck because he's not making his players better hitters. Guys like Colby Rasmus, George Springer, Evan Gattis and even Carlos Correa could be doing better, I just know it. If only they had someone who knew what the hell he was doing. At the highest levels of pro sports coaching makes a difference. Think Nick Saban is just lucky? Think Mike Tomlin or Bill Belichick's teams keep winning in spite of them? Did you happen to notice that when the Astros fired Terry Collins and hired former player Larry Dierker who led the Astros into the most successful stretch of seasons in franchise history? Yes, I'm saying Larry Dierker was a good manager because his record says he was. His .533 winning percent is easily the best of any full time manager in franchise history. He was Manager of the Year in 1998 for goodness sakes. Dierker's teams had lousy luck in the playoffs, especially in 1999 when they got Randy Johnson at the trade deadline and paired him with guys like Shane Reynolds, Mike Hampton, Jose Lima and Scott Elarton for one of the strongest starting pitching rotations in club history. That team ran into the San Diego Padres in the divisional round of the playoffs to their nemesis Atlanta Braves in a best of 5 game series. Way too much information when my point was the Astros hitting coach sucks and maybe it's also due to the possible fact AJ Hinch isn't all that great either. Trouble is there isn't a Joe Torre or Jim Leyland out there to choose from. I hope Jose Altuve breaks out of his slump soon, or before the season ends anyway. It would kill me to think that anyone would believe a douche bag like Redneck Oh-der could be considered a better 2nd baseman than Altuve.

 

Houston signed another Cuban player to a deal yesterday. There are all kinds of implications involved with his signing, his reported $5.15MM deal the main factor. Houston had dived head first with their clothes on into the International market hitting the maximum penalty for players signed and it will handicap the Astros in the International pool for at least a couple of years. I hope the guys they signed were worth it.

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/200905922/astros-agree-with-cuban-prospect-cionel-perez/

 

Tonight the Rangers sent AJ Griffin to the mound and Houston counters with Brad Peacock. Who do you think is favored to win tonight? The Astros haven't mailed it in or given up yet which is too their credit but the whole team might be pressing to get out of this infernal funk they are in. I can easily foresee a Rangers sweep to end this season series and wouldn't that be fitting considering the royal ass whooping the Ranger have put on Houston this season? Have I mentioned that I don't like the Rangers? I don't feel sorry for them for never winning a championship even as far back as when the were the Washington Senators. They aren't even the original Washington Senators family tree. That team relocated to Minnesota and became the Twins, named for the twin cities of Minneapolis and St Paul. There was an expansion team created in 1960 that was also named the Washington Senators who eventually relocated to Texas in 1972. The Senators/Rangers have spent most of their history as a bunch of losers who then graduated into full blown chokers when they were one strike away from winning a World Series before losing to the St Louis Cardinals in 7 games. To heck with the Rangers.

Ah, isn't it nice when you have a closer you can depend on? A guy you know is going come in a just shut down the other team in the 9th inning and go home with a win? We really haven't had that since Billy Wagner and we still don't. Ken Giles has saved 9 games in a row since becoming the Astros closer but they weren't without some drama. It always seemed like he gave up at least one run an outing but to have the world crash down around his ears because Jason Castro can't block a pitch in the dirt really sucks. Redneck Oh-der effectively struck out for the 2nd out in the 9th but the pitch was in the dirt and Jason Castro's tried to block it but I doubt if he was looking at the play because it didn't even hit his mitt. Instead it hit the knee part of his shin guard and caromed all the way by the Astros dugout allowing Oh-der to reach first base. Then, with Mitch Moreland at the plate, Oh-der stole 2nd base. Giles did strike out Moreland for the 2nd out of the inning when Elvis Andrus came up and hit a low and away pitch over Jake Marisnick's head in center field for an RBI triple that tied the game at 2. The next batter, Jurikson Profar, singled to left scoring Andrus to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead. Another wild pitch by Giles advanced Profar to 2nd with Jonathan Lucroy hitting. Lucroy hit a sharp ground ball to 3rd that Alex Bregman misplayed and it rolled just into the outfield grass. Profar tried to score on the play but Bregman threw him out at home to end the inning but the stupid Rangers had done enough to break the Astros hearts for the eighth time in 9 one run games and ran their season dominance to 16-3 in their season series. Bill Brown on the TV broadcast summed it up when he closed out the show by saying the Astros would bid the Rangers good riddance after the series finale on Wednesday. Amazingly, Brad Peacock pitched a really good game going 7 innings allowing just the one run in 7 innings of work. To bad Giles had to ruin the party with a lot of help from Castro. The offense was it's usual inept self as they, yet again, made a mediocre pitcher look like an ace. The Astros only managed 4 hits in the game and incredibly 3 of them came from Jose Altuve who went 3-4 in the game with a home run in the 4th. Altuve got a hit in the 6th, a hard shot to 3B that caromed off the third baseman's glove into shallow left field. The Rangers SS came over and picked up the ball and he noticed Altuve took a big turn around first and he went to throw over to 1st to pick him off. That is just what happened because Altuve lost his footing and rumbled and stumbled back the bag and all that rumbling and stumbling made him too late back to the bag making for an easy out. The other hit in the game for Houston was a 6th inning HR by Castro which should have been enough to win except for the failure of Ken Giles and Jason Castro. This is the 3rd closer this season for Houston with the previous two, Luke Gregerson and Will Harris, losing the job because they got around 10 saves then couldn't keep from blowing leads. The Astros are now 4.5 games back in the Wild Card with 17 games left in the season trailing 4 teams including the Seattle Mariners who have caught and passed Houston for 2nd place in the AL West for the second time this year. The Astros are done as a contender in 2016. They have one more game against the Rangers and they finish the season playing the other 3 teams in the division. The way the Astros are playing they will be lucky to finish in 3rd place. Too bad but as they say, "There's always next year."

I suppose that the Astros 8-4 victory was at least a moral win of sorts. The fact that Houston should have won the series doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things but it would have be THE moral victory the Astros could have had but when you look at the 15-4 season stomping the Rangers put on the Astros this season it has to make you sick. Texas is a better version of the Astros last year in the fact that they have had abnormal success in one run games and they have a bunch of wins because of comebacks in the 9th inning of games. We witnessed that on Tuesday night when a strikeout/wild pitch turned into the tying run in the game and hit immediately after the game tying hit resulted in a Rangers lead and the win. When it's your year, it your year and it looks like the Rangers year is 2016.

For Houston the crap just keeps getting worse. Despite breaking through and beating Texas it cost the Astros dearly. Jose Altuve left the game in 5th with a pulled oblique muscle and an inning later after his hit a double Alex Bregman left the game with a sore hamstring. It doesn't mean the two of them are done for the season but I would be more concerned with Altuve's injury because it could prevent him from getting any more ABs which would be a shame because he is just 4 hits away from his third straight 200 hit season. After going 3-4 on Tuesday night and going 1-2 in his only ABs last night it looked like he had finally broken out of a nearly month long slump. I would love to see Jose be able to come back and get to 200 and pad his AL leading batting average to win another batting title. He doesn't deserve to get right to the doorstep only to have a balky oblique slam the door in his face.

One thing is pretty good looking ahead at next year because I think it is safe to say that Houston's lineup is stronger than it's been in years. The additions of Alex Bregman and Yuli Gurriel solidify the Astros infield and significantly strengthen their batting order. Gurriel could end up playing 1st base while Bregman holds down third or they platoon at 3rd with the odd man playing the outfield or DH'ing. The Astros also look like they have found a new catcher. Evan Gattis has been a revelation as he has demonstrated a lot of ability as a defensive catcher and the last time I looked he was above .500 in gunning down base runners attempting to steal bases. He has also got some pop at the plate and his BA isn't flirting with the Mendoza Line. His current BA of .247 is pretty nice considering what we've been getting out of Jason Castro who is hitting .214 this season. Castro's career BA of .233 is skewed by the one year he did hit well, .276 in 2013. Things are looking up but Houston needs a lot of other things to be a real contender for a title but it's nice see they have some nice pieces already in place.

Okay, now I'm pissed. Why? Because last night Houston began their series against Seattle and beat them 6-0 giving Colin McHugh his 11th win of the season and they also beat the Mariner's best pitcher Felix Hernandez in the process. Not only that but every single Wild Card contender lost last night too. Houston does this, they give you hope then they yank the rug out from under you when they go back to sucking. I just wonder when they will dash our hopes yet again which will, thankfully, be the last time given there are only 15 games left in the season. Tonight's pitchers are RHP Mike Fiers for Houston and Seattle sends LHP James Paxton to the hill. The Game doesn't start until 9:10 tonight so it will be well under way as you drive home from what is hopefully a big win over SAM tonight. Will tonight be the night Houston screws the pooch for the last time? Danged if I know. I do know one thing, I haven't got my hopes up thinking Houston is going to make this big final push to steal the second Wild Card spot. I don't dare get my hopes up because those hopes have crashed and burned too many times this season. Go Cards and if you win, Houston, I won't be unhappy.

Houston won again last night by a score of 2-1. That's a good thing but I would go all crazy about how Houston is making their run. I won't happen. It's good that the Astros are at least showing signs of life. Mike Fiers joined Collin McHugh in the eleven game winner's club edging his record to 11-7. Ken Giles managed to notch his 11th save so he gets to join Club Eleven too. Yet another average pitcher confounded the Astros lineup as James Paxton and his 4-6 record and 3.98 ERA flummoxed the Astros as he scattered just 4 hits and one walk over 7 innings as well as 7 K's. In what was pretty much a fluke inning or if your the Astros, a perfect storm, in the top of the sixth Teoscar Hernandez led off the inning with a single followed by a double by Tyler White left the Astros with men on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out in a scoreless game. Jake Marisnick was next and he grounded out to 1st followed by George Springer's strike out and it looked like Houston was going to blow a golden opportunity to take the lead in the game. Houston's newest player, Yuri Gurriel, was next and he didn't disappoint as he smacked a base hit into left scoring both Hernandez and White giving Houston a 2 zip lead. Gurriel took 2nd on the throw to the plate giving Houston another man in scoring position for Jose Altuve. The Mariners weren't about to pitch to Altuve so they intentionally walked him bringing Carlos Correa to the plate. The magic was gone though and Correa flew out weakly to center field to end the inning. The 3 hits and the walk were almost all the base runners Houston managed on the night and they actually took advantage of the opportunity to score enough runs to win the game. Luke Gregerson came on in the 8th and he made things interesting by giving up a run on an RBI double by Seth Smith with one out and Astros killers Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz due up. Gregerson was able to strike out Cano and he got Cruz to pop out to Correa to end the inning. Ken Giles came on in the 9th and he had an uneventful 1-2-3 9th to end the game.

The best thing if your the Astros was the fact that with Seattle's defeat and a loss by Detroit it puts Houston in a tie with Detroit and Seattle for the spot right behind the Blue Jays and Orioles who both also lost last night. So here's the deal, Baltimore and Tonoto are tied for the top Wild Card spot with records of 81-67. Houston, Detroit and Seattle are tied for the 3rd spot with 78-70 records--3 games behind the Orioles and Blue Jays. The Yankees are one game back of HDS at 77-71 and Kansas City is 3 back of HDS with a 75-73 record. To make it more interesting every team in contention except Houston lost yesterday. Every single one except for KC that is but they are even more of a dark horse than HDS. The odds of that happening two days in a row are rare and I'm thinking the odds of it happening 3 games in a row are astronomically against that happening. It is an interesting set of circumstances though. But don't get the feeling Houston is going to come back. Remember, I told you yesterday about the Astros propensity to tease. This is just the next one.

I told you. This isn't the time of year to take 2 steps forward and one step back. Back in May winning a series 2 games to 3 was great. Do that the whole season and you are a shoe-in for the playoffs. A .667 winning percentage over the course of a whole season and you win 108 games. If can't win your division and secure home field advantage throughout the League playoffs then there's something fishy going on. But, with 13 games left in the season you can't do that when you are 3 games off the pace for the Wild Card. Doug Fister had yet another disastrous game and mainly it was a nightmarish 4th inning that blew him out of the water. In his last 5 starts 4 of them Fister blew up in the 4th. If there was a way to sit him in the 4th and bring him back out for the 5th maybe he could go deeper into a game. He had already allowed the Mariners 3 runs in the first 3 innings but the 4 he gave up in the fourth inning was just too much for Houston to overcome. Ever since the All Star break Fister has struggled and he really went downhill after taking off a few days in early August for the birth of a child. Maybe his mind is on his wife and newborn and he just doesn't have the right concentration. Who knows, but he's 0-4 in his last five outings going back to August 28 and if you go back to July 2nd he's 4-8. Fister was the staff ace for two months in May and June but since then he's been the staff albatross. Jose Altuve didn't help the club much going 0-4. I'm telling you this team might have some fight but they seem to be fairly gutless. The Astros face the Mariners one more time in a 3 game series back at the Juice box beginning next Monday. The other 10 games will be against 4th place in the AL West Oakland and last place Angels of Anaheim. Oakland, I might add, just proved that someone can beat the Rangers when they took 2 of 3 against them this past weekend. Houston can't help it, when it's not your year it is just not your year. It's hard to fathom what the hell happened both in 2015 and this year that the team just cratered in the final six weeks of the season. What's crazy is Houston could conceivably equal last year's 86 wins. All they need to do is win 8 games and they tie and 9 to eclipse last season's win total. Every year is different and now Houston gets to play out their string over the next two weeks. They begin tonight with a 3 gamer against Oakland at Oakland. I guess we need to appreciate these last two weeks because Houston has really no chance of making the post season. I hope Altuve can pull it together and win that AL batting title but I have a feeling the MVP will go to David Ortiz of Boston. I was hoping Dallas Keuchel could at least get to double digit wins for the third season in a row but apparently the shoulder inflammation that has kept him out of action for the last few weeks will sideline him the rest of the season. The Astros starting rotation took a punch in the gut when they lost Lance McCullers and they got a resounding kick to the groin when they lost Keuchel. All things considered it's amazing the Astros hung in there this long. Hopefully, we can find a way to at least finish strong before we all hang up the cleats and put away the mitts until next next February.

Houston won the opening game in their series with Oakland with a 4-2 win last night. I literally forgot Houston was playing and maybe it's better to keep forgetting until the season is over. Houston had to rally in the 8th and 9th innings with one and two runs respectively to pull out the victory but they actually did it. Seattle and Baltimore both lost last night so the Orioles are back tied with the Blue Jays for the top Wild Card spot after Toronto beat Seattle last night. So, it's just like it was prior to Sunday's games. Detroit was off last night so they are 2-1/2 games off the WC pace while Houston and Seattle are 3 back. Houston's magic number for elimination is 10.

 

Altuve AL Batting Title Watch: Jose went 1-4 last night keeping him at .337 for the season. The hit gave him 199 for the season so he will definitely get 200 hits for the third season in a row. It would be awesome if Jose could go on one those Jose Altuve hot streaks to end the season. I would love to see him try to break his own record of hits in a season of 225. That would be a heckuva hitting streak to get 27 hits in 13 games but it would be awesome if he could do it. As for the batting title the only player close in the AL is Boston's Dustin Pedroia but he's been in a slump of sorts and he's sitting 12 points behind Altuve at .225 for the season.

 

The Astros say that Lance McCullers will start throwing off a mound this week. McCullers has been sidelined since August 2nd with what's being called a mild elbow sprain. It's being reported that he has been throwing on flat ground for a couple of weeks and the team feels he's ready to try throwing off a mound as the next step in his rehab. IF, the Astros do make the postseason there is the hope McCullers will be able to pitch but it is really unlikely he will be able to go during the remainder of the regular season.

 

Jose Altuve is up for a very prestigious award, the Esurance MLB Award for Best Major Leaguer. Details linked in the article below.

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/202253262/vote-now-for-esurance-best-major-leaguer/

Danged if Houston didn't win again last night. It wasn't easy as it took the Astros 10 innings to get it done in a 2-1 victory over the Oakland A's. That's two games in a row where Houston has come back in late innings to win. Chris Devenski got the win after he relieved Joe Musgrove who was pretty good last night taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning. Musgrove got into trouble in the 6th with one out allowing back to back hits to break up the no-no and Devenski came in and allowed one of the inherited runners to score giving the A's a 1-0 lead through 6 innings. Houston came back to tie the game in the top of 7th on a 2 out pinch hit double by Tony Kemp that scored Marwin Gonzalez who got on base with a fielder's choice and he stole 2nd with Tyler White batting and he advanced to 3rd on a White groundout. The score remained tied at 1 until the top of the 10th when Tony Kemp doubled to lead off the inning and he advanced to 2nd on a sac bunt by Jake Marisnick. George Springer singled home Kemp to give Houston a 2-1 lead. Yuri Gurriel flew out and Jose Altuve grounded Springer into a force out at 2nd to end the inning. In the bottom of the 10th Ken Giles came on and got his 13th save of the season but it wasn't easy. Giles got Ryon Healy to strike out to lead off the A's half of the 10th. He then walked Yonder Alonzo followed by a single from Brett Eibner followed by another walk, this time to Bruce Maxwell. Jake Smolinski, who broke up Musgroves no hitter in the 6th and he later scored the A's only run in the same inning, came up and popped out to Jose Altuve for the 2nd out. Joey Wendle struck out swinging on a 1-2 pitch to end the inning and game. I don't know what it is about the Astros closers. They can't just go out and lock down a game with a 1-2-3 inning. Hell no, they have to make your ass pucker first. But at least they won and the best thing about the game was Jose Altuve got his 200th hit last night as he went 1-5 in the game. Jose got his hit in the top of the 8th with one out in the inning. He was nailed at 2nd base on a strike out throw out double play that retired him and Carlos Correa to end the inning. Altuve is the first batter since Ichiro Suzuki got 10 straight 200 hit seasons from 2001-2010 and the first right handed hitter since Michael Young got 5 straight from 2003 to 2007.

 

So what's that mean for Houston's Wild Card chances. First it gives Houston a one game lead over Seattle their second straight to Toronto last night. Houston won their 80th game this season giving them a record of 80-71 which is 1/2 game back of Detroit (80-70) who won last night over Minnesota and they picked up a game on current 2nd Wild Card team Baltimore who lost to Boston. Baltimore is now 82-69 on the season. The top Wild Card spot belongs to Toronto who, again, beat Seattle giving them an 83-68 record.

 

Wild Card #1 - Toronto (83-68) --

Wild Card #2 - Baltimore (82-69) -- 1 back of Toronto

Next in Line - Detroit (80-70) -- 1.5 back of Baltimore

Next in Line - Houston (80-71) -- 2 back of Baltimore

Next in Line - Seattle (79-72) -- 3 back of Baltimore

Next in Line - NY Yankees (78-72) 3.5 back of Baltimore

Next in Line - Kansas City (77-74) 5 back of Baltimore

 

Don't get your hopes up. I'm warning you, you will only be disappointed. With just 11 games left it's still plenty of time for Houston to trip and fall over themselves. It's nice they are hanging in there but it's just not in the cards for them this season. Watch football, go to your deer lease, knit, play cards but don't count on Houston getting to the post season. It's just not going to happen. Want to root for something? Root for Houston to win 87 games breaking last year's mark of 86 wins. That is doable and worth rooting for. It's not impossible for Houston to finish the season 7-4 and that would be a good thing.

 

The Astros finish their series in Oakland this afternoon at 2:35 PM local time. Collin McHugh will trying for his 6th win in a row and Oakland counters with Daniel Mengden who is from Houston but he sports one of those Rollie Fingers waxed and cured up mustaches. Mengden is 2-7 on the season in 12 starts. He made his big league debut June 11 vs Cincinnati in which he only gave up 2 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks with 5 K's in 5.2 innings but taking a loss in the game. McHugh will be looking to tie Doug Fister for most wins with 12 today. Considering all his problems this year to back up a 19 win season in 2015 with maybe as many as 14 wins in 2016 I'd say that's pretty good but it won't happen if he doesn't win his start later today

The Astros completed the sweep of Oakland yesterday with a 6-5 win that shouldn't have been that close. Collin McHugh did what he does, pitches fine until he gets some run support and then he struggles. McHugh gave up a run in the 4th that gave the A's a 1-0 lead but Houston came right back in the top of the 5th with a run of their own to tie the game. In the 6th Houston staked McHugh to a 3 run lead largely due to a 2-run Evan Gattis HR. Houston went into the bottom of the 6th leading 4-1. Cue McHugh meltdown. Oakland's Danny Valencia led off the inning with a single and two outs later Bruce Maxwell doubled scoring Valencia from 1st to close the Astros lead to 4-2. AJ Hinch had seen enough and he brought in James Hoyt who got the final out. Houston got the run back in the top of the 7th when George Springer doubled, advanced to 3rd on wild pitch with Yuri Gurriel at the plate who then grounded out to shortstop Markus Semien. When Semien let the ball go to first Springer broke for the home and on a very close bang-bang play replay confirmed Springer just got his hand on home plate just before A's catcher Bruce Maxwell applied the tag. In the top of the 8th Evan Gattis stroked his second long ball of the game, giving him 30 dingers on the season, to extend the Astros lead to 6-4. How did the A's get to 4 runs? The Astros James Hoyt and Tony Sipp combined to put men on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out in the inning. The first run came on a ground ball out to Carlos Correa that allowed Jake Smolinski, who led off the inning with a walk, to score from 3rd. With one out in the inning Pat Neshak came on in relief of Sipp and he got Ryon Healy to ground out to Correa which scored Chad Pinder who advanced to 3rd on the previous play giving the A's two outs in the inning but also allowed Oakland to close the gap on Houston to 5-4. To me, AJ Hinch is partly to blame for at least one of the runs Oakland scored. In both cases when the A's had men on 3rd base Hinch elected not bring the infield in to prevent the runner on 3rd from scoring and thus protecting their lead. Hinch didn't do that opting instead to play his infield back playing for the out willing to give up a run for an out. The Astros had a tenuous one run lead heading to the 8th inning. Gattis extended the Astros lead to 6-4 with is 2nd home run and the A's did noting in the bottom of the 8th as Will Harris came on at got the A's out in short order with a line out and 2 K's. It all came down to getting the A's out in the bottom of the 9th for the win. Luke Gregerson came on for Harris in the 9th and of course for an Astros closer nothing comes easy. After 2 quick outs in the inning Gregerson walked Chad Pinder. Pinder advanced to 2nd on catcher's indifference with Stephen Vogt at the plate. Vogt then grounded to 2nd but Altuve made and error that not only allowed Vogt to reach 1st but with 2 outs in the inning Pinder took off at the crack of the bat and he scored from 2nd base. The A's put in Arismendy Alcantara to run for Vogt and with Ryon Healy batting with a 2-1 count Alcantara was gunned down by Jason Castro trying to steal 2nd base. Replay confirmed the out and the Astros had completed the sweep but they made it way to hard on themselves.

 

In the Wild Card chase Houston made up ground on the 2nd Wild Card spot with their win coupled with the Orioles loss to Boston meaning Houston is just one game off the pace. Detroit was rained out of their game against Minnesota so, weather permitting, the Tigers and Twins will play a double header today. Here's a scenario that COULD happen, I'm not saying it will but in the best case scenario today would be Detroit losing both games to Minnesota. Baltimore loses their finale with Boston and Houston, who begins a 4 game series with the LA Angels, beats LA. If this all comes to pass Detroit will fall a game behind Houston and Baltimore and Houston will be tied for the 2nd Wild Card spot. See what I mean? Houston does this crap to give you hope and if this whole scenario does come true then Houston will lose the last 3 to the Angels over the weekend to bury their chances for the playoffs. That's just what Houston does. I refuse to even hope, I won't have my hopes smashed under the wicked boot of fate one more time this season.

That gagging sound you heard last night was just the Astros choking like the weak, simpering curs they are. I knew this was going to happen, this team is not clutch, not even close. Yeah, they've won a few games in the past week but when the nut cuttin' began they have folded up their knives and gone home. Want to know what clutch is? Go to Detroit Tigers.com and see what a real playoff contender does against a bad team. Detroit started the day a game and a half behind Baltimore and they swept the double header to leap frog the O's by virtue of Baltimore being swept by Boston. You could argue Baltimore has some choke in them but they were playing a playoff caliber team in the Red Sox and Boston is just better than the Orioles. Houston is better on paper than the Angels. Even with the starting rotation issues Houston has had this year they are still better than the Angels staff. Markedly better but last night, yet again, Houston gets back in their own ball park and looks like warmed over shit facing a guy who came into the game 6-14 with a 4.78 ERA in 30 starts. That would be Ricky Nolasco. Who? That's my point. Nothing personal to Mr Nolasco but this guy is a hack and he's in the bigs only because of all the injuries to the regular starters the Angels have suffered. This doesn't mean Nolasco won't be better in the future. After all, he's in his first year in the majors, but wait---he was born in 1982 which means he's 34 years old! And this isn't his first season in the majors, it's his eleventh. Did I really talk about this guy in terms of a future when he is on the downhill side of his career? But there he was out there for 7 innings allowing the Astros just 5 hits and one walk with 5 K's and, most importantly, no freaking runs. None. Zip. Nada. In fact the Angels didn't send a pitcher to the mound last night with an ERA less than 4.50. JC Ramirez came into the game in the 8th inning with an ERA of 4.52 and despite giving up two hits in his one inning of work he allowed no runs. Result? ERA is now 4.46. In the 9th the Angels sent 32 year old Andrew Bailey who was sporting an ERA of 5.90 and after he pitched a scoreless 9th to close out the game for the Angels he left with an ERA of 5.75.

Last night Houston was 0-4 with RISP and they stranded 5 on the night. Jose Altuve cancelled himself out in one inning by getting caught trying to steal second in the bottom of the 1st inning. There were two guys who didn't choke last night. Mike Fiers pitched his ass off and the only mistake he made was to Albert Pujols who drove that mistake into the Crawford Boxes in the top of the 1st with a 2-run HR and that was the only scoring of the whole game. Houston lost to a bad team 2-0 at home after a 5-1 road trip. They lost to a team with the worst pitching staff in the American League by a shutout. There ought to be a lot of guys hanging their heads in shame this morning. The other guy who had a good game was Jose Altuve who did all he could by going 3-4 and he didn't choke with a running in scoring position because there was nobody in scoring position when he flew out to center field as the last out in the 6th inning. He did raise his batting average back to .340 if that's any consolation.

As I mentioned before Detroit swept a double header with Minnesota vaulting them into the 2nd Wild Card position ahead of Baltimore. Houston is next a game behind Baltimore and 2 back of Detroit with 9 games to play. Houston has 3 more games to look bad against the Angels and I figure if they lose 2 of the next 3 the final fork can be stuck in this team's playoff chances.

 

Go to Astros.com and click on the link to #Awardworthy to vote for Jose Altuve for the esurance awards. Altuve is up for Best Major Leaguer and Best Hitter Awards and we should support our guy with as many votes as you have time to submit.

 

Lance McCullers is progressing in his rehab efforts to get over his elbow problems on his pitching arm. Yesterday was the first time McCullers has thrown off a mound since leaving a game on August 2nd with an elbow strain. AJ Hinch said he threw a full bullpen session with intensity but despite being a very encouraging sign it still doesn't define a timeline when McCullers can return to action. He is scheduled to throw another BP session in a few days and it will help the team evaluate McCuller's progress going forward.

 

For long time Astros fans you have come to know the distinctive voice of TV play by play man Bill Brown. Yesterday Brown announced that he is retiring at the end of the season. His final broadcast will be Houston's final home game of the regular season next Wednesday in the series finale against the Seattle Mariners. In recent seasons Brown has basically only done home games with a smattering of road games thrown in. He's been calling about 100 of the Astros games in recent years similar to what Milo Hamilton did for a few years prior to his retirement. Like most professional broadcasters Brown had a distinctive voice that made the game more dramatic when it had to be and interesting the rest of the time. Professional broadcasters like Brown and Milo Hamilton and Vin Scully, who is also retiring at the end of the season, all have certain things in common. They all have a distinctive baritone voice and they don't get so caught up in the game they fail to communicate what is happening. In fact, by their call of the game it makes the event more dramatic and exciting. Another thing they have in common is a love of the game and an understanding of what make the game beautiful and without even knowing who is talking you instinctively know that that man loves his sport. All the great broadcaster know when to talk and when to shut up and bask in a moment. Guys like Brown are becoming dinosaurs as the media is being flooded by ex-jocks who want to continue being associated with their sport. Trouble is, many of them have poor communication skills and aren't able to put their preconceived prejudices and biases aside. They are all too prone to spewing clichés and misinformation to be considered serious journalists. Seriously, who besides me is sick and tired of a player or team playing with a chip on their shoulder? That phrase is so trite it's become like a person scratching a chalk board with their fingernails to me. Bill Brown will be missed especially since since guys like Alan Ashby and Geoff Blum, who are nice guys and very knowledgeable, but are bland as beige vocally. Brownie will be missed but I hope he has a long and happy and healthy retirement. Linked below is an article about Brown's announcement yesterday along with a video of the press conference where Brown announced his retirement.

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/202763346/astros-play-by-play-man-bill-brown-to-retire/

I don't know if there is something in the water or what that makes the Astros bullpen suck fuzzy balls in September. Last night the 'pen didn't just blow a 3 run lead going into the 8th inning they blew it out of the water. Leading 6-3 as the top of the 8th began Luke Gregerson allowed the Angels to score one run in his one inning of work. Not great but not terrible I guess. Then with a 6-4 lead and three outs away from victory Ken Giles came on and he had revenge sex with the pooch last night. By the time the inning came to a merciful conclusion Houston went from a 2 run lead to a 4 run deficit. We hadn't seen a meltdown like that since what should've been a series clinching win against Kansas City in the divisional round of the playoffs last year but for the utter failure of the bullpen to hold a 5 run lead. This loss last night, by a score of 10-6, is devastating to the slim Astros playoff hopes and it is Ken Giles 2nd blown safe in his last 5 outings. How much would those two wins mean to the Astros right now? If Houston had gotten those two wins, in other words, if Ken Giles had done his friggin' job, Houston would be 83-71 and tied with Detroit and Baltimore for the 2nd Wild Card spot. Tied. If you go deeper into it Houston has had 3 different closers this season Luke Gregerson, Will Harris and now Ken Giles. The reason we are down to Giles right now comes down to two reasons. 1. Gregerson started blowing saves in May and Early June like nobody's business so he was replaced by Will Harris. Harris came on and looked almost invincible getting 10 saves in his first 10 chances but after that he started blowing save opportunities too and he was demoted to middle relief. On comes big money Ken Giles because it's the second reason he became the Astros closer, the Astros traded away a 1st pick in the draft Mark Appel and other prospects to get Giles in the offseason to prevent, ironically enough, another late season meltdown by the bullpen. Didn't work did it.

A deeper look at these guys who were the Astros closers this season and you see something quite disturbing. All totaled Gregerson, Harris and Giles have had 53 save opportunities of which they converted only 40 into wins. 40. People a 75% save conversion rate sucks. I mean it absolutely sucks when you consider Baltimore closer Zack Britton is 45 of 45 in save opportunities. The overall leader in saves in baseball is the Mets Jeurys Familia who is 49 of 54 in saves. That's 91% folks. I could live with that, how about you? If you take those 53 saves and calculate 91% you get 48 saves which is 8 more wins. What would 8 more wins mean to Houston right now? They would be 89-65 easily the #1 Wild Card team by 5 games plus they would only be two games behind the cursed Rangers for the division. Here's one more stat that will irk the crap out of you. There have been 5 other pitchers who have tried to close games and they are Chris Devenski (1-1), Scott Feldman (0-1), Michael Feliz (0-3), Tony Sipp (1-2) and James Hoyt (0-1) for a total of 2 saves in 9 opportunities. 2 of 9 is 22%. Again, these are spot closers so lets say they convert 60% of the 9 tries you get 5 saves, 3 more than they already got. So, add in these 3 saves to the number we got if the regular closers should have gotten and Houston has a total of 92 wins and 62 losses which would mean Houston would currently have the best record in the American League, they would have one game lead over Texas in the division with 8 games to play and they would have no Worse than a Wild Card spot wrapped up. Is that sickening or what? That means it doesn't matter that Houston went 4-15 against the Rangers in their season series. It doesn't matter one bit. Now if they could have even split with Texas going 9-10 on the season that yet another 5 games and Houston is sitting with almost 100 wins and the rest of the AL looking at coming to Houston throughout the playoffs. But, I'm not counting on a split with Texas because you could also argue the winning records Houston has against Oakland and Seattle could be different. But I don't think it's too much of a stretch to look at "what if" the closers had been better this season. The numbers are there and it's not unreasonable to expect a guy to go and get 3 confounded outs at the end of a game. That's why they get the big bucks. Seems to me that they owe the Astros a salary refund for their work this season. I'd say about 25% refund would be about right, how 'bout you.

As for the Wild Card race as it currently sits, Baltimore (83-71) and Detroit (83-71) are tied for the #2 Wild Card spot. Seattle (81-72) is 1.5 games back of them and Houston (81-73) is two games behind. Houston has 2 more opportunities to suck against the Angels while Seattle plays Minnesota. Detroit plays Kansas City whom they lost to last night and Baltimore continues their series with Arizona whom they beat last night.

2 games back with 8 to play, Seattle has 9 looks good and seems to be a hopeful situation but like I've been saying since Houston blew the road trip to start the month including 6 games with Texas I knew the chances of Houston making the playoffs were slim and none with the better odds on none. I'm not a big fan of AJ Hinch but the performance of his closers this year isn't his fault, it's on them. Hinch can't make the pitches for them even though I'll bet the former catcher in him would like to go out and bitch-slap every one of them. When you look at the numbers wouldn't you?

It's not even worth recounting any more. Houston lost its 3rd straight to the Angels 10-4. After Brad Peacock went 5 innings allowing but one run the bullpen collectively shit all over Peacock's good work as every reliever who entered the game allowed at least one run. It was a pitiful display all the while the Astros hitters continued to make the Angels staff look much, much better than they actually are. Houston got to 81-71 after it's series finale and sweep of the A's last Wednesday and there is just something about being 10 games over .500 that just doesn't sit well with this team. It's the 3rd time they were +10 in wins and it's the 3rd time the Astros followed that with a losing streak. Houston is 3 back with 7 to play. Even I can do the math. Even though they technically have a chance to make the post season in reality there is no chance whatsoever. Houston is stuck on 81 wins this season and I don't believe they will make 83 when the season is over. I don't remember seeing a team that was on the doorstep of the playoffs go belly up the way Houston has. It's really disappointing to see this team choke like they have. I am now ready for this long and frustrating season to be over. Who the f**k cares who makes the playoffs now. All I can do now is root against the Rangers.

Houston finally beat the Angels yesterday by a score of 4-1 salvaging a win in the 4 game series with LA. Joe Musgrove got the win to even his record at 4-4 on the season and Ken Giles got the save and he actually didn't allow a run in his one inning of work. Will Harris pitched a scoreless, hitless 8th for a nice outing coming way to late to matter for the Astros post season hopes. Houston scored in the 1st on a two out hit by Jose Altuve, his only hit of the game, and he took 2B on a wild pitch followed by an RBI single by Carlos Correa. The Astros other 3 runs came off solo HR's by Evan Gattis, Tony Kemp and Tyler White.

 

For those of you who are morbidly curious about where Houston stands in the Wild Card race here it is. Baltimore is the 2nd WC right now with an 85-71 record. Next is Detroit with an 83-72 record, 1.5 games back of Baltimore. Seattle is behind Detroit with an 82-73 record 2.5 games back of the Orioles. Houston is next with an 82-74 record 3 games behind Baltimore. Of these four teams Baltimore, Seattle and Houston won yesterday while Detroit fell to Kansas City. Here's the remaining schedule for these top four teams chasing the 2nd WC spot.

 

Baltimore has 6 games remaining. They will be off today and close out the season against the Blue Jays and Yankees. These will be hotly contested games because Toronto is the 1st WC and Baltimore could overtake them if they should sweep the series. The significance of that would be that the WC playoff game would be in Baltimore instead of Toronto. The Jays have a 1.5 game lead over Baltimore right now with Toronto in action today in a makeup of a rainout game with NY Yankees so the lead over Baltimore with either be one or two games depending on the outcome of the game with NY.

 

Detroit has 7 games remaining beginning with a 4 game series with Cleveland tonight. Cleveland still has a lot to play for as they are two games behind both Texas and Boston in the race for home field advantage. Detroit and Cleveland are in the same division so I'm sure both teams will want to win as a matter of principle. Detroit closes out their season with a 3 game series against the Atlanta Braves who are playing, at this point, for pride and to be spoilers. If you're an Astros fan you will also be a Braves fan if Detroit falters against Cleveland.

 

Seattle has 7 games left beginning with a series in Houston tonight. This series is the make or break series for both teams because the loser of the series will most surely be eliminated from WC contention. Seattle has a 1/2 game lead on Houston right now and with so few games left to play both teams will be looking to sweep the other. Seattle closes out the season with 4 games against the Oakland A's who are playing for pride and the role of spoilers. The key will be the series against Houston.

 

Houston has six games left. The 3 with Seattle which, from my pessimist's box seat, looks like it will be the final nail in the Astros coffin and they get a day off on Thursday before travelling to LA to finish the season with the Angels. Another team playing for pride and spoiler-ship. The Angels sure did play their spoiler's role to the hilt winning 3 of 4 against Houston this past weekend with a lot of help from the Astros bullpen. Don't worry Astros fans, the hurting will be over soon.

 

Vin Scully called his last home game for the Dodgers yesterday. It wasn't his last broadcast for the Dodgers though as he plans to travel to San Francisco to call the series with the Giants before hanging up he microphone for the last time. Scully has been with the Dodgers organization as a broadcaster since 1950. At the age of 25 in 1953 Scully was the play by play man for the World Series when the Dodgers faced the Yankees. Scully still hold the record for the youngest broadcaster of a World Series game, a record which still stands today. So, Scully has been a voice of the Dodgers for 66 years. Good grief, a lot of people don't even live to be 66 much less do the same job for that amount of time. Scully is one of the true icons in sports broadcasting but at 88 years old he's decided to ride off into the sunset of retirement. You might never have heard Scully, or realized you were listening to him but if saw the movie "For the Love of the Game" with Kevin Costner you got to listen to vintage Scully as he did the running commentary of the perfect game pitched by Costner's character Billy Chapel. The call of this fictitious game was pure Scully and it was a joy to listen to a true master of his craft. I've heard Scully call games and his play by play in the movie was classic Scully. I wouldn't be surprised if Scully didn't write his own part because nobody can conjure up images. In the 9th inning of the game in the movie Scully had the line, "Today, here in the cathedral that is Yankee Stadium it belongs to a Chapel." still gives me chills to think of it. This week Scully and Houston's Bill Brown, who will end his 30 year broadcast career with the Astros with his call of the Mariner's series, will see to men leave baseball and baseball will be the worse for their leaving because baseball was so blessed by their presence. Baseball is the most sentimental of sports. If you listen to James Earl Jones talk about what baseball means in the movie "Field of Dreams" you get an idea of the history the sport is so completely immersed in. Jones has one of those commanding voices that just evokes emotion and the passage from FoD is another lesson is baseball lore. Simple yet poignant. A warmth in your belly that baseball is more than a sport, it's an institution. Even when your bullpen sucks to high heaven. It will be sad when the season ends. In terms of popularity and money football is the national sport but baseball will always be the National Pastime. I got so sentimental I have linked the end of "For the Love of the Game" with Vin Scully and the soliloquy by James Earl Jones from "Field of Dreams".

 

Okay, I couldn't find a video of the FTLOTG so I got the 9th inning of Game 1 of the 1988 World Series between the Dodgers and the Oakland A's when Kirk Gibson hit a two run walk off home run to beat the A's.

 

 

Here's James Earl Jones in Field of Dreams.

 

Danged if the Astros didn't get shafted by their bullpen again. After Colin McHugh went 7 good innings allowing only 2 runs in the process and after the Astros were able to erase a 3-1 deficit in the bottom of the ninth the pitchers couldn't hold the Mariners. The game should never have gone into extra innings. In the top of the ninth with one out and a man on first the Mariners Ben Gamel laid down a bunt straight back to the pitcher's mound. Reliever James Hoyt casually picked up the ball and threw into foul territory down the first base line. The wild throw allowed the runner from first to score extending the M's 2-1 lead to 3-1. As luck would have it Houston managed to score 2 runs in the bottom of the inning to tie the game. A Carlos Correa single scored Altuve from 2nd base to tie the game and an Evan Gattis single moved Correa to 3rd with just one out in the inning. This where I take issue with AJ Hinch. With Tyler White coming up who was 0-3 with 2 K's in the game he let White swing away. During White's entire AB I was saying out loud that White should bunt up the first base line with Correa going on contact. With Correa's speed he had a better than average chance to make it home with the winning run. But that's not how it happened. White had a horrendous AB striking out on 3 pitches never making a tic of contact. Tony Kemp came up next and I still thought the left handed batting Kemp should try a bunt for a hit. He didn't and he popped out to the first baseman in foul territory to end the inning. If Hoyt could've just thrown better the game would be over. If AJ Hinch thought a little out of the box the game could be over. If Gary Pettis hadn't gotten Marwin Gonzalez thrown out at home on a single from Jose Altuve Houston would have had a man on third with Carlos Correa, who went 3-4 on the night, coming up next. Gary Pettis is a shitty 3rd base coach and I wouldn't mind seeing him and the Astros hitting coach find a new job this offseason. Houston lasted until the top of the tenth with Luke Gregerson on the mound. With 2 outs and a 1-2 count Gregerson grooved a fastball to Robinson Cano who jacked it out of the park to give the Mariners a one run lead. It was a dumbass mistake by Gregerson to a guy in Cano who has just killed Astros pitching at home. With two strikes there shouldn't have been a ball even close to the strike zone. It wouldn't matter if you walked Cano you don't let the other team's best hitter beat you. Houston tried to come back in the bottom of the eleventh with one out singles by Altuve and Correa but Evan Gattis, facing Nick Vincent whose top end fastball was 89 mph, struck out on 3 pitches never even making contact with any of them. Yuli Gurriel pinch hit for Tyler White and he only managed a weak fly ball to left field to end the game.

 

The Astros lack of clutch in their offense and bullpen is just sad and it's two seasons in a row they have failed miserably in September. Just 5 games left thank God. Discussion about the Wild Card is stupid at this point as Houston is now 4 games back with those 5 games to play. Choking dogs deserve to die in peace.

I had to laugh last night when Bill Brown on the Root Sports TV broadcast recapped the game saying that Astros starter gave the Astros 5 strong innings. Maybe Brownie was just trying to be positive, after all, he was calling his second to last Astros broadcast ever last night. Whatever the reason I don't classify 5 innings of work "strong" when you give up 8 hits and 4 earned runs on 90 total pitches. Fiers didn't allow a walk which was a good thing and he had 5 K's as well. Fiers gave up all 4 of the runs he allowed in the first 3 innings but after that he retired 7 Mariners in a row starting with the last out in the 3rd. Maybe you could call his outing semi-strong. AJ Hinch used a different cast for characters out of the bullpen than the usual suspects that really been bad lately. Kevin Chapman, Jandel Gustav, Chris Devenski and Pat Neshak took care of the final four innings by shutting out the Mariners. The only shaky outing was by Chapman who last but 1/3 of an inning allowing 2 hits before Hinch yanked him for Gustav. The Astros looked like this was going to be another offensive dud as they only managed 2 runs through 5 innings and both of those came in the 1st inning. Then the 6th inning came around and Houston's offense woke up. The Astros sent 10 men to the plate in the inning and they scored 6 runs chasing Mariner's ace Felix Hernandez after just 2/3 of the sixth was complete. Hernandez is the unquestioned ace of the Mariners staff but the Juice Box is his own personal death valley. As dominant as he is otherwise Hernandez gets worn out by the Astros and there's just explaining why. But, who's complaining? The top four in the Houston lineup again carried the team as Springer, Gonzalez, Altuve and Correa went a combined 8 for 15 with 6 RBI's and 4 runs scored between them. Evan Gattis went 2-4 in the game but the rest of the lineup got bupkis except for a surprise appearance by Alex Bregman, who has been out for a couple of weeks with an injury, when he came in a pinch hit for Jason Castro in that big 6th inning. Bregman got a hit and drove in a run as a part of that rally. That was it, that was all the scoring in the game but Houston got the 8-4 victory and they pulled within a half game of Seattle and incredibly enough they are just two back of 2nd WC Baltimore who lost to Toronto last night. Detroit is just a game back of Baltimore after they beat the crap out of Cleveland 12-0 last night. Houston finishes the series with Seattle this afternoon and they will get the day off on Thursday while the rest of the contenders catch up in total games played. By the time the final series of the season begins for all of baseball on Friday everyone will have played the same about of games so all this 1/2 game crap will be finished. Teams will all know how they stand as they look to play the final regular season series. It's rather amazing how many teams still have a shot at the 2nd WC and mathematically speaking Houston even has a shot, albeit a slim one, to make the post season. It's nice to see Bregman back and I'm sure the Astros hope his is good to go to actually be in the lineup today. Even if it's as DH they sure could use his bat.

 

It's been a big week for Bregman so far. On Monday he was named the Astros Minor League Player of the Year and last night he kept a rally going by driving in the game tying run as part of a 6 run rally in the 6th inning. Bregman has been out for the last two weeks with a pulled hamstring and after he got his hit backup catcher Max Stassi was brought in to pinch run for him. Bregman could DH but he's have to run the bases if he did and there may be some question over whether he is ready to do that. Maybe the Astros will say, "What the hell." and play him knowing he's got the whole offseason to recover if he reinjures the hammy. Whatever slim playoff hopes Houston has depends on them scoring runs and an extra quality batter in the lineup would go a long way toward any last minute push the Astros may make.

 

Today long time Astros TV play by play man Bill Brown will be hanging it up today after his final broadcast in Houston's final home game of the 2016 regular season this afternoon. It's likely to be quite a sentimental day for everyone and to add to the festivities today is also fan appreciation day. I hope you got your DVR set to record this game for all these reasons plus Houston is still fighting for a Wild Card spot in the playoffs so there ought to be a huge buzz in the stadium today. In the final home game of the season Houston will send Doug Fister (12-12) to the mound as the Mariners counter with James Paxton (5-7). After a rough two months of mostly forgettable outings Fister pitched 5 really good innings in his last start. AJ Hinch didn't want to tempt fate of mess with whatever confidence Fister developed after his 5 innings so Hinch pulled him after throwing just 75 pitches. That was last Friday against the Angels. Unfortunately, Hinch pulled Fister prior to a big 5 run rally in the bottom of the 6th inning so it robbed Fister of a win opportunity. As it turned out Ken Giles had the meltdown of all meltdowns in the 9th inning allowing the Angels to score 6 runs in the frame allowing the Angels a big comeback win over Houston so the whole pulling Fister too early debate became a moot point. Don't mistake a bit of optimism about Fister pitching today with any semblance of hope over Houston's playoff chances. I told you, those feelings are dead and buried. At any rate the game begins at 1:10 CDT this afternoon. Just in case you want to go or tune in. Because I know you don't care ----- or hope Houston could still make the playoffs -------- or want see Houston finish the season on a high note --------- or whatever crazy, foolish, silly reason you can think of to want to see this game.

Crazy, foolish, silly. That's the emotions that can be the only explanation for holding out hope that this team would step up and actually be clutch. The Astros were doomed less than 10 minutes into the game last night when Doug Fister did his best impression of a no talent hack giving up a 3 run home run to Robinson Cano. It was bad enough Fister allowed the first two batters on base but the most lethal Astros killer since Albert Pujols should never see a strike, he should not be allowed to hit, period. They ought to treat Cano like Barry Bonds and just walk him. I know that Nelson Cruz is a good hitter but Houston actually can get that guy out once in a while. The game sort of went downhill after Cano's homer. Fister managed to get one out in the 2nd inning before allowing 2 more runs to score giving the Mariners a 6-0 in the 2nd inning. Fister got the hook after 1.1 innings giving up 5 runs on 5 hits, a walk and 2 K's. Kevin Chapman came in a sucked, just not as much as Fister, lasting just 1.2 innings allowing 4 hits and 2 more runs making the score 7-0 after only 3 innings. Amazingly, Tony Sipp pitched well coming into the game in the 4th inning. He lasted 2 full innings, didn't allow a hit and gave up just one walk and, most importantly, he didn't allow a run to score. James Hoyt followed Sipp and the runs started coming again as he allowed a run in 1.1 innings. Next up was Will Harris who kept the batting practice going for Seattle as he lasted just 2/3 of an inning allowing yet another run. Houston had allowed 9 runs in seven innings but they managed to score a little bit too. The Astros got a run in the run in the 3rd on a George Springer HR and two more in the 5th and their last run of the night came on a solo HR by Evan Gattis that made the score 7-4 at the time. The stage was set for a miraculous comeback by Houston but it wasn't to be. The bullpen just would not allow the team such heroics. Pat Neshak came on in the 8th and by the time he walked off the mound at the end of the M's half of the inning the score had ballooned to 12-4 as Neshak allowed 3 hits, including a 3 run homer to Kyle Seager, 2 BB's and a 2 K's. The Astros were a beaten team by then and offered little resistance in the 8th and 9th innings. The final score was Seattle 12 and Houston 4 in one of the most gutless and futile homestands in Astros history. What's even more galling is Houston is still mathematically alive for the 2nd Wild Card, barely. The only chance Houston has is if Baltimore, Detroit and Seattle all lose every game they have left and Houston wins out in Los Angeles against the Angels. Pfffft, yeah right, THAT'S going to happen and pigs are going to fly out of my butt. The Astros went 2-5 in the most critical home stand of the season and they never stepped up and took the bull by the horns and did their job. The lion's share of the blame falls right on the Astros pitching, mainly the relievers who gave up leads and wins like nobody's business. It was like deja vu watching the bullpen melt down just like they did in September of 2015 when they lost a big division lead and had to fight tooth and nail just to get a Wild Card spot in the playoffs. Houston had some decent offense then but the hitters are a big part of the problem too but it's still on the bullpen and the starting pitching which was, at best, shaky the past month. And goodness knows what the hell is the deal with Doug Fister. At one point he was the ace of the starting rotation, and that was before Dallas Keuchel was lost for the rest of the season with left shoulder inflammation, but since the All Star break he has been a momentum killer dragging the team down with poor start after poor start. It's hard to imagine how a guy can be so good for half the season and then turn it around and be so gawd awful that you dread his next start. Thank goodness the Astros close out the series on the road in Los Angeles because Houston shouldn't be subjected to shit like we saw over the last 7 games. Get this, if Houston goes 5-2 instead of 2-5 the extra 3 games would have Houston right on the doorstep of the playoffs. Think about it for a moment, if Houston wins 3 more games their record would be 86-73 just one half game behind Baltimore in the Wild Card race. They would have leapfrogged both the Tigers and the Mariners and they would be tied for the 2nd WC if Baltimore where to lose to Toronto tonight. You see what big of a bunch of chokers the Astros are? Earlier this week I wrote about how big a difference having a reliable closer would have meant to Houston and today I show you what your eyes told you, the bullpen as a whole sucked in the past week. I think AJ Hinch was so fed up with the regular bullpen cast of clowns he sent in a guy I have never heard of to pitch the 9th inning. You know what? The kid, Brady Rodgers who had only had 3 previous appearances and sporting a 24.55 ERA going into the inning, got the Mariners out facing just four batters. He even got Robinson Cano out to end the inning. Go figure.

 

The real kicker of the night was that it was fan appreciation night at Minute Maid Park and it was the last game called by TV play by play man Bill Brown. Nice was to show your appreciation guys. Vic Scully's last home broadcast was this past Sunday and the Dodgers were losing 3-2 to the San Diego Padres in the bottom of the 9th when Corey Seager came to the plate and knocked a home run into the right field seats, not far from where Kirk Gibson hit a walk off HR in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, to tie the game. This came with 2 outs in the inning. In the bottom of the 10th Charlie Culbertson came to the plate and I'll let Mr Scully take it from here, “0 and 1 to Charlie. Swung on, a high flyball to deep left field. The Dodgers’ bench empties. Would you believe a home run? And the Dodgers have clinched the division and will celebrate on schedule. What a moment to have, and would you believe, his first . . . home . . . run . . . of . . . the . . . year.” Of course in the shadow of Hollywood you know Scully would end his 67 years as a Dodgers broadcaster in storybook fashion in his last home broadcast in his life. What made it even more cool was, in tribute to Scully, the grounds crew had his first name chalked along both baselines and after the game winning hit the players who gathered on the field to greet Culbertson as he crossed home plate to celebrate that division clinching win the players all turned and doffed their caps to Scully in the TV booth. Frigging perfect. The Astros had no such drama and no storybook end to Bill Brown's career. Nothing, nada, bupkis. It was cool that during the game they played a recorded message from Vin Scully congratulating Brownie on his career and his retirement. It could have been storybook. The stage was set. In contention for a Wild Card spot, at home against one of their rivals for that WC spot. Visits by Craig Biggio in the booth and a ton of Astros memories all called by Brown during his 30 years as the Astros play by play man. Even the howdy from Vin Scully. The stage was certainly set and the Astros went out and shat all over the whole occasion. Brownie deserved much better for his farewell game.

Edited September 29, 2016 by eagle eye

The mystery and the misery is over folks. Baltimore snuffed out Houston's chance of making the playoffs last night with a win over the Toronto Blue Jays. Houston is officially mathematically eliminated by virtue of being 4 games behind Baltimore with 3 games to play. There is nothing short of alien abduction of 3 of the 4 teams currently ahead of Houston in the standings that will get them into the post season. Houston was off last night as they prepare to play their final series of the season in LA against the Angels beginning tonight. Here's the current breakdown of the Wild Card race as it stands with everyone but Detroit having 3 games left. Detroit still has four games because the series finale against Cleveland was rained out last night.

 

WC 1 / WC 2 - There is a tie between Toronto and Baltimore for the Wild Cards. Both are 87-72 on the season. Baltimore completes their 3 games of the regular season against the Yankees in New York while Toronto finishes up with Boston in Boston.

 

Next in line - Detroit with a record of 85-73 - 1.5 games back of Baltimore and Toronto. Detroit finishes up with Atlanta and depending on how the weekend goes they might have to make up the game with Cleveland.

Next in line - Seattle with a record of 85-74 - 2 games back. Seattle finishes the season with 3 more games against Oakland at home in Seattle. Seattle won the first of 4 against the A's last night by a score of 3-2.

 

So, mathematically, the Tigers and Mariners still have a shot. If Baltimore and/or Toronto should stumble this weekend it could open the door for the Tigers and Mariners to waltz right in and take their place. It looks like this AL Wild Card race is going down to the wire, it's a shame Houston played themselves out of contention or they'd be in the mix too.

 

If anyone cares Houston was next in succession after the Mariners with an 83-76 record. They are tied with the Yankees but they won't have the same opportunity the Bronx Bombers have to play the role of spoiler as they finish the season with Baltimore and they could just ruin the Orioles playoff chances and I'm sure they will be trying to do just that. With Houston playing the Angels all they could spoil is the Angels final 3 games with a win but of course the Angels will be trying to do the same to Houston. As a matter of fact the Angels already played the role of spoilers when they destroyed Houston in 3 of 4 games last weekend in Houston. It doesn't matter though because Houston didn't deserve to be in the playoffs. They played like losers over the last month in general and the last two weeks in particular and even though they remained in contention they, and everyone else, knew they didn't deserve a seat at the big boy table.

 

What this all means for Houston is the pressure is completely off so they might play like they haven't a care in the world which usually means a team will play well when any and all pressure is off their backs. I wouldn't be surprised if Houston doesn't take a 'what the f**k' attitude to California and sweep the series against the Angels. That's how this stuff usually works. Or, it could go the other way as they take that same attitude and play like crap and get swept themselves. At this point it doesn't really matter except...........

 

Jose Altuve probably has a lock on his second AL Batting Title in 3 years. He is currently hitting .337 with his closest contenders, both from Boston, Joey Votto at .320 and Dustin Pedroia at .319. I can't imagine a 17 or 18 point swing in just 3 games but this has been an improbable year so I'm not counting Altuve chickens just yet.

 

WTF happened with Colby Rasmus? The guy has fallen off the face of the baseball earth. A couple of weeks ago he returned to action after being off for about 3 weeks after having a cyst removed from his inner ear. He homered in his first AB coming off the DL and then didn't do squat after that. In a series in Oakland that ended on September 21st Rasmus said he was ''taking a little breather'' because he "....just wasn't feeling like myself in the field.'' It could be Colby saw the handwriting on the wall as his one year deal worth $15.8MM is coming to a close and because he played like crap this season he knows he won't be coming back to the Astros in 2017. It's too bad, I like Rasmus. In 2015 he was a much better hitter and he has always played good defense. I don't know what the vibe was in the clubhouse this season but it wasn't like last year. The team seemed less tight and together this season. Every year is different and this year certainly was. As it stands, Rasmus has not even traveled to LA with the team for the final series. I think it is safe to say we will not see him in an Astros uniform again.

 

Brad Peacock gets the start tonight in LA. Peacock is 0-0 with 2.67 ERA in limited action since being called up back in early August. I have to say that what I knew of Peacock in past seasons was not what he was in 2016. He has lost a lot of weight and he is pitching much better meaning he's consistent with his stuff now. He made 5 relief appearances in August with varying degrees of success but no team ever got more than one run against him. In 7 innings pitched he had an ERA of 3.86 but by and large he did his job. In September the Astros started using him as a starter beginning on the 6th when he went 3.2 innings against Cleveland. He had thrown about 50 pitches and he was pulled because AJ Hinch knew Peacock hadn't been a starter and wasn't used to throwing multiple innings. Houston won the game 4-3. His next start was the 13th at home against Texas. Peacock went 6 innings allowing just one run. Ken Giles gave up two runs in the top of the ninth to blow a 2-1 lead which ended up a 3-2 heartbreaking loss. On September 19 Peacock faced the A's in Oakland and he went 5.2 innings allowing two runs on 3 hits with 2 BBs and 2 Ks. Houston won 4-2 but Peacock did not factor in the decision. His last start was last Saturday against the Angels. In 5 innings of work he gave up one run on 1 hit with 2 BBs and 7 Ks. Again, he got a no-decision because the bullpen had a total and complete meltdown and blew a 4-3 lead and ending up losing 10-4. In 4 starts in September he pitched 20 innings allowing just 5 runs with a 2.24 ERA. He should have had 3 wins but because the bullpen had done its September crash and burn routine he got 4 no-decisions instead. Except for Collin McHugh Peacock was the best pitcher the Astros used as a starter in September. It's a real kick in the pants for me because I've been mad at Houston and Brad Peacock ever since the Astros traded away P Jarred Cosart to Miami and kept Peacock. That trade was made worse since Peacock has done nothing for Houston since until this September. To be fair, Peacock has had to deal with some arm issues including some surgeries and also Cosart hasn't been what he looked like he was going to be when he was with the Astros. Peacock has been in the Astros organization since 2012 so it's about time the Astros got some benefit out of him. Hopefully, he will continue his good pitching and get a long overdue win tonight in his second start against the Angels.

The Astros appeared to have given up last night beginning with P Brad Peacock. He had pitched well but, because I made the mistake of praising him, he was just terrible last night against the Angels. Peacock struggled through the 1st inning but he managed to escape without allowing a run but it was a different story in the 2nd. In the top of the inning Houston managed a run to take a 1-0 lead but in the bottom of the inning the Angels scored 4 runs to pretty much bury the Astros. They looked lackluster, they played lackluster and they ended up on the wrong end of a lackluster score. You just knew things were about to go bad with the Angels lead off man in the inning, Andrelton Simmons a right handed batter hit a ball to right that substitute OF Teoscar Hernandez misplayed for a two base error giving the Angels a man on second base with nobody out. Peacock ended up giving up all 7 Angels runs in 4.2 innings of work. The Astros offense was a limp noodle, embarrassing really.

 

So, here is the latest standings for the Wild Card spots. BTW the Rangers won last night and they clinched home field advantage through the AL playoffs. Whoop-dee-do. I'm so happy for the stupid Rangers.

 

Baltimore took the lead for the #1 WC with a win last night and a Toronto loss. But, the Orioles lost this afternoon to the Yankees so the have a 1/2 game lead on Toronto for the top WC spot

with an 88-73 record.

Toronto lost to Boston last night but they play Game 2 of their series with the Bosox tonight. They are 1/2 game back of Baltimore but they could be tied with them if they win. The Blue Jays record is now. 87-73.

 

The next in line chasing the O's and Jays is 86-73 with a game against Atlanta tonight. They beat the Braves last night to keep the pressure on the top two teams. They are 1/2 game back of Toronto prior to tonight's games.

 

Seattle is the last team who is chasing a WC spot. They are 85-74 and 2 games back of Toronto. They are kept pace with the leaders by virtue of a win last night over the A's. The M's are hanging by a thread and a win by Toronto and a loss by Seattle and their playoff hopes are over.

 

A loss by Toronto and a win by Detroit will make things very interesting. Earlier in the week Detroit had a rainout in their series finale against Cleveland and if it comes down to a tie with either Toronto or Baltimore Detroit will need to make up that game.

The Astros beat the Angels on Saturday just to show they could and they pretty much went through the motions of the game yesterday. So did the Angels but their motions were better than Houston's as the Astros fell in the season finale 8-1. I am recapping September which includes the two games in October since it's only two games and, well, the season is over. Houston went 13-16 in the final month which just speaks to just how frustrating this team was during the year. Jose Altuve tumbled from a season high .366 BA early in the month to what he ended up with at .338. Altuve did win his second AL batting title and he also logged the most hits in the AL with 216 for the year. It's sort of weird but Miguel Cabrera won the AL batting title in 2015 with a .338 BA. Losing 28 points on his average in September likely cost Altuve serious consideration for MVP. It would be hard to vote against Boston's Big Poppi David Ortiz because if he really does retire he had one of the best seasons ever. Congrats to Altuve and I hope this means he wins the Sliver Slugger Award even though Seattle's Robinson Cano and Texas' Redneck Oh-der had a lot of homers and overall good seasons. I'm okay if Cano beats out Altuve for the SS Award but it will literally puke if Oh-der wins. For the second season in a row September swoon is the exact way to describe what happened to Houston the last seasons. I cannot explain it and they would be hard pressed to explain what the heck happened to this team. After a really awful April Houston came storming back and they scratched and clawed their way out of being 10 games under .500 to get right back into contention for the AL West lead. Houston actually got to 10 games over .500 3 separate times over the summer and every single time they went into a debilitating slump. The last time they were +10 was early this month and they fell off the face of the earth losing all but 4 series in the month and one of the 4 was a split of a four game series. The Texas Rangers owned the Astros and it seemed every time Houston got close they had a series with Texas that they lost. As a matter of fact they lost every series they played with the Rangers owning a 15-4 record against Houston for the season. It didn't help matters at all that Houston lost arguably their best two starters, Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers in August. Keuchel went out with shoulder inflammation in late August and he was never able to come back. The Astros may have been holding out hope Keuchel could come back during the season but with the season over if he needs surgery they should just get it over with as soon as possible. Surgery is what I'm scared of for Lance McCullers. McCullers left the game on August 5th with elbow pain and Houston has spent the past two months trying to rehab the deal. He was at a point where, if Houston had made the playoffs, he could have been available. We all know a pitcher with elbow pain the next step more often than not is Tommy John surgery. That's may fear for McCullers right now because it takes a full year to rehab after that surgery. If McCullers needs to be cut on it's a lead pipe cinch he will miss the 2017 season.

 

As for the Wild Card, the Blue Jays beat Boston yesterday and Detroit lost to Atlanta so Toronto and Baltimore are the Wild Cards and they play their one game playoff will be in Toronto tomorrow. Both Baltimore and Toronto won yesterday and they finished the season with identical 89-73 records. The Blue Jays hold the tie breaker over Baltimore so they will host the one game WC playoff.

 

The Wild Cards for the NL are the New York Mets and the San Francisco Giants. Ironically enough the NL Wild Cards ended up tied for the season like their AL counterparts. The Mets and Giants ended up with a final tally of 87-75 for the season but the Mets own the tie breaker and will host that game on Wednesday assuming Hurricane Matthew doesn't throw a monkey in that wrench.

 

I will profile the team over the next few days and I will keep up with the playoffs but honestly my interest in baseball going forward is pretty low. I know that the Astros and their fans are all disappointed in the outcome of this season. There should be brighter days ahead but you hope that they can turn their September fortunes around going forward. Look 84-78 isn't bad. It's just two games less than last season and early season speculation was it would take more than 86 games to make the playoffs this season. The speculation was right 86 games wasn't enough, 89 was.

The first place you go to is the front office of a franchise. It all starts with them, the GM in particular because he sets the standard and develops the plan to stock the team with the right coaches and players so the franchise has success.

On the one hand you have to applaud for the myriad number of moves that restocked and rebuild the talent quality of the team from the lowest level of the minor leagues to the big league club. Jeff Luhnow did such a good job rebuilding a team that torn to shreds by Tim Purpura after he took over for the highly successful Gerry Hunsicker after Hunsicker was fired over differences with owner Drayton McClain. Purpura traded away the Astros future by signing big name players who were basically over the hill in an effort to win a World Series. That plan worked as Houston made their first WS in 2005, Purpura's first season as GM, but it was at the expense of the franchise's future and Houston suffered it's first 100 loss season in franchise history in 2011. As a result when Drayton McClain sold the Astros to new owner Jim Crane who fired Purpura and hired Luhnow as the new GM. Houston had to endure 2 more consecutive 100 loss seasons in 2012 and 2013 before the rewards of Luhnow's rebuilding plan started to pay dividends. In 2014 the Astros had their first non 100 loss season going 70-92 which was a 19 game improvement over 2013. Houston continued their climb back to respectability in 2015 by having the #1 minor league system in baseball and improving by 16 games over 2014 and winning the AL 2nd Wild Card spot and actually beating the Yankees in the WC playoff game in New York. 2015 ended with a blown opportunity to close the Division series against eventual World Series champions the Kansas City Royals. Houston had a 4 run lead with 2 innings left to play. The Royals only needed the 8th inning to erase the lead and they ended up beating Houston 9-6 and evening the series at 2 games apiece. The bullpen meltdown in that game carried over into the 2016 season as Houston had a dismal April after winning the opening game of the season against the Yankees and eventually falling 10 games under .500. In 2015 Houston led the majors in home runs for most of the season and they also were among the top teams with the most strike outs. Luhnow is responsible for attaining Carlos Correa, George Springer, Lance McCullers, Dallas Keuchel and many other players who have meant so much to Houston's climb back to respectability. But, he has made some boner moves as well with the most egregious moves coming this summer at the trade deadline. First, Luhnow traded P Scott Feldman to the Rangers, the Astros most bitter rivals, which had many heads scratched as they wondered why the Astros GM would make a deal that made a division rival better. The other move that made no sense was the fact that he made no deals at all to acquire players to help improve the club for a playoff run. No moves at all. None. Nada. Zero. In a recent article on Astros.com Luhnow admitted that he could have done more at the trade deadline. Yeah, ya think so, genius? He's also made some deals that were confusing. Back in December of 2015 he traded 2014 #1 pick in the draft P Mark Appel and 2 other top pitching prospects and an infielder to Philadelphia for Ken Giles and another infielder. Appel has done nothing for Philly as he landed on IR this season with shoulder and elbow issues but Giles has not been a big help to Houston either as he's taken a propensity to allow runs when he pitched and turned them into 5 blown saves in 20 opportunities not to mention a 2-5 record as a reliever on the season. Every move Luhnow has made isn't golden. Like last summer at the trade deadline Luhnow traded his best hitting prospect Brett Phillips along with 3 other prospects to Milwaukee for Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers. If Mike Fiers hadn't worked out the whole deal would have been a bust. I never liked Gomez as a player and he under performed to the extent that Houston released him this past summer because he just sucked. As luck would have it the stupid Rangers signed him and they got some production out of him. I was always told that one 'ah shit' cancels out a whole bunch of 'attaboys' and this is sort of the case. Luhnow has whiffed on in the past year on pretty much all of his deals and he needs to get back on a roll. It looked for a long time that Luhnow was in the same conversation as former Boston and current Chicago Cubs President Theo Epstein who turned around the Bosox and led them to their first World Series wins in 86 years prior to 2004 breaking the infamous Curse of the Bambino that started in 1918 when Babe Ruth was traded by Boston to New York. Epstein left Boston in 2011 for Chicago and he has built that franchise in the best in the National League and a favorite to win the 2016 World Series. Luhnow was there last year when Houston was touted as the 2017 World Series champions based on the rich and deep farm system Luhnow had built and the fact they even made the playoffs last year. Since the 2015 offseason his moves have been questionable at best and there are areas of weakness that need to be filled if Houston is to overcome the Rangers and return to the playoffs in 2017. It was announced on Monday that the Astros will be returning the entire current coaching staff next season which is something I have a big, big problem with. But, that is for another day. As for Luhnow?

 

2016 Grade - D

Houston has talent. Some of that talent is raw to be sure but there is some good clay to work with. Troulble is, I don't have a lot of confidence in the current coaching staff to mold the team into winners.

AJ Hinch - decent job of managing and it's not his fault the players didn't get it done this past season. I think Hinch depends way too much on baseball cliches like lefty v righty, righty vs lefty pitching matchups ignoring the hot hand. It's just some little things that annoy me that make me distrustful of his managing style. 2016 Grade -- C

Brent Strom - Strom has been around the MLB block a time or two. He had a five year big league career as a pitcher from 1972 to 1977. Strom wasn't a very good player but he has spent the last 38 years as a baseball coach in the minors and the major league level. You would have thought he could've done a better job with the staff the last couple of years Dallas Keuchel not withstanding.

2016 Grade -- C

Dave Hudgens - you all know how I feel about this guy, I think he stinks. Since he became hitting coach when A J Hinch became the Astros manager prior to last season the Astros team batting average hasn't improved much and overall the hitters in the lineup have hit well below their career average. I think the guy sucks at his job and I'm sorry he's still employed by the Astros.

2016 Grade - F

Gary Pettit - maybe the worst 3rd base coach ever. He takes aggressive base running to new levels of stupid. He is constantly getting runners thrown out at home because he just can't seem to coalesce arm strength vs foot speed.

2016 Grade - D-

 

Overall grade of the Astros coaching staff in 2016. -- D

 

The Blue Jays beat Baltimore on Tuesday night to advance to the AL Divisional series against the Rangers tonight. I hate to have to say this but, "Go Jays!"

 

Last night the Giants and Mets played 8 innings of shutout ball. If you like pitchers duels last night was your night. Madison Baumgarner went up against the Mets fireballer Noah Syndergaard and they took turns mowing down each other's batters for seven innings. The Mets brought in Addison Reed in the 8th and he and Baumgarner kept the game scoreless so it all came down to the ninth inning. The Mets brought in Jeurys Familia and he could not carry on the Mets side of the shutout. After a lead off double, a K and a walk the fatal blow of the game came off the bat of the Giants 8th hole hitter, Conor Gillaspie who jacked a 3 run homer to break the tie to give the Giants a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the 9th. It also meant the Mets were going to face Baumgarner one last time. Baumgarner finished off the Mets with a 1-2-3 ninth to earn a complete game shutout for the Giants. When Baumgarner gets to the playoffs he nothing but money and his post season stats are just sick. In four different post season campaigns he is 8-3 in 15 appearances with a 1.94 ERA and opposing hitters are hitting just .194 against him. He has helped the Giants win 3 World Series titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014. He was named 2014 WS MVP after going 2-0 with 1 save with a 0.43 ERA. He pitched 5 scoreless innings in a relief role in Game 7 just 2 days after pitching a complete game 4 hit shutout victory in Game 5. With the Giants WS wins in even years (2010, 12, 14) they are dark horse favorites to win it all again this year. The Giants wil face the NL best Chicago Cubs on Friday.

 

The Rangers host Toronto tonight in Game 1 of their series and Boston plays Cleveland in tonight's second ALDS game.

 

The NLDS doesn't begin until Saturday when the Nationals host the Dodgers in the first game and the Giants and Cubs go in the nightcap. Friday will be a very busy day in baseball as both ALDS Game 2's will also be played Friday.

Cleveland beat Boston in Game 1 of their ALDS series by a score of 5-4. Good game with the home team getting the win.

The other ALDS game took place in Arlington with the Rangers going through the game half asleep especially Rangers ace Cole Hamels who never made it past the 4th inning. To be exact he went 3.1 innings giving up 7 runs on 6 hits with 3 BB's and just one K. The first two innings were fine as the Rays entered the top of the 5th in a scoreless tie. By the time their half of the inning was over it was 5 zip and the game was, for all intents and purposes, over.

Game 2 of both ALDS series will be today as is both Game 1's of the NLDS series will also be played.

 

Astros News: The Baseball Writers Association of America Houston Chapter voted 2B Jose Altuve the Astros MVP. It is the 3rd time in 4 years for Altuve to win this award. P Chris Devenski was awarded both Pitcher of the Year and Rookie of the Year for his stellar work out of the bullpen. P Clinton McHugh was awarded the Darrell Kile Award for being the most affable to teammates, fans and the media. Basically he is the Astros "Miss Congeniality".

 

Tomorrow I'll begin looking at the Astros roster starting with the pitchers.

The baseball playoffs are under way so here's a recap of what's taken place so far.

 

ALDS

Toronto vs Texas - Toronto up 2-0 after sweeping both games in Arlington. This put Texas in a deep hole with Toronto needing a win in one of the next 3 games in the best of 5 series. The series resumes with Game 3 in Toronto tomorrow night.

 

Boston vs Cleveland - This series has been one sided too but it was the home team Indians that has done the dominating winning Games 1 and 2 easily. Game 2 was a 6-0 shutout with Cleveland's Cory Kluber besting Boston's David Price. Game 3 is in Boston, weather permitting, tomorrow afternoon.

 

NLDS

Giants vs Cubs - The series began last night with a really awesome game, assuming you like pitcher's duels, with a 1-0 win by the Cubs who took a 1 game to none lead on LA. Johnny Cueto went 7 shutout innings before allowing a single run in the 8th. The Cubs Jon Lester also went 8 innings and he didn't allow a run in his time on the mound. Aroldis Chapman came in a got the save for Cubs. A really hard luck loss for the Giants. Game 2 is tonight with the Giants sending Jeff Samardzija to the hill while the Cubs counter with Kyle Hendricks.

 

Dodgers vs Nationals - The series began last night with a 4-3 Dodgers win with the Dodgers Clayton Kershaw and the bullpen proved just a skosh better than Max Scherzer and the Nats bullpen allowing the Dodgers to take a 1-0 series lead on the road. Game 2 has been postponed due to Hurricane Matthew. Ol' Matt has had a big effect on the games taking place on the east coast today including the postponement of the LSU-Florida game.

.

11 people have died as a result of this storm with around a million and a half people without electricity. We should all keep all those people in our thoughts and prayers as the storm is not nearly done wreaking havoc along the eastern seaboard of our country. With Hurricanes Rita and Ike still fresh in our memories we understand what these folks are going through.

 

I have decided not to worry about evaluating the Astros lineup. You saw what I saw and you know what Houston needs to get better. It may be helpful to see who likely won't be back next year as Houston continues to integrate their home grown players into the roster and say goodbye to some vets who likely won't be resigned going into the 2017 season.

 

Luis Valbuena - we all bashed this guy when he was on the field playing but how many of you were wishing we had him back after he was out for the season with the mother of all hamstring injuries. Houston missed his 20+ home runs and 60 or so RBI's. The success of Alex Bregman and the signing of Yuli Gurriel has made Valbuena expendable. He could come back as a 1st baseman because of failures of 2016 call ups Tyler White and AJ Reed.

 

Jason Castro - Castro was the Astros first round pick, 10th overall, in the 2008 draft. He spent the first few years of his career sidelined by injuries but he came back and had he best season as a pro in 2013 when he made the All Star game and he hit .276 on the season. He hit .257 in 2012 but otherwise he hasn't hit more than .222 in any other season. Last season he hit .210 with 11 HR's and 32 RBI's. He did have 45 walks but countering that he had 123 K's. During the season Evan Gattis showed he was as good as, if not better, as a defensive catcher and he hit 40 points higher than Castro. Evan Castro knows he's done in Houston as he's talked about how he enjoyed his time with the Astros in a late season interview. Houston can go younger and cheaper with a prospect or a free agent.

 

Colby Rasmus - Colby is a fan favorite but the heroics he showed in 2015 never materialized in 2016. In fact after the All Star break he fell completely off the map missing 3 weeks of time after having a cyst removed from his inner ear. That was after he went 1-62 in July at the plate. After he came back from his surgery hit a home run in his first AB and it gave you hope that he was truly back but he flat stunk at the plate and it's not really clear if he benched himself or was benched by AJ Hinch but when a series against Oakland came up with a lot of right hand pitchers Rasmus was not in any of the games at all. The Astros final road trip to close out the season Rasmus didn't make the trip. You might think there was a serious rift between Rasmus and Hinch. We may never know but I'll bet the farm Rasmus is not with the Astros next year.

 

Doug Fister - Fister was the ace of the Astros staff in the first 2-1/2 months of 2016 then he just fell off the table. Since the 1st of July he went 4-9 and he was without a win in September going 0-4. It wasn't all his fault because the bullpen had something to do with that. He went 12-13 on the season after starting out 8-3. With the projected return of Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers and the emergence of Joe Musgrove there just may be no room at the inn for Fister next season. Especially if he's going to suck.

Edited October 8, 2016 by eagle eye

The playoffs were rained out yesterday in Boston, Chicago and Washington and I'll bet the Rangers wish the Toronto Blue Jays didn't have a domed stadium because, even though it took Toronto 10 innings to get it done, the Rangers season came to an end for the 2nd year in a row in Toronto as the Jays pulled out the brooms and swept the Rangers in 3 straight. The final score of 7-6 came on a fielder's choice with one out in the bottom of the 10th and men on 1st and 2nd. Russell Martin of the Jays came up and had a really good at-bat before grounding to the hole to the right of Rangers SS Elvis Andrus who began a potentially inning ending double play but Redneck Oh-der failed to turn the twin killing. In fact Oh-der's throw was to the right of Rangers 1B Mitch Moreland. Moreland managed to knock the throw down but it bounced far enough away that Josh Donaldson, who was on 2nd after a leadoff double to start the inning, broke for home and made it just ahead of the throw for a walkoff fielder's choice/error on Oh-der. I'm glad the Rangers are done and I'm glad it was a major ass hat like Oh-der who made the error that allowed the game winning run to score. Life is good, it would be great if only the Texans could figure out how to play better on the road.

 

Game 3 of the other series will be played today weather permitting. The Redsox are down 2-0 and face elimination while the NLDS games all have a ways to go. I can relax and watch the playoffs and just enjoy the baseball. The only thing is I sort of wish either the Cubs or Indians win the whole thing but not at the expense of the other. Chicago has waited the longest so maybe this really is their year.