Houston Astros 2018 Season

Tell me where I am reading this wrong.

 

Lance McCullers Jr.

5.1 6 3 0 11

 

Joe Smith

0.2 0 0 0 2

 

Collin McHugh

2.0 0 0 1 4

 

Brad Peacock

1.0 0 0 0 2

 

11+2+4+2= 19 strike outs +1 walk=20 at bats. The Rangers had 6 hits=26 AB's but the line sheet is showing 34 AB's. I don't understand the math.

 

What I do understand is that right now the Astro's suck.

Houston lost yet another All Star when George Springer when down with a shoulder problem after diving for a ball in the 2nd inning of last night's game. He is being listed as day to day. With Springer joining Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa on the injured list where the heck are the Astros going to find any offense. Well, last night it was juiced by two guys who you would expect some juice from, Evan Gattis and Josh Reddick. Both had 2-run homers to go with a run scored in the 5th by Tony Kemp on a Josh Reddick single. Houston won 5-2 with Charlie Morton getting his 12th win going 6 innings allowing 2 runs on 6 hits and a walk while striking out 8. Morton probably could have gone another inning as he only threw 90 pitches but AJ Hinch chose to rely on the bullpen instead. The 'pen was steady allowing 0 runs on just 1 hit from a combined 4 relievers. Hector Rondon got the save.

 

So far this afternoon Houston is leading the Mariners 4-2 through 4 innings with Marwin Gonzalez and the just called back up Jake Marisnick providing the fireworks so far. Marwin has 2 homers in the game, one in the 2nd inning and another in the 4th. Marisnick hit a 2-run homer in the 2nd inning as well. Dallas Keuchel is on the mound trying to bounce back from a so-so outing against the Rangers last Friday night. Keuchel got in a jam in the bottom of the 2nd loading the bases allowing both runs. Outside of that 2nd inning Keuchel has been pretty good.

 

Top of the 5th Houston has put another run on an RBI single by Josh Reddick and the Astros still have runners on 1st and 3rd with just one out. Houston needs to get the run home from 3rd but I don't have much faith in Max Stassi who is currently up to bat. Okay, I'll eat my words, Stassi hit a 3-run homer to center giving Houston an 8-2 lead.

 

Houston acquired more relief help when they picked up Roberto Osuna from Toronto. Osuna is on a rehab assignment following completion of a 75 game suspension for domestic abuse. For this type of situation Astros GM Jeff Luhnow said the Astros did "unprecedented" due diligence in acquiring Osuna. Osuna comes to a very close clubhouse and he will get the benefit of the family nature of the Astros as a team. Osuna has paid the price for domestic abuse in the USA but he still has domestic violence charges in Canada. Nobody knows any details of the DV charges and I'm sure the team will be under close scrutiny for this deal which saw Houston send 2 top pitching prospects and Ken Giles to Toronto for a guy who is acknowledged at a top closer and a former All-Star. All of you out there who were tired of the Ken Giles ordeal now have a potential sure fire closer on the roster. Not only that but Osuna is only 23 so he could become an Astro for a long, long time. He is currently on a one year deal so a long term deal would have to be done after the season is over. All of that is contingent on his off-field issues.

 

Houston is leading Seattle 8-2 after 5-1/2.

Houston won by the way. On Wednesday, you remember, I left my last post with Houston leading 8-2? The Astros hung on to win 8-3 and Keuchel evened his season record - again - going 6 innings allowing the 3 runs. For the 2nd game in a row Houston banged out 15 hits as it's looking like the offense may be showing signs of waking up.

 

Tonight the Astros are going into a much ballyhooed 2017 World Series rematch with the LA Dodgers. Appropriately enough, Justin Verlander will be on the hill for the series opener. Both teams are pretty much different physically and spiritually but you know how the media likes to exaggerate situations.

 

Remember how I said this team is different? Well, a big difference is Houston currently has 3 main players out of the lineup. You know about them, Altuve, Correa and Springer are currently out. Now, Correa has begun a rehab assignment with the AA Corpus Christi Hooks and should be back next week. Springer's shoulder is not as bad as first feared and he could be back in the lineup as soon as tonight. Altuve is slated to come off the DL next week. But, another Astro is joining them on the DL. Relief pitcher Chris Devenski was placed on the 10 DL with tightness in his hamstring. Astros #4 prospect, Cionel Perez was recalled from AAA Fresno.

 

The team Houston needs to be looking out for is the Oakland A's. They have been making a push from the nether regions of the AL West to come up and push their way into sole possession of 2nd place in the division. The A's and Mariners were tied after Houston's win over Seattle Wednesday coupled with the A's win over the Angels Wednesday. Houston and Oakland had yesterday off while Seattle lost it's 3rd straight to Detroit yesterday to fall 1/2 game behind Oakland. Houston is maintaining a 5 game lead in the division.

 

Houston's newest acquisition, relief pitcher Roberto Osuna, is slated to make his Astros debut this weekend against the Dodgers. I would imagine there is quite a bit of rust to knock off after he served a 75 game suspension for domestic violence charges but we'll soon see how rusty he really is soon enough.

Big lead for the hometown heroes up 12-0 at LA in the 8th. Unfortunately Lance went down with elbow soreness tonight. Just as you think the team is getting healthy again, another key piece of the puzzle falls to the injury bug. It's just that time of the season when guys bodies start breaking down. Better now than in September and October. Edited August 5, 2018 by Big T

3-2 loss today for the good guys and Srpinger left the game with what the team is calling thumb discomfort. It looked like he was in a lot of pain. They've been falling like dominoes here the past few weeks.

Astros week in recap was pretty good but the past 3 weeks they have lost on Sunday which taints your impression of the week. In a ‘What have you done for me lately.’ world, the lately hasn’t been great. On one hand, Houston went 4-2 but on the other hand they lost the first and the last game of the week. Houston’s record is 71-42 and you ask me if I would take a 67% winning percentage like they had this past week and I would be all over that. I would prefer they win every single game but that’s just the homer in me. Another downer was that Oakland won their 6th straight game and moved to within 4 games of the Astros division lead. The A’s have been the second-best team in the bigs for the past two months as they rose from the ashes to their current status. They have been so good that they were buyers, not sellers, up to the non-waiver trade deadline.

Another thing not so good is the way the Astros are dropping like flies. Already without Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa the Astros have lost George Springer again when he injured his thumb trying to steal 2B in the 3rd inning of yesterday’s game. X-rays on his thumb were negative but he may miss a bit of time if he has swelling in the thumb. Correa was sent on a rehab assignment over the weekend to AA Corpus Christi and he’s scheduled to return to the team Thursday. Lance McCullers left his start on Saturday in the 5th inning with elbow soreness and he and Altuve were sent back to Houston to get more thorough checkups yesterday. McCullers is currently on the 10-day DL.

Good things happened last week too. Houston picked up a veteran catcher, Martin Maldinado, from the Angels and they added a nice reliever in former Minnesota Twins pitcher Ryan Pressley. They also made a deal late in the week for former Toronto Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna. There was a downside to the trade for Osuna because he just came off a 75-game suspension for a domestic violence incident earlier this year in Toronto. DV is a hot button issue and according to GM Jeff Luhnow the Astros did unprecedented due diligence before pulling the trigger on the deal. Osuna was activated Sunday but did not pitch. Maldinado is a great pickup as he has thrown out 44% of potential base stealers so far this year and he gunned down a Dodger in Saturday’s game. Pressley has pitched a couple of scoreless innings in a couple of appearances this past week.

The question is, ‘Who will replace Lance McCullers in the starting rotation?’ This is the reason the Astros kept Collin McHugh and Brad Peacock and I believe the guy who gets a start or two while McCullers is out is McHugh given how well he has pitched all season. He has earned the right to start and I think he’s the best option.

Edited August 6, 2018 by eagle eye

On Monday Charlie Morton went 7 innings allowing just one run on 3 hits with 3 BB’s and 8 K’s. Yesterday Dallas Keuchel went 6 innings allowing just one run on 3 hits with 2 BB’s, a hit batsman and 5 K’s. What they have in common is neither factored in the decision. Their brilliant starts were not wasted because on Monday night Marwin Gonzalez hit a 3-run homer in the top of the 9th that led to a 3-1 victory and yesterday afternoon Tyler White hit a 2-run homer in the top of the 8th that led to a 2-1 Astros win and a sweep of the short 2-game series with the San Francisco Giants. The Mariners and A’s were off on Monday and both lost last night so Houston picked up a game and a half on both. Houston has a day off today as they return home for 4 games against the Mariners beginning Thursday.

You feel bad for Morton and Keuchel because they didn’t get any run support until after they had left the game. Keuchel especially because the Astros went 1-11 with RISP and they had 3 baserunners on 3B with less than two outs and failed to score any of them. Part of the reason was SF’s Madison Bumgarner the rest was all on Astros poor hitting.

JD Davis was recalled way back on July 21st and he’s gone 6-37 at the plate since that time. He is currently batting .183 for the season. Derek Fisher was recalled from AAA on Monday and he’s had one AB the past two days and he’s oh-fer so far and he’s batting just .171 for the season. Throw in Kyle Tucker and 3 of Houston’s top prospects are the biggest busts ever in their time in the bigs even though they were tearing up the pitching in the minors. Very disconcerting.

Bright spots are present though. Tyler White has been hitting pretty consistently since his most recent call up in late July. He’s hitting 12 for 45 (.267 BA) in that time and he got the game winning home run yesterday. Also, Jake Marisnick was called up again from AAA on August 1st to replace the struggling Kyle Tucker and he has been on fire since. So far in August he’s gone 6 for 14 (.429 BA) as he is above the Mendoza Line for the first time all season (.212 BA). Jake is kind of my pet cat on the Astros. He’s one of the top 3 or 4 defensive outfielders in the game and I’m glad to see him finally getting his hitting on track.

Busy transaction week as the first week in August passed. Lance McCullers was placed on the 10-day DL with arm soreness but he will not like be back until September. At least the worst fears were allayed when tests showed it wasn’t his elbow and he’s not a candidate for Tommy John surgery. Cionel Perez was called up to take his place. Chris Devenski was placed on the 10-day DL with tightness in his hamstring. Roberto Osuna was activated this past Sunday. George Springer was placed on the 10-day DL yesterday with a sprained thumb. Again, the injury is not as bad as first feared. The bright spot here? With none of the injuries serious this is giving some of the Astros best players, Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve included, a good long rest. It’s giving these players a chance to heal up and when they do come back they will be rested and healthy with fresh legs. As long as the guys on the roster keep winning this is a win-win situation both literally and figuratively. Correa may be back on Thursday when Houston begins a homestand against the Mariners.

Okay, does this sound familiar? Game tied 5-5 going into the 10th inning and Ken Giles comes on giving up 5 runs on 4 hits and a walk with two home runs in just 2/3 of an inning before getting the hook by his manager. Giles’ team ends up losing the game 10-7 because he sucked so bad. Thank goodness this is a nightmare the Toronto Blue Jays will have to deal with now since Giles was part of the Roberto Osuna deal last week that sent him to Toronto. I’m not sure how this will affect the US-Canadian relations but at least he’s not going to cost Houston any more wins.

I am writing this week's recap even as the final game of the week is still in progress. One reason why is because my wife wants me to do a honey-do and the other reason is I really believe Houston will go ahead and lose. The Astros were 0-3 in their last 3 home games and they are currently 0-7 since they blew today's game. Why was I so sure Houston will lose? Because after losing the first 3 games of this four game series with Houston scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning to take a 3-2 lead only to see that lead disappear on a Ryan Healy solo home run to tie the game. Houston went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th. As I have been writing this Roberto Osuna came on in the 10th getting a leadoff out then a single and a double that scored the runner from first to take a 4-3 lead. Mitch Haniger has been royal pain in the derriere. I think about 3 games ago I would have hit drilled Haniger with a fastball right in the earhole. The top of the 10th ends with Seattle leading 4-3. Houston is doomed and they will have been swept by division rivals in four game series. Two weeks ago Texas tuned up the Astros and this week it was Seattle. I cannot figure out for the life of me why Houston stinks so bad at home. Assuming I'm right, Houston will have gone 2-4 on the week. They are still in the lead in the AL West but that lead will either be 3.5 or 2.5 games margin over the Oakland A's depending on how Oakland fares against the Angels of Anaheim. That game is tied 3-3 after 3 innings in Anaheim. The Yankees have passed Houston for the 2nd best record as they had the Rangers to beat up on.

 

It's not just one phase of the Astros that are letting them down but their offense continues to be putrid as they only managed to score 13 runs in the four games against the Mariners while allowing 20 runs to the Mariners. Just in case rudimentary math is not your strong point Houston averaged 3.25 runs per game. If this was April when the starting pitching was nearly flawless the Astros might have swept Seattle but not now when the starters were porous as a screen door. Dallas Keuchel is the exception and he was really abused again today as he gave the Astros 7 innings of work allowing just one run. Unfortunately, the offense didn't score until the 8th inning. It did save Keuchel from taking another hard luck loss but it's little consolation when you get swept at home. Verlander, Cole and Morton were bad in varying amounts in the previous three games. The only saving grace for the week was Houston beating San Francisco in a short 2-game series to begin the week. With roughly 6 weeks left in the season Houston not only has to worry about the surging Oakland A's but by getting hammered by the Mariners it got them right in the thick of things as they are only 4 games back in the division now.

 

Houston's offense is short handed with George Springer, Jose Altuve, Brian McCann, Lance McCullers, Chris Devenski and now Jake Marisnick all on the DL. The only guy expected back is Springer next weekend - maybe - the Astros have to figure out a way to generate some offense. The starting pitching has been spotty and the bullpen seems to be good until it's time to hold a team to get a win. I really wish the Astros would fire their hitting coach. This is nothing new because I have been bitching about him since AJ Hinch was hired. I don't have any faith in the guy. Their is no excuse for more than half the lineup hitting 50 or more points less this season compared to last season. How else can you explain why top prospects like Kyle Tucker, JD Davis and Derek Fisher hitting well over .300 at AAA and they can't get above the Mendoza Line in Houston?

 

Houston has a short two game series against Colorado beginning on Tuesday and then they play their next 9 games on the road all against division foes. In fact, Houston plays nothing but division foes to the end of the month. It is a make or break stretch for a team that is struggling mightily but they have to find a way to pull it together or they could very well be watching the playoffs at home instead of the dugout.

 

Justin Verlander pitches on Tuesday with an eye on rebounding from the shortest outing as an Astros in the first game against the Mariners on Thursday night. He went 2 innings giving up six runs including 3 home runs. In the second inning of that game Verlander picked off Mitch Haniger on 1B but he was called for a balk by the home plate ump. It was a BS call and instead of getting the 3rd out of the inning Verlander gave up a 2-run homer followed by a solo HR to give the M's another 3 runs before getting out of the inning. It also gave the Mariners an insurmountable 6-0 lead in the game. After seeing the replay in the dugout Verlander gave the ump royal hades, so much so, he got tossed. Hopefully, he has regained his composure and can shut down the Rockies and get back on the winning track.

 

Poor Jake Marisnick. He came back from his latest demotion to AAA on fire at the plate. Since he came back on August 1st he raised his BA from .192 to .217. This late in the season improving your batting average nearly 20 points is big. How big? He hit .421 with an OBP of .560 in August, that's big. He pulled a groin muscle legging out a double on Friday that landed him on the 10-day DL but the Astros said today he will likely miss several weeks. Some of the reason teams win championships depends on how healthy they are especially down the stretch of the season. Houston has definitely not been lucky avoiding the injury bug in 2018. How do I know that? Just look at the players on the DL and when you realize this is the first time in his career Jose Altuve has even been on the DL you see just how unlucky the Astros have been.

The Astros threw their fans a bone last night winning 12-1 over the Rockies in the series and homestand finale. This leaves Houston with a dismal 1-5 record in the recent homestand. It was nice to see the Astros win but you’d love to see this a little more consistently.

 

The Astros offense threw Garrett Cole a bone by giving him some run support for a change enabling him to finally get his 11th win of the season. It only took him 5 starts going all the way back to July 14 to get win #11. The only other pitcher on the staff with more of a gripe about lack of run support is Justin Verlander but, to be fair, he has sucked at times.

 

Evan Gattis threw himself a bone by getting off an 0-20 string of AB’s going 3-4 with two RBI’s and 2 runs scored. At least for one game Captain Caveman was back. Here’s hoping that gets him going again and his alter ego Major Whiff will be kept under wraps for the rest of the season.

 

Carlos Correa threw baseball fans everywhere a bone with a crazy play to get a batter out with one out in the 9th inning. The Rockies Tony Wolters hit a ground ball up the middle with the Astros playing a shift to the right side meaning Correa was playing just on the right field side of 2B. Correa got a great jump on the ball - too great - as he overran ball. In desperation Correa got low and reached behind his back and he actually stopped the ball. He quickly recovered and threw out Wolters by a step. It would have not been possible to make the play if Wolters had not hit the ball hard which gave Correa time to make the spectacular play.

 

Last, but not least, Seattle threw Houston a bone by beating Oakland snapping an A’s 4-game winning streak and increasing Houston’s division lead to 2 games. Houston begins a 9-game road trip where all their games will be against division opponents starting with those pesky A’s on Friday. As they say back on the ranch, “It’s nut-cuttin’ time boys!”

 

George Springer will likely return to the lineup this weekend which is good news. Jose Altuve fielded grounders, took some BP and did some running yesterday which would make you think his return to the lineup is imminent. Brian McCann is out on a minor league rehab assignment so he should be back soon, maybe after the current road trip.

To recap last week I just need a moment. The Astros suck right now. They have sucked for about 3 weeks. To be clear, it's a group effort that I have chronicled before. Starting pitching, relief pitching, defense and offense have all contributed to the lousy state of affairs. The Astros ended the week with a big win over the A's to regain sole possession of 1st place in the division but after going 2-3 for the week that was highlighted (?) by blowing a win on Friday over the A's, losing 7-1 to fall into a tie for the division with those same A's the Astros pulled out a win on Sunday.

 

George Springer returned to the lineup on Friday only to have to sit out the past few games because of a pulled quad muscle. Carlos Correa returned to the lineup on August 10th but so far he's gone 6 for 35 (.171 BA) which is the opposite effect on this struggling offense. George Springer came back on August 3rd and he had been doing okay batting .261 since his return but the pulled quad has been a problem. Jose Altuve had on rehab assignment at AAA Fresno which technically came in Tacoma Washington against the Tacoma Rainiers. The game was convenient for the Astros as they were about to begin a series with the Seattle Mariners on Monday. Altuve played his only game in AAA on Sunday getting his first AAA hit but it didn't prepare him for his return to the big club on Tuesday as Altuve went 0-3 with a walk. Houston is pretty close to being at full strength again assuming Altuve's knee doesn't act up again and Springer's quad calms down. You just don't know with this team. As I've stated before, the August swoon by the Astros actually began in mid July and they are 3-11 in the last two weeks. The Astros have successfully lost their division cushion to the A's and they also successfully brought a dead and buried Seattle team back to life. If Houston continues down this path they will watch the A's win the division and Seattle claim the 2nd Wild Card spot. Houston has 36 games left as of today and they only need to win 24 games to get to 100 wins. Can Houston go 24-12 to finish the season? The way they are playing now, especially with their offensive struggles, it doesn't seem likely. At least they hung on to beat Seattle last night to remain in a first place tie with the A's. Maybe the A's are due a slump of their own. I certainly hope so. Heck, even the Red Sox are slumping going just 6-4 in their last ten games and losers of 3 straight. If Houston can get on a roll at the same time the A's stumble it could be just the thing to get Houston through September in good shape. Just a homer and his desperate dreams.

This past week Houston didn't do bad, certainly they did better than the previous week since they did have a winning record for the week at 4-2. they lost the first games to start the week to Seattle but they recovered to take game 3 of the series to salvage a little bit of momentum. They went into Anaheim and beat the Angels 3 straight to end the week on a positive note so there is that. The Astros finished the week with a game and half lead in the AL West over the A's and Houston will either have the opportunity to extend that lead or lose it altogether as they host the A's in a 3 game series beginning tonight.

 

This past week saw the Astros get Jose Altuve back and his return sparked a bit of an offensive resurgence. The Astros, Altuve and every Astros fan everywhere got a scare when Altuve was hit on his left elbow by a 98 mph fastball but he stayed in the game and he played the whole weekend. George Springer missed the entire week with a pulled quad but he did pinch hit yesterday for Max Stassi in the 9th but he struck out swinging. Houston is getting healthier and they seem to be starting to hit the ball a little better. The Astros have barely been a .500 club at home and they really need to overcome whatever demons are holding them back in the friendly confines of the Juice Box put a little distance between themselves and those pesky A's. Aren't the A's due a slump right about now?

 

The Red Sox, the Yankees and the Astros are 1-2-3 for the best record in the AL and all of the majors. Nobody's catching Boston for the best record but Houston needs to catch and pass the Yankees for as much home field as 2nd place gives you. If the season ended today the Yankees and A's would play the one game playoff between the wild card teams and the winner would play Boston. Houston would take on Cleveland. Isn't that really a better deal for the Astros anyway?

This past week was so-so for the Astros. They played seven games last week, all against division opponents. They won the series against Oakland, the 2nd place team in the division 2 games to 1 that extended the lead to 2.5 games. As of Saturday's win the Astros tied their record from 2017 at 83-53. As Houston played the last two games of August they ended the month pretty much as they began it, with losses in the first two games against the LA Angels. The Astros rebounded with wins on Saturday and Sunday to tie the series at 2 games apiece to begin September on a positive note. I have no idea why Houston sucks so badly in August but it's been this way for several years and this year is no better. The Astros finished August with a 14-12 record which is the first time since 2011 the Astros have completed August with a winning record. So, there's that. Thanks to the win of the series over Oakland earlier in the week and the fact that both Houston and Oakland split their respective 4 game series Houston ended the weekend like they started it, 2.5 games up on the A's

 

Tyler White continues to be clutch but no more clutch than Alex Bregman who is the most dangerous hitter in the Astros lineup right now. Jose Altuve came off the DL and started out like his old self but after the first couple of games he's been struggling. The reigning MVP doesn't look like an MVP and hasn't for a while. You have to believe that he will come around but he might be in jeopardy to not getting to 200 hits. In fact, he's probably not going to get there which breaks a streak of 4 straight seasons he's eclipsed the 200 hit mark. Altuve needs 54 hits with 25 games left in the season. Unless Altuve goes on some sort of epic hitting streak he will fall well short of 200. He didn't begin the month very well going oh-fer in the last two games.

 

Wondering what will happen to the Astros after Verlander, Keuchel and Morton retire? I think Houston is looking pretty good from the starting pitching perspective. The Astros have a good lefty coming up in Framber Valdez. His 2-1 record belies a good pitcher in the making. On Saturday a hard throwing righty, Josh James, made his major league debut going 5 innings with the only blemish being a 3-run homer by Cole Calhoun. James got a no-decision but the Astros got the win sparked by a big 5 run 8th inning. James has really good stuff highlighted by a 99 mph plus fastball. The future of the Astros looks pretty bright.

This past week the Astros were not horrible. As a matter of fact, they were pretty darn good! Houston swept Minnesota earlier in the week and they took 2 out of 3 against the Red Sox in Boston. Truth be told, there is a real likelihood Houston would have swept the Bosox if not for a blown replay call in the 7th on Sunday night. Jose Altuve singled to start the inning and he advanced to 3rd on a passed ball with one out. Yuli Gurriel grounded to Xander Bogaerts at short and Altuve tried to score from 3B. Bogaerts threw to C Sandy Leon to get Altuve at home. The umpire called Altuve out even though replay showed Altuve’s hand touched home plate before any tag was applied so AJ Hinch challenged the call. The replay officials in NYC saw the replay and still got the call wrong saying something about a long tail on one of the rawhide laces on Leon’s glove touched Altuve before he touched home plate. FYI, the actual glove must tag the runner not one of the glove’s laces. It was a huge mistake by the replay system and it likely changed the outcome of the game. All other things remaining the same, Houston would have had a one run lead going into the bottom of the 9th and Hinch may have opted to use Roberto Osuna rather than Ken Giles - er - I mean Hector Rondon. (Rondon has been money all the way through August but in September he has two blown saves and now a walk off loss in the 9th. Very Ken Giles-esque!)

The loss on Sunday night ended Houston’s 7-game win streak and because the piece of crap Rangers were swept in 4 games by the A’s meant that Houston’s division lead went down from 3.5 to 2.5 games. (Kids, thank the stupid Rangers for gagging big time. Thank you, stupid Rangers! Great, now kids go play with your new flame thrower.) The loss also cost Houston the opportunity to join the Red Sox as the only 90+ game winners on the season. Houston is tied with the Yankees for the 2nd best record in the AL and all of MLB at 89-54.

If the playoffs began today the Yankees and A’s would play the one game wild card game and the winner would face the Red Sox in one of the ALDS series. Houston would have home field advantage against Cleveland in the other ALDS series. With 19 games left in the season this should be the way the final standings should end up unless Houston stalls and lets Oakland overtake them. If that happens it would be the Astros vs the Yankees with the winner playing Boston. Much easier road to the ALCS if Houston wins the division.

The offense is showing signs of coming out of their extended slumber. Jose Altuve has a 5-game hitting streak but he’s still not hitting the way we know he can. But, he is improving. Carlos Correa continues to slump and he’s dropped from 4th to 5th in the batting order. Tyler White has become the cleanup hitter role and he’s earned that recognition. George Springer is coming around but someone needs to teach him how to hit a fastball. Most hitters struggle with the breaking stuff but not Springer. His bane this year is the fastball. If he fixes that disconnect lookout.

Houston got their 90th win last night against the Detroit Tigers while the Yankees got their 90th against the Twins. Justin Verlander got his 15th win of the season going 7 innings allowing 2 runs on 6-hits, a walk and 10 K’s. The 10 K’s pushed his season strikeout number to 258 which means that Verlander and Garrit Cole, who has 251 K’s have become the first right handed pitchers on the same team to record 250+ strikeouts in MLB history. They are the first tandem to accomplish this feat since Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling did it for Arizona in 2002. (Johnson is a lefty and Schilling is a righty.) This was also Verlander’s first time to pitch in Detroit since he was traded to Houston last August 31st. The Tigers prepared a tribute video to honor his 13 seasons with the club and Detroit fans gave him 3 separate standing ovations. The last one coming when he left the game after the 7th inning after recording his 9th and 10th K’s to end the inning. Class all around from the Tigers organization and the fans of Detroit. I don’t even think the Tigers fans were even disappointed their team lost because Verlander got the win. It was a sloppy game that had little excitement but it ended like a true storybook tale should end - with the hero getting the win.

Another week in the books and as weeks go it wasn't half bad. Houston played just good enough to sweep the Detroit winning all 3 games by just one run. The Astros have played better on the road this year than they have at home and that didn't change on the trip to Detroit. Justin Verlander led off for Houston and the Tigers and fans welcomed Verlander back to Detroit with a tribute video as he walked to the mound in the bottom of the 1st inning and the fans gave him 3 separate standing ovations, the last one coming as he left the field after recording the final out of the 7th inning, his last in the game. Some players move from a team and they leave on bad terms but Justin Verlander is, as he always was, beloved by Tigers fans. He did everything for Detroit except bring them a championship. He forged a Hall of Fame career in Detroit and his only regret is he couldn't give the fans a World Series champion. The cool thing was that the Tigers organization and fans did not fail to show him their love on his first trip back to the Motor City since becoming a Houston Astro last August. I have become a fan of Detroit because of last Monday's show of support. Verlander ended the week today in Houston doing his part in defeating the Arizona Cardinals. For the second game in the week Verlander went 7 innings tying a career high in strikeouts with 11 and he allowed just one run on the afternoon. Today's win gave Houston the series win as Houston split the first two games. Charlie Morton got his 15th win on the season. Morton was surgically efficient going his 6 innings allowing just 2 runs with no walks and 7 K's. The most telling stat, to me, is that Houston's starting rotation all have at least 10 wins. It could be even better given that Lance McCullers Jr hasn't pitched since early August. He had 10 wins then so there is no reason to believe that if he stayed healthy he could be right there with Verlander in the 16 win area, if not more. I'll take a week when Houston goes 5 out of 6 games played.

 

The great thing is by beating Arizona this weekend they have extended their lead in the division to 4.5 games as Oakland finally had a bucket of water thrown on the red hot Oakland A's by the Tampa Bay Rays who beat them 2 games to one. Oakland has 12 games left in the season and Houston has 13 games left. The Astros magic number to clinch a playoff berth is 4 games while the magic number to clinch the division is 9 games. The schedule and the momentum belongs to Houston for winning the division but let's not count any chickens just yet. What is looking better is George Springer's bat has risen from its extended slumber and Jose Altuve is getting there. Alex Bregman had a rough weekend but there is time before the postseason. The one guy we need to worry about is Carlos Correa. He has continued his slump and he's dropped to 6th in the batting order. This might be the season he just slumps or it might be the season he explodes out of his slump right as the playoffs begin. It will be a fun two weeks -- and nerve wracking as heck!

Last night the Astros had the chance to eliminate the Mariners from contention for winning the division. The Astros failed. They had a tenuous 1-0 lead going into the 8th inning. The offense had only managed 3 hits to get that one run but, still, they had a lead. That is until Hector Rondon came in the game. He gave up 4 hits and a walk in his one inning of work but one of those 4 hits was a grand slam that proved to be the margin of a 4-1 victory by the Mariners. I am officially done with Rondon. We can keep him only to provide company for the guys in the bullpen who actually get opposing batters out without blowing saves or allowing handfuls of runs. Yep, If I was manager Rondon would not be on my postseason roster because I just don’t trust him. For the first 5 months of the season Rondon was a good asset but now I have the same feeling of dread when Ken Giles came into a game. Houston dropped to a 4 game lead over the idle Oakland A’s. Houston has been kind of lousy in first games of series so hopefully with Garrit Cole on the hill Houston will relocate their offense and NOT use Hector Rondon unless they have at least a 10 run lead.

The second to last week of the 2018 Houston Astros season is in the books. I believe you have to admit it was a very up and down week. They began the week loosing 2 out of 3 to the Seattle Mariners who have been a thorn in the Astros side in September especially at Minute Maid Park. The last two home series the Astros have been smoked by the Mariners losing 6 out of 7. Good bye and good riddance for 2018, Seattle. I am NOT sorry to see you go.

 

Next up were the Angels from Anaheim who have been hard on the Astros in September as well. Like the Mariners, the Angels have been particularly frustrating when in Houston but, the tables turned in Houston's favor in this final home stand of the season. Houston pulled out the brooms and swept the Angels as the Houston pitching staff was in perfect alignment for a cleanup party. Garrit Cole got a dozen K's on Friday night AND he got some run support (which is unusual) in an 11-3 blow out. On Saturday Justin Verlander was going for his 17th win of the season and of course events conspired against him yet again. First he got one measly run to support his double digit K performance but the Astros made a 1-0 lead last heading into the 8th inning. That's when Ken Rondon, er, I mean, Hector Giles, oh, I mean Hector Rondon came into the game and promptly gave up the lead and put Houston down by a run as Rondon gave up 2. Not only that but he left all that bad mojo on the mound for Joe Smith who gave up a 3-run homer to stake the Haloes to 5-1 lead. It didn't look good for Houston at all. But wait! Houston's bats came alive and they scored the most runs they have scored in a game all season when they hung 9 runs on the Angels to take a 10-5 lead into the 9th. The Astros nailed down that win and for the first time since 1998 they were 40 games over .500.

This afternoon Charlie Morton took the hill but only lasted one inning before being removed with shoulder soreness. It's being reported that the Astros were just being cautious because they definitely want Morton for the postseason which, by the way, they clinched a spot with Saturday's win. Fromber Valdez came in a threw 6 innings for Houston allowing just one run while striking out 9 Angels. Today's win means the Astros magic number for winning the division is 3. Why? Because the 2nd place Oakland A's lost today to Minnesota giving Houston a 4.5 game lead in the division with 7 games left to play. The A's have played one more game so far have only 6 games remaining in the season.

Houston will play 3 games against Toronto starting tomorrow and they finish the season with 4 games in Baltimore. Houston is 98-57, 41-games over .500 and, of course, they only need 2 wins to eclipse 100 in a season for the second year in a row. If they sweep all 7 of their remaining games (which isn't likely) they will have 105 wins which is better than last year's mark of 101-61. All this with their best players spending extended time on the DL this season and most of the lineup hitting well below what they hit last season, or in their careers. The Astros could have had 120 wins if their offense had been as good as last year's group. That is a scary thought.

 

Carlos Correa missed all the Angels series after tweaking his back against the Mariners on Tuesday night. Correa has called this season the most difficult of his young career because of the issues he's had with his back.

 

Lance McCullers is back, finally. He was back in Houston this weekend just waiting to be activated which should happen during the road trip. AJ Hinch would be stupid not get McCullers some work in this week in prep for the post season. FYI, AJ Hinch is NOT stupid.

One game closer to a 2nd consecutive division title. One game away from triple digit wins for the 2nd consecutive year. All this after Game 1 against the Toronto Blue Jays in which Houston won by two runs, 5-3. Toronto outhit Houston by one, 11 hits to 10. Both teams had one error in the game. Even one former Astro, Ken Giles, voiced sour grapes over the way he was supposedly treated in Houston. Giles blamed Astros manager, AJ Hinch, of not communicating his role well enough. An accusation Hinch emphatically denies. Hinch has a reputation for being a great communicator and, to honest, I believe Hinch this one time.

To continue with the “one” theme, Dallas Keuchel got the win putting his season record one game over .500 at 12-11. Keuchel may or may not have one more start this season which would be Saturday’s game against Baltimore if he does get one more start.

Yuli Gurriel was named AL Player of the Week for last week’s play. Actually, the honor was based on one game, last Friday’s series opening win over the LA Angels. It was a game in which Houston won 11-3 mainly due to Gurriel’s 2 home runs and career high 7 RBI’s in that game. One of his HR’s was a grand slam which occurred in the first inning. Also, Gurriel’s brother, Lourdes, who plays for the Blue Jays also hit a 1st inning dinger. This is the first time in MLB history that brothers have done this on the same day, much less the same game!

With last night’s win Houston’s magic number to clinch the division title is 2. The Oakland A’s also clinched a playoff berth last night beating the Seattle Mariners. Houston is still 4.5 games up on the A’s with 6 games left to play. Actually, the one game behind that Houston is for games played in the season will be made up Thursday when Oakland has a day off and Houston begins its season ending series with Baltimore, meaning that half game thing in the standings will go away.

Today’s game will feature newcomer RHP Josh James who was called up from AAA as September began. He’s made 4 appearances so far including 2 starts. James has a 1-0 record and 16 innings of work with a 2.81 ERA. James and fellow newcomer, Framber Valdez, have been pleasant surprises for Houston down the stretch. I would think one or both of these guys makes the postseason roster hopefully at the expense of Hector Rondon who has been absolutely awful in September.

Lance McCullers was activated off the DL yesterday. He has been with the team since joining them in Houston over the previous weekend. He is expected to pinch in relief this weekend in Baltimore to get an inning or two as a tune-up before the postseason.

Charlie Morton left this past Saturday’s game after just one inning because of shoulder soreness. He was on the 10 DL earlier in the month for the same reason. AJ Hinch said it’s just precautionary to save him for the postseason. He is currently back in Houston with his wife who is expecting their 4th child any day. He is expected to be back with the team by the weekend and he will pitch an inning to two as a test for the shoulder and to keep him sharp for the postseason.

Carlos Correa has been out with a bad back since last week. It was reported that he took batting practice yesterday and had no discomfort afterwards. He claims he’s feeling good and ready to go. If he shows no ill effects from yesterday’s workout he could be back in the lineup in Wednesday’s series finale against Toronto.

The Astros finished the last week of the regular season with a 5-2 record. What they did this past week was clinch the AL West division title avoiding a harrowing trip through the playoffs as a Wild Card team, they tied their win total of 2017 with a win Friday night. They tied the franchise record for wins in a season with the win in the first game of the Saturday double header and they set a new franchise record for regular season wins by winning the nightcap of the double header. Sunday, today, I don't think the Astros gave a toot about anything other than confirming Charlie Morton was good to go for their second playoff run in a row. Morton was good as he pitched 3 innings allowing just one hit and no runs with a wicked breaking ball and the velocity he commands in the mid to upper 90's. Check and check. Morton is ready and the shoulder soreness that shut him down after one inning last weekend was just a thing of the past. Now, Morton had to be concerned about his wife who was expecting their 4th child and due to give birth at any moment. When he was pulled and informed that the team was shutting him down until the weekend series with Baltimore, Morton took off for Houston where he was on hand for the birth of his newest child. The healing power of child birth. Mom and child are good and so was Morton in his brief outing today. Houston lost 4-0 in a one hit shutout, bet you can't guess who got the hit. Okay, I'll tell you. It was Jose Altuve, who else?

 

Houston fought tooth and nail right up to the last week with the Oakland A's and after a dismal August Houston rebounded to go 21-6 for the month of September. That's a .777 winning percentage folks and if the Astros hadn't had such a great September it's likely they would be the one playing in the Wild Card game against the Yankees in the Bronx and IF they managed to beat NY they would face the 107 win Boston Red Sox for the right to play in the ALCS against either Oakland or Cleveland. As it is, Houston avoids that gauntlet and they face the 91 win Indians with home field advantage. That's no guarantee for success but it's better than the alternative.

 

Houston made history by being one of 3 teams to win 100 games in the same season. There is Boston, then Houston and the Yankees all eclipsing the century mark. The regular season is over now and, for all intents and purposes, so is September. I'm thinking of the Green Day song, 'Wake Me When September Ends'. Houston gets 4 days to rest and reset for their opener against Cleveland on Friday. It's October, Baby! I have get some Xanex or something to calm my nerves because games are literally going to become do-or-die. Anybody remember the movie, 'Animal House' at the end when all hell is breaking loose during homecoming? Remember Flounder standing on the street amid all the chaos saying, "Oh boy, Isn't this great!!" I do and Flounder, you are sooooo right!!!

The ALDS cranks up today beginning with the first game in the series between Houston and the Cleveland Indians. Last year the Indians were the one team the Astros didn’t want to play. The Tribe had the best record in the American League and they wore Houston out in the regular season. With all the talk about the Yankees and Red Sox and Houston, Cleveland seems to not be getting any love or respect. I think the perception is that Houston will walk all over Cleveland but, this series won’t be easy. First off, nearly every player on the roster had a sub-par season at the plate. The most dramatic drop off would be Carlos Correa who hit .315 in 2017 and finished 2018 hitting .239. That’s a 77-point difference for a guy who was one of the cornerstones of the Astros offense last season. He did struggle with back issues most of the season. Hopefully, he’s feeling good heading into the playoffs because the Astros need him to be good. Correa’s hitting struggles are not the exception but rather, the norm. Marwin Gonzalez lost 56 points on his BA going from .303 in ’17 to .247 in ’18. Josh Reddick went from .314 to .242 (-72 points), George Springer dropped from .283 to .265 (-18 points) and Jose Altuve dropped from an AL best .364 in 2017 when he won the AL batting title, league MVP and Silver Slugger Award and 4 consecutive 200+ hit season to .316 this past season (-48 points) which was 3rd in the AL and he failed in his bid for 5-200+ hit season in a row racking up just 169 hits plus he spent time on the DL in August for the first time in his career. Only Tony Kemp and Tyler White improved at the plate while Alex Bregman and Yuli Gurriel remained pretty much the same.

Cleveland and Houston have, arguably, the two best pitching staffs in the postseason. The Indians starting rotation is on a par, maybe a notch below, Houston’s. Houston’s edge may be their bullpen who had the lowest ERA in all of baseball in the regular season. With the struggles the Astros offense has had, which include grounding into a league high number of double plays (158) which is far and away the worst in baseball, the offensive edge has to go to Cleveland.

This series looks like it should be a low scoring pitcher’s duel type of series but, you just never know what will transpire when the ump yells, “Play Ball!!” Will the sleeping giant Astros offense wake up and come to life in October? Or will Cleveland outlast the Astros with quality pitching? The NL ALDS started off last night and the Brewers and Dodgers won as expected. It did take 10 innings before Milwaukee got a walk-off hit to beat Colorado 3-2. The Dodgers dominated the Braves and former Astros starter and Atlanta ace, Mike Foltynewicz, taking an early 4-0 lead through 2 innings and cruising to a 6-1 win in their Game 1. The NLDS series will continue with their Game 2’s tonight interspersed with the ALDS games beginning with Cleveland-Houston at 1 o’clock this afternoon. Verlander vs Kluber in Game 1. Verlander who is tops, or near the top, in every pitching category except ERA and wins will face off against 20-game winner Kluber. If you like pitcher’s duels this game might just be right up your alley. My fingers and toes are crossed and I’m cautiously optimistic heading into today’s game. Go ‘Stros!!

The postseason has begun and the one worry was will the Astros be able to generate enough offense to support their starting pitching. Heck, would there be enough offense period? At least for two game, the offense looks just fine. In the playoffs you shouldn't grade a team's success or failures on style points. We do that in football all the time. It doesn't seem to be enough if our team wins, they have to win looking good. The amount of media NFL teams get opens the door for style points. When I was a youngster, there was no internet, no ESPN and certainly no NFL Channel to break down every more a team makes. There was no NFL Red Zone and no NFL Sunday Ticket available to watch any and every game on Sunday afternoons. I read an article by DallasCowboys.com's Mickey Spagnola a few years ago that debunked the 'style points' notion. Spags said in his article that winning in the NFL is so bloody hard we should be thankful for the wins and move on. It was a life changing epiphany for me. Taking Mickey's advice improved my enjoyment of watching football 100%. It sort of put me in a time machine and took me back to a time when winning was the point and all that other crap was meaningless. It is glorious to not be hung up on trivial crap and just enjoy the wins when they come. When I was kid the thing people would talk about on the game broadcast and around the 'water cooler' on Mondays was the "fact" that Dallas could move the ball between the 20's but stall at the opponent's 20. It was all perception because Dallas went to 5 Super Bowls in the decade as they cemented their claim as America's Team. It was also said Dallas played up or down quality-wise according to the level of competition they were playing. They played great against the tough teams and sort of coasted through the not-so-great teams. Again, Monday morning quarterback talk because, more often than not, we were talking about another Cowboys win.

 

During the regular season, because it is six months and 162 games long, people talk about the defects in their team. A little less so when they are winning but still, the stats tell us how many runners were left stranded and how many runners were stranded in scoring position. We know if the bullpen or the starting pitching was the reason for last night's loss or win. Baseball is a stat oriented game. They break down play into the most ridiculous nano points like 'how a pitcher does in the 4th inning, on the road, in day games on days with an R in it.' The frustrating thing about the 2018 Astros was the offense didn't perform like the 2017 offense. Given the pitching the Astros had if Houston's offense had played up to last year's level the team could have won 110 games or more and they would have had 3 20-game winning starting pitchers. At times it seemed like Houston sucked and the season was not going well at all. But that's perception based on almost daily results. As you look back on it, Houston won 103 games for crying out loud. Most in team history. The Astros survived extended stints on the DL by its top 3 players and they still just kept on winning way more often than not.

 

That daily grind is over with for this year. We are in the playoffs, baby! Just where we wanted to be, right? Right. The Astros have been playing under pressure for over a month as the season wound down with the Oakland A's nipping at their heels up until the last week of the season. Houston won 101 games last year and they won the AL West by 21 games. This year Houston won the division by 6 games and it was closer than that heading into the last week of the season. This version of the Astros is resilient, battle tested, tough and determined. I kind of forgot all that as the ALDS began on Friday. I saw the warts and forgot how good this team is and why they are so good, warts and all. Houston came out Friday jumping to a 4-0 lead thanks to an Alex Bregman HR to lead off the fourth and a Josh Reddick RBI single to give the Astros a 2 zip lead after 4. George Springer led off the 5th with a home run and Jose Altuve backed him up with a dinger of his own to stake the Astros to a 4 nothing lead after 5. Justin Verlander, who was great through 5 innings stumbled in the 6th and Ryan Pressley came in with the bases loaded and shut down the Cleveland threat but not before he allowed 2 of the 3 runners he inherited to score making it a 4-2 ballgame. As it turns out, it was a minor setback. Houston scored two more times in the 7th and one more time in the 8th to forge a 7-2 lead. Pressley finished off the 6th and he pitched a scoreless 7th. Lance McCullers pitched a scoreless 8th and Roberto Osuna closed out the game in the 9th to give Houston and 1-0 lead in the series. Last night Gerrit Cole one upped Verlander by going 7 innings striking out 12 batters in the process in an awesome performance. The only mistake Cole made was in the 3rd inning when he hung a slider to the Indians' Francisco Lindor who drove the ball into the bleachers for a 1-0 lead. Indians starter Carlos Carrasco was marching through the Astros lineup until the 6th when Houston finally got to him. They took a 2-1 lead on a Marwin Gonzalez 2-run single. Alex Bregman added a solo HR in the 7th to give Houston a 3-1 lead and that's all that Houston needed to beat Cleveland and take a 2-0 lead in their ALDS series. Marwin Gonzalez had a great night for Houston going 4 for 4 as he lead the team's offense and was responsible for the Astros taking a 2-1 lead in the game.

 

Note: Josh Reddick hit over .300 last year and he sucked in the playoffs at the plate. This year so far, Reddick struggled through the regular season but he's come up and contributed in the first two games of the postseason. On Friday he went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI's and last night he went 1 for 2. By contrast, Carlos Correa was the only starter to not get a hit in Friday's win and he came back last night and failed to get a hit again. So far Correa is oh-fer in 7 AB's with a walk and 2 K's.

 

Next up it will be Dallas Keuchel's turn on the mound when Houston takes on Cleveland in Game 3 of the series in Cleveland on Monday.

 

Memory lane: I was thinking about how dominant Verlander and Cole were to start the series and it got me to thinking about the best pitching performance I had ever seen in a baseball postseason and I remembered the epic Game 7 in the 1991 World Series between the Atlanta Braves and the Minnesota Twins. The Braves had HOF'er John Smoltz on the hill and Minnesota countered with Jack Morris. Smoltz went 7.1 innings, Mike Stanton (of the Astros postgame show fame on ATTSouthwest broadcasts) pitched .2 innings and Alejandro Pena went 1.1 innings pitching a scoreless 9th inning and giving up the game winning hit in the tenth with one out. Morris was the star of the show on the night. He pitched the complete game, start to finish, going 10 innings allowing no runs on 7 hits, 2 walks and 8 K's. He threw 126 pitches in the game and he had to argue with Twins manager Tom Kelly to stay in the game in the last three innings. Morris was NOT coming out of that game and he rewarded Kelly and team with game for the ages. Justin Verlander said last season that one pitch in the playoffs was like throwing 10 pitches in the regular season because of the pressure of playoff baseball. That being said, it makes Morris' magnificent Game 7 all the more compelling. The video linked below is a nice tribute to that Game 7.

 

Game 1 of the ALCS is in the books and Astros fans are not unhappy! They beat the Red Sox 7-2 last night in a game that wasn't really that close - okay, it was close until the 9th inning when Houston erupted for 4 innings to break open a 3-2 game. But, that's what Houston does, right? They keep punching until the other team cracks. The reason teams crack is because they know good and well that breaking through on the Astros pitching is harder than beating Jason Stathum in fight. Justin Verlander went 6 innings and if it wasn't for a 30 pitch 5th he might have gone the distance. The 5th was weird because the 2 runs Boston scored came because Verlander walked in a run and the other run came on a wild pitch. In total, Verlander gave up just 2 hits in his six innings worth of work. He had 4 walks on the night, 3 of which came back-to-back-to-back in the 5th. Verlander had no explanation other than something threw off his timing just a hair, enough that he couldn't even throw a strike with his fastball, but he got through the inning and mowed down the Sox in the 6th inning to close out his night. Ryan Pressly, Lance McCullers and Collin McHugh pitched 3 innings of shutout ball to seal the win.

 

Carlos Correa seems to finding his stroke again. In the broadcast last night, they said Correa told them that he finally feels better after dealing with a bad back most of the season. He is back and able to focus on putting together quality at-bats. He went 0 for 9 against Cleveland before coming through with a 3-run homer to help ice Game 3 to complete the sweep of the Indians. Last night Correa went 1 for 3 with 2 walks but the one hit was clutch. With 2 outs and men on 1st and 2nd Correa hit a ground ball up the middle for an RBI base hit that allowed Houston to retake the lead at 3-2. Alex Bregman didn't get a hit but he was on base 4 of the 5 times he went to the plate, walking 3 times and being hit by a pitch to start the 6th. Bregman was on 2B when Correa got his hit and he scored the go-ahead run. Josh Reddick led off the 9th inning with a home run and Yuli Gurriel finished off the scoring with a 3-run homer to give the Astros a comfortable lead heading into the bottom of the 9th. Houston only had 5 hits on the night but the Red Sox pitching walked 10 batters plus they hit 3 batters to give Houston all the traffic they needed on the base paths. The biggest news of the night was that George Springer DIDN'T homer in the game which he has done in 5 of the last 6 postseason games he's played. He did come through with a bases loaded 2-run single in the top of the 2nd. The hit staked Verlander to an early 2-0 lead.

 

Game 2 is tonight. Hopefully, we will get a clean sweep of Texas teams today with a Texans win, a Cowboys win and an Astros win. All things considered I want the Astros to win most of all. If the Sports Gods decide to let the Astros win at the expense of Texans and Cowboys losses, so be it and so shall it be done. My expectations for the Texas football duo is not nearly what I want for the Astros. Clearly, the Astros have the best team and the ceiling is much higher at this point. I'm still rooting for the Texas football teams to do well but I'm hanging my hat on the 'Stros. Tonight it will be Gerrit Cole vs David Price. Wouldn't it be sweet to come back from chilly Boston with a 2 zip lead? Darn tootin' it would!!

It’s obvious that the Sports Gods are dyslexic. I specifically said yesterday morning I would gladly trade for a Texans and Cowboys loss for an Astros win. The SG’s got it backwards, the Texans and Cowboys won while the Astros lost. If you can’t trust the Sports Gods who the heck can you trust?

Gerrit Cole picked the wrong night to have his worst outing as an Astro. He started the game shaky but after a 1-2-3 2nd inning you figured he was settled in for about 6 innings of quality pitching. Wrong, In the third inning he gave up a single, a double, a walk with a couple of K’s sprinkled in but when Jackie Bradley came up with the bases loaded Cole gave up a 3-run double to Bradley to give the Bosox a 5-4 lead they would not relinquish on the night. Cole gave up 2 runs in the first partly because of a throwing error he committed. But, Houston came back with 2 runs in the 2nd and another 2 runs in the 3rd to give Cole a 4-2 lead which he promptly blew in the bottom of the inning. All the things that enabled Houston to win Game 1 like walks, hit batsmen, errors and timely hits were the Astros undoing in Game 2. All except the hit batsmen but Martin Maldinado made up for that with a very untimely passed ball. Eh, what are you going to do. Cole did go 6 innings and he did look good in innings 4 through 6 but when you give up 5 runs, 4 earned, in just 3 innings it makes the rest seem inconsequential. The damage was done and that is all I have to say about that. (Forest Gump reference)

You know what, it’s really not such a bad deal. All the Astros wanted was to come out of the games in Boston with a split and they got that. For the time being, Houston has taken home field advantage away from the Red Sox. Now, Houston just has to take care of business back in Houston. All in all, it was a good weekend for Texas pro sports. I still have a bone to pick with the SG’s but as long as the Astros win four games in this series all will be forgiven.

Damn. The Astros are down 3-1 in The ALCS thanks to the 8-6 loss to Boston last night. The Bosox are making the plays and getting the hits while Houston is coming up just a hair short. Bregman could be Houston’s answer to Jackie Bradley Jr if a few of his hits was a skosh higher or shorter depending on which hit you’re talking about. Jose Altuve joined Bregman in the group that is wishing his ball was hit just 12” higher. That’s okay because it just sets the table for an epic comeback beginning tonight with Justin Verlander on the mound. Go Stros!!! Edited October 18, 2018 by eagle eye

Spring Training notes and items:

 

AJ Hinch told the media yesterday that RHP Brady Rodgers would start the first spring game Saturday (yes, THIS Saturday!!!) He let the guys in the clubhouse know first and then made the announcement to the media. Brady Rodgers has sort of become that lost man because in May of 2017 he had Tommy John surgery and he missed all of the 2017 and 2018 seasons. If Rodgers does well he could vault himself into the mix for consideration as the Astros 5th starter. Rodgers was the AAA Pacific Coast Pitcher of the Year in 2016 so, prior to TJ surgery you know this guy has game. He’s also a Houston area homey being born in Richmond and he’s been a lifelong Astros fan. Milwaukee drafted Rodgers right out of high school in 2009 but he chose to go to college. In 2012 Houston drafted him in the 3rd round and he worked his way up to AAA. He made one big league appearance in September of 2016. I think it would be cool if Rodgers does do well and cracks the Astros roster even if it’s as a reliever. Home town boy makes good is always a feel good story. At 28 years of age Rodgers is no kid but he’s definitely a guy I will be watching for this spring.

 

All Tony Kemp did in 2018 was hit nearly .300 and he had some of the most clutch hits for Houston down the stretch, as Kemp played in 97 games last season. He has a left handed bat which is a plus in Houston’s right handed heavy lineup. As good as Kemp was he may not make the final 25 man roster given Houston has its starters penciled in with George Springer, Josh Reddick and Michael Brantley. The fourth man in the rotation as it stands now is Jake Marisnick but nipping at his heels will be Kemp and likely Kyle Tucker with Derek Fisher as a very dark horse. Kemp has never made an opening day 25 man roster in 3 partial seasons in the bigs. It’s a harsh reality of pro sports, no matter how good a guy you might be if you ain’t good enough you head to AAA. At least the Astros AAA franchise is in Round Rock, so the trip isn’t as far.

 

Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole will be free agents after this season so it would appear it’s do or die this season for the Astros to get back to the World Series but in an interview this week Astros owner Jim Crane said he would love to get contract extensions done with both men. He said he envisions an Astros future with both men part of the equation. Good news for Astros fans, we all just hope he gets it done!!!

 

Last season top Astros pitching prospect Forest Whitley was suspended for the first 50 games for substance abuse, PED use. Whitley said it was a mistake and he apologized for taking something he didn’t clear with the team and the fact he let his team mates and the Astros organization down. When he returned to action after his suspension he tweeted, “Daddy’s back!” I’m sure he thought that was forgotten long ago but when Whitley made his first spring training appearance this week Justin Verlander let him know “nothing is forgotten” when he and the team presented Whitley with his jersey but instead of his name it said ‘Daddy’. Everyone had a good laugh about that and he had to wear the jersey for the rest of the day. Whitley was good natured about it and he thought it was funny and he appreciated his team mates giving a hard time. It’s all about what a tight knit group this roster is even with new guys. This year is Whitley’s first big league camp and big things are expected from the Astros #1 prospect.