The Astros did things (I see you, Will Harris) and beat the Angels 4-0 while the playoff picture is starting to shape up. Houston is 105-55 and clinched home field advantage through the AL side of the playoffs. There are about 36 hours remaining in the regular season.
It seals that the Astros will play the winner of Wednesday night's Wild Card game, which is now officially between Oakland and Tampa, both of whom are 96-64. Tampa is at Toronto (2:07pm) while Oakland is at Seattle (8:10pm).
Home-Field Advantage Throughout:
Houston: 105-55
Los Angeles: 104-56
On July 4, the Dodgers were 60-29 while the Astros were 55-32. Since July 4:
Houston: 50-23
Los Angeles: 44-27
Reminder that Houston holds the tiebreaker over Los Angeles. A win tonight - or a Dodgers loss - would clinch home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Bregman:
It's going to be fun at home throughout at least the AL so far. We have got a few more wins to take care of, and if we do, then we'll be at Minute Maid Park for most of our games. I was really happy with how we played today.
Houston's record vs. AL West teams is 54-20
Seattle: 18-1
Anaheim: 12-5
Arlington: 13-6
Oakland: 11-8
Los Angeles' record vs. NL West teams is 49-25:
Colorado: 15-4
San Diego: 13-6
San Francisco: 10-7
Arizona: 11-8
That's why the Astros have the tie-breaker. Have you thanked a Mariner yet?
*The Astros are 3-1 on this road trip with three shutouts.
*Pitching staff was excellent. It's the 19th time this season the Astros have held their opponent to three or fewer hits. They're 17-2 in those games. It's the 14th time they've held their opponent to zero runs. They're 14-0 in those games. They should do that more tbh. It's the 12th time this season that their opponent did not get an extra-base hit.
-Jose Urquidy made a case for the postseason with 6IP, 3H/0ER, 2K:1BB. He threw 79 pitches before being removed.
Urquidy's four September appearances: 18IP, 10H/3ER, 16K:3BB, .182 BABIP.
Chandler Rome:
One day after Miley managed just 12 outs and lowered his September earned-run average to 16.68, Urquidy threw six scoreless innings against the same Angels team. He yielded three singles. Two did not leave the infield. His arsenal was efficient and effective, two traits absent during Miley's steady decline.
-Ryan Pressly struck out two in 12 pitches.
-Will Harris threw an immaculate inning: Nine pitches, three strikeouts. Alex Bregman, on Harris:
Will never smiles - ever - on the field. He's always in a bad mood. That was the first time I've ever seen him smile on a baseball field, which was badass.
Harris, who struck out Kaleb Cowart, Matt Thaiss, and Michael Hermosillo:
I knew I had a pretty good idea where the ball was going. When I struck out the first guy, I felt like I was going to strike out the side. It was kind of weird.
Harris is the first Astros pitcher to throw an Immaculate Inning since Brandon Backe did it on April 15, 2004.
-Josh James closed the 9th with three up/three down.
*The Astros only managed four hits for the 12th time this season (2-10 now), but thankfully two of them left the yard - Alex Bregman hit his 41st home run of the year while Michael Brantley used his 22nd home run, a 3-run shot, to seal the game. The home runs gave the Astros a homer in 23 straight games, extending a franchise record.
Hinch, on Brantley, whose homer was his first extra-base hit since September 9:
He's scuffled a little bit and he wants to contribute. It's more than this swing or more than a homer. He just wants to contribute and do his part. That's a big swing.
Brantley, September: 83 PAs, .173/.241/.293, 10K:6BB.
*Jack Mayfield had two of the Astros' four hits.
*Jeff Luhnow is now "hopeful" that Correa is available for the ALDS. Luhnow:
Clearly, we need him in our lineup to be the best team we can be. We're going to use this next week to hopefully heal and get ready. I can't predict the outcome. We're hopeful, based on everything he's gone through and what our doctors and trainers are saying, that there's a pretty good chance he'll be in the lineup next Friday.
Taking out some extraneous words, that last sentence reads: "We're hopeful...that there's a pretty good chance he'll be in the lineup [in six days]." That's not as comforting.
Chandler Rome notes that Hinch didn't seem overly concerned about Correa's availability for the ALDS.
*Yahoo's Tim Brown: The one record-breaking stat that shows the Astros' fearlessness, and dominance, this season.
*MLB Network: How the Astros got to the postseason (in a 3-minute video).
*Tri-City manager Ozney Guillen will not return to the organization in 2020.
*Check the Lima Time Time Patreon.
*James Paxton left his start with the Yankees after one inning because of his butt muscle.
*Check out Aldine's Jayden Payne's story of heroism during Imelda.
*Nine false rumors with real-life consequences.
*A Musical Selection:
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Friday, September 27, 2019
Friday Morning Hot Links
The Astros held the Angels to nine scoreless innings on Thursday night and lost because they allowed three runs in the first two innings, and then the walk-off in the 12th, pissing away chance after chance in between. Houston is 104-55 overall, 44-34 on the road. It's their 2nd loss in the last eleven games.
Scoreboard watching: New York was off, Los Angeles beat San Diego 1-0.
Houston (104-55): -
Los Angeles (103-56): -1
New York (102-57): -2
A Houston win or a New York loss tonight clinches home field advantage through the ALCS. World Series home field is going to go down to the wire. A Houston / Los Angeles tie would result in the Astros winning the tiebreaker, thanks to their better intra-division record.
*Since the Trade Deadline, AL Standings:
Houston: 35-15
Oakland: 34-15
Tampa: 33-16
New York: 34-18
Minnesota: 33-19
Cleveland: 30-22
Boston: 24-26
*The Astros are 7-4 in their last 11 games against Anaheim. The Angels' walkoff came in the bottom of the 12th when Kyle Tucker sorta misplayed a ground ball after going 1x6 with a home run and 4Ks. Not exactly a Dear Diary kind of day for Kyle. Houston was 1x13 w/RISP (Anaheim was 1x12). Houston loaded the bases three times in the final five innings and did not score a run.
Chances!
Top 7: Runners on 1st and 2nd, 1 out. Bregman K, Tucker K.
Top 8: Bases loaded, 1 out. Springer GIDP.
Top 10: Runners on 1st and 2nd, 2 out. Stubbs K.
Top 11: Bases loaded, 1 out. Tucker K, Diaz fielder's choice
Top 12: Bases loaded, 2 out. Marisnick K.
Houston left 17 runners on base. Hinch:
Especially in a one-run game, that's a lot. We had our chances. A lot of at-bats, contact even to the outfield would have been good for us. Couldn't come up with the big swing, or even the small swing to get someone across. They did at the end.
*Wade Miley needed 93 pitches to get through 4IP, allowing 5H/3ER, 2K:2BB. 54 of his 93 pitches were for strikes and he only threw a first pitch strike to eight of the 19 batters he faced. Miley:
A lot more positives than I've been getting. I felt a lot better tonight. I felt I attacked the zone a lot better. The first inning, I gave up the double on a mistake up and over, but for the most part, I felt like I made some really good pitches in and got some swings.
On Miley's postseason roster spot, Hinch:
We have a long time before we have to make any sort of decision. So after a walk-off loss, it's not going to be a time where I assess anything.
*Josh Reddick was 5x6 with a double and his first stolen base since June 14, six games after the first 5-hit game of his career. In between he was 1x14 with 2K:2BB.
*Myles Straw was 3x6, getting three hits for the third time this season.
Reddick and Straw: 8x12, 1K:1BB
Rest of Team: 4x34, 10K:8BB
*Jack Mayfield hit the 2nd home run of his career, tying the game at 3-3. Mayfield's eight hits with the Astros:
Double, Home Run, Double, Double, Double, Single, Double, Home Run.
*Carlos Correa was not in the lineup, nor was Altuve or Springer or Gurriel or Yordan. Carlos Correa, unlike Altuve and Springer and Gurriel and Yordan, will not be in the lineup the rest of the weekend. Correa saw a doctor on Thursday in Los Angeles and "nothing more or serious" was found in his back, which is good, I guess. Correa will have gotten 11 PAs between August 19 and October 4. Add "airplane rides" to the list of things that make Litos' back hurt. Reminder that Correa's latest 6-week back rehab occurred after he swung a bat. He turned 25 on Sunday. This is all very exhausting. Hinch:
Given that he's been off for a couple of days, we could need a full day of baseball activity anyway. That's pushed to tomorrow, and then if there's any sort of movement or activity over the weekend, it doesn't look like we're going to have enough time to get him a lot of game action....We saw him come out of this with one rehab game and hit two home runs. He's an excellent player. He's a former All-Star. He'll be just fine when we get him back here.
More Hinch:
We do have workouts prior to the division series where we'll have some live (batting practices), some (simulated) games and stuff like that. That's going to be what we're going to have to judge him on.
*Aaron Sanchez, who once had two arms, had a capsule tear in his right shoulder and will be out "into next season." This paper said the average recovery time in MLB pitchers is 13 months. That's October 2020. Aaron Sanchez went from throwing a no-hitter to being out for most of 2020 in less than a month.
*Better go ahead and put in for a half-day next Friday.
*MLB.com gave the Astros' team MVP to Alex Bregman.
*SI's Jon Tayler makes the case for the Astros winning the 2019 World Series. Talyer:
That is, with no qualifiers or doubts, the best rotation in baseball and the postseason, and that's with Literally Wade Miley as the fourth starter, only Literally Wade Miley has actually been good this year (3.91 ERA, 119 ERA+) because the Astros are dark wizards.
*MLB.com's Andrew Simon has the weakness of every playoff team. For the Astros? Baserunning.
*Jayson Stark gave out his end-of-season awards. Click the link, but the relevant notes are Trout for AL MVP, Verlander for AL Cy Young, Yordan for AL Rookie of the Year. A.J. Hinch didn't even finish in Stark's AL Manager of the Year top five.
*Check out the Wall Street Journal's write-up of a Luhnow/Morey lunch conversation. It's fascinating. They throw shade at pretty much all of Astros Twitter, and we deserve it. When it comes to their jobs, they're literally smarter than all of us combined (I still think I could take Luhnow in a Pub Trivia night, but only because I've filled my brain with useless information...unless that information becomes valuable in a Pub Trivia setting, for which Luhnow did not plan.)
*The 1952 Tigers are the last team to throw two no-hitters and have another one broken up in the 9th.
*This Levi Weaver account of the Red Sox swinging at three straight pitches to try to prevent West Forney's Mike Minor from getting to 200 strikeouts on the season, which resulted in the Ramgers dropping a pop-up in foul territory with two strikes in order to give Minor another shot at it...is hilariously petty and worth it.
*Former Astros Great Tyler Heineman got his first MLB hit Thursday night against Jacob DeGrom.
*Over on the AL Wild Card side, the Indians lost to the White Sox, so they're two games back with three to play. Since trading Tyler Bauer, Cleveland is 30-22 while Bauer threw 56.1IP for the Reds, posting a 6.39 ERA / 1.35 WHIP. File this under See, Things You Just Hate To.
*The Cubs' dreams of a dynasty appear to be over. Place this in the previous file.
*Your DoorDash account probably just got Got.
*NPR: How the U.S. hacked ISIS.
*A Musical Selection:
Scoreboard watching: New York was off, Los Angeles beat San Diego 1-0.
Houston (104-55): -
Los Angeles (103-56): -1
New York (102-57): -2
A Houston win or a New York loss tonight clinches home field advantage through the ALCS. World Series home field is going to go down to the wire. A Houston / Los Angeles tie would result in the Astros winning the tiebreaker, thanks to their better intra-division record.
*Since the Trade Deadline, AL Standings:
Houston: 35-15
Oakland: 34-15
Tampa: 33-16
New York: 34-18
Minnesota: 33-19
Cleveland: 30-22
Boston: 24-26
*The Astros are 7-4 in their last 11 games against Anaheim. The Angels' walkoff came in the bottom of the 12th when Kyle Tucker sorta misplayed a ground ball after going 1x6 with a home run and 4Ks. Not exactly a Dear Diary kind of day for Kyle. Houston was 1x13 w/RISP (Anaheim was 1x12). Houston loaded the bases three times in the final five innings and did not score a run.
Chances!
Top 7: Runners on 1st and 2nd, 1 out. Bregman K, Tucker K.
Top 8: Bases loaded, 1 out. Springer GIDP.
Top 10: Runners on 1st and 2nd, 2 out. Stubbs K.
Top 11: Bases loaded, 1 out. Tucker K, Diaz fielder's choice
Top 12: Bases loaded, 2 out. Marisnick K.
Houston left 17 runners on base. Hinch:
Especially in a one-run game, that's a lot. We had our chances. A lot of at-bats, contact even to the outfield would have been good for us. Couldn't come up with the big swing, or even the small swing to get someone across. They did at the end.
*Wade Miley needed 93 pitches to get through 4IP, allowing 5H/3ER, 2K:2BB. 54 of his 93 pitches were for strikes and he only threw a first pitch strike to eight of the 19 batters he faced. Miley:
A lot more positives than I've been getting. I felt a lot better tonight. I felt I attacked the zone a lot better. The first inning, I gave up the double on a mistake up and over, but for the most part, I felt like I made some really good pitches in and got some swings.
On Miley's postseason roster spot, Hinch:
We have a long time before we have to make any sort of decision. So after a walk-off loss, it's not going to be a time where I assess anything.
*Josh Reddick was 5x6 with a double and his first stolen base since June 14, six games after the first 5-hit game of his career. In between he was 1x14 with 2K:2BB.
*Myles Straw was 3x6, getting three hits for the third time this season.
Reddick and Straw: 8x12, 1K:1BB
Rest of Team: 4x34, 10K:8BB
*Jack Mayfield hit the 2nd home run of his career, tying the game at 3-3. Mayfield's eight hits with the Astros:
Double, Home Run, Double, Double, Double, Single, Double, Home Run.
*Carlos Correa was not in the lineup, nor was Altuve or Springer or Gurriel or Yordan. Carlos Correa, unlike Altuve and Springer and Gurriel and Yordan, will not be in the lineup the rest of the weekend. Correa saw a doctor on Thursday in Los Angeles and "nothing more or serious" was found in his back, which is good, I guess. Correa will have gotten 11 PAs between August 19 and October 4. Add "airplane rides" to the list of things that make Litos' back hurt. Reminder that Correa's latest 6-week back rehab occurred after he swung a bat. He turned 25 on Sunday. This is all very exhausting. Hinch:
Given that he's been off for a couple of days, we could need a full day of baseball activity anyway. That's pushed to tomorrow, and then if there's any sort of movement or activity over the weekend, it doesn't look like we're going to have enough time to get him a lot of game action....We saw him come out of this with one rehab game and hit two home runs. He's an excellent player. He's a former All-Star. He'll be just fine when we get him back here.
More Hinch:
We do have workouts prior to the division series where we'll have some live (batting practices), some (simulated) games and stuff like that. That's going to be what we're going to have to judge him on.
*Aaron Sanchez, who once had two arms, had a capsule tear in his right shoulder and will be out "into next season." This paper said the average recovery time in MLB pitchers is 13 months. That's October 2020. Aaron Sanchez went from throwing a no-hitter to being out for most of 2020 in less than a month.
*Better go ahead and put in for a half-day next Friday.
*MLB.com gave the Astros' team MVP to Alex Bregman.
*SI's Jon Tayler makes the case for the Astros winning the 2019 World Series. Talyer:
That is, with no qualifiers or doubts, the best rotation in baseball and the postseason, and that's with Literally Wade Miley as the fourth starter, only Literally Wade Miley has actually been good this year (3.91 ERA, 119 ERA+) because the Astros are dark wizards.
*MLB.com's Andrew Simon has the weakness of every playoff team. For the Astros? Baserunning.
*Jayson Stark gave out his end-of-season awards. Click the link, but the relevant notes are Trout for AL MVP, Verlander for AL Cy Young, Yordan for AL Rookie of the Year. A.J. Hinch didn't even finish in Stark's AL Manager of the Year top five.
*Check out the Wall Street Journal's write-up of a Luhnow/Morey lunch conversation. It's fascinating. They throw shade at pretty much all of Astros Twitter, and we deserve it. When it comes to their jobs, they're literally smarter than all of us combined (I still think I could take Luhnow in a Pub Trivia night, but only because I've filled my brain with useless information...unless that information becomes valuable in a Pub Trivia setting, for which Luhnow did not plan.)
*The 1952 Tigers are the last team to throw two no-hitters and have another one broken up in the 9th.
*This Levi Weaver account of the Red Sox swinging at three straight pitches to try to prevent West Forney's Mike Minor from getting to 200 strikeouts on the season, which resulted in the Ramgers dropping a pop-up in foul territory with two strikes in order to give Minor another shot at it...is hilariously petty and worth it.
The Rangers intentionally let a popup drop in the 9th inning so Mike Minor could have another shot at notching his 200th strikeout of the season.— ESPN (@espn) September 26, 2019
Minor recorded that strikeout on the next pitch he threw. pic.twitter.com/nMqeTa2PJo
*Former Astros Great Tyler Heineman got his first MLB hit Thursday night against Jacob DeGrom.
*Over on the AL Wild Card side, the Indians lost to the White Sox, so they're two games back with three to play. Since trading Tyler Bauer, Cleveland is 30-22 while Bauer threw 56.1IP for the Reds, posting a 6.39 ERA / 1.35 WHIP. File this under See, Things You Just Hate To.
*The Cubs' dreams of a dynasty appear to be over. Place this in the previous file.
*Your DoorDash account probably just got Got.
*NPR: How the U.S. hacked ISIS.
*A Musical Selection:
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Thursday Morning Hot Links
The Astros beat the Mariners 3-0 for the second straight night to improve to a franchise-high 104-54 and are 50 games over .500 for the first time in franchise history. Houston is 9-1 in their last 10 games. There are four regular season games remaining. The playoffs start one week from tomorrow.
*Scoreboard Watching:
New York lost to Tampa, Los Angeles beat San Diego
Houston (104-54): -
Los Angeles (102-56): -2
New York (102-57): -2.5
Reminder that the Astros hold the tie-breaker on New York, so the Astros could clinch home field throughout the AL playoffs with a win tonight. The Yankees are off tonight before finishing their season with Arlington, who has lost nine of their last ten games, something you just hate to see.
*Chaos Watching:
Oakland beat Anaheim, Tampa beat New York, Cleveland lost to the White Sox.
WC1: Oakland (95-63)
WC2: Tampa (95-64)
Cleveland (93-65) -1.5
*Anyhow, the Astros won their 104th game of the season, breaking a franchise record set all the way back in 2018. Hinch and the team celebrated with a champagne toast:
We want to have a moment and recognize the type of season that we've had, franchise record number of wins. We have a chance to beat our own record the next few games. Just a great accomplishment as a team - a lot of players, a lot of coaches. Front office putting the team together. Everybody should be proud of this team, and our season is really just beginning with the postseason very close.
Houston went 18-1 against Seattle in 2019 and have won 13 games in a row against them. Thanks, Mariners. Houston and the 2019 Cleveland Indians are the only teams to win 18 games against an opponent in a season (Cleveland got the Tigers 18 out of 19 times).
*Zack Greinke was two outs away from a no-hitter when Austin Nola (who was 0x16 coming into that AB) singled to break it up. He's the first Astros pitcher to lose a no-hitter in the 9th since Mike Scott on June 12, 1988. Greinke: 8.1IP, 2H/0ER, 9K:1BB. He walked Dee Gordon in the 6th to end his walk-less streak at 29.1IP.
Nola only came into the game because Dee Gordon's back stiffened up after he collided with a teammate. Nola:
I watched [Greinke] all game. He was unbelievable. I don't think he threw many balls over the middle of the plate. I was just going up there looking for somewhat of a decent pitch. I knew I wasn't going to get much good stuff, but it all worked out.
Mariners manager Scott Servais, on Greinke:
It was art. He's out there just dealing and drawing it up the way he wants to. It's frustrating when he's on his game like that, because you really have to be disciplined at the plate. One of the things he's really good at is when he gets ahead in the count, the balls are just off the edge and they look like strikes. Veteran pitcher and he was really on top of his game tonight. Coming in after Cole, it's totally different styles.
More Servais, on facing Greinke:
It is torture. Those guys, certainly different styles. That's the beauty of our game. Everybody doesn't have to be the same size or throw the hardest, whatever, there's a lot of different ways to be successful in this game.
Greinke, after losing a no-hitter in the 7th against Washington earlier this year:
I don't really think about [no-hitters] that much. I just assume I'll never throw one. Just probably be more hassle than anything.
Legend. Greinke's next start will be Game 3 of the ALDS.
*Alex Bregman had three of the Astros' seven hits, two of them doubles (one of those on the 14th pitch of the AB). Bregman is hitting .298/.421/.595. He has 37 doubles. Three more and he joins 2000 Richard Hidalgo (42 doubles, 44 home runs) and 1997 Jeff Bagwell (40 doubles, 43 home runs) as the only Astros with a 40-40 season.
*Kyle Tucker hit the 3rd home run of his career in the 9th inning, extending the Astros' franchise record for consecutive games with a home run to 21.
*Jake Marisnick is 5x31 in September.
*Carlos Correa was out of the lineup last night. The Astros have played 320 regular season games since the beginning of the 2018 season. Carlos Correa has played in 185 (57.8%) of them. He turned 25 on September 22. Why was he out? His back was still tight after the flight from Houston to Seattle. Were this the playoffs, he'd be in the lineup, he said. Carlos Correa has had eleven PAs since August 19. He played September 17, September 20, and September 21.
A.J. Hinch announced that Correa won't play tonight at Anaheim, due to getting in so late. Hinch:
I think it is smart for us to play it more cautiously. I'll feel better when he's on the field. There's a certain timing and rhythm and playing that he needs to do to make us all feel better. He played very well when he was active a few days ago.
*Join Astros All-Access as they take you inside the clubhouse following the clinching of the division.
*Chandler Rome talked to Gerrit Cole about his strikeouts, and Cole ended up talking about wins:
Ultimately, it's a team stat. It's one of the things that I don't have as much control of as I think I do, but I'm as proud of it as any stat that I have. I'm looking forward to the opportunity [to win 20 games]. I think it would be really unique to have to guys win 40 games out of however many we're going to win, that would be really special and be really special for the guys playing behind us.
*In The Athletic, Jake Kaplan has three potential solutions to the Wade WTF Miley Conundrum in Game 4:
a) Jose Urquidy
b) Short-Rest Verlander
c) Bullpen Game for G4.
*Eno Sarris wonders what - if anything - predicts a team's success in the playoffs.
*A Musical Selection:
*Scoreboard Watching:
New York lost to Tampa, Los Angeles beat San Diego
Houston (104-54): -
Los Angeles (102-56): -2
New York (102-57): -2.5
Reminder that the Astros hold the tie-breaker on New York, so the Astros could clinch home field throughout the AL playoffs with a win tonight. The Yankees are off tonight before finishing their season with Arlington, who has lost nine of their last ten games, something you just hate to see.
*Chaos Watching:
After the games of last night, here's how the AL Wild Card standings...stand:Three teams.— MLB (@MLB) September 25, 2019
ONE game separating them. https://t.co/izQBHg1gph #SeptemberBaseball pic.twitter.com/J179fh44qL
Oakland beat Anaheim, Tampa beat New York, Cleveland lost to the White Sox.
WC1: Oakland (95-63)
WC2: Tampa (95-64)
Cleveland (93-65) -1.5
*Anyhow, the Astros won their 104th game of the season, breaking a franchise record set all the way back in 2018. Hinch and the team celebrated with a champagne toast:
We want to have a moment and recognize the type of season that we've had, franchise record number of wins. We have a chance to beat our own record the next few games. Just a great accomplishment as a team - a lot of players, a lot of coaches. Front office putting the team together. Everybody should be proud of this team, and our season is really just beginning with the postseason very close.
Houston went 18-1 against Seattle in 2019 and have won 13 games in a row against them. Thanks, Mariners. Houston and the 2019 Cleveland Indians are the only teams to win 18 games against an opponent in a season (Cleveland got the Tigers 18 out of 19 times).
*Zack Greinke was two outs away from a no-hitter when Austin Nola (who was 0x16 coming into that AB) singled to break it up. He's the first Astros pitcher to lose a no-hitter in the 9th since Mike Scott on June 12, 1988. Greinke: 8.1IP, 2H/0ER, 9K:1BB. He walked Dee Gordon in the 6th to end his walk-less streak at 29.1IP.
Nola only came into the game because Dee Gordon's back stiffened up after he collided with a teammate. Nola:
I watched [Greinke] all game. He was unbelievable. I don't think he threw many balls over the middle of the plate. I was just going up there looking for somewhat of a decent pitch. I knew I wasn't going to get much good stuff, but it all worked out.
Mariners manager Scott Servais, on Greinke:
It was art. He's out there just dealing and drawing it up the way he wants to. It's frustrating when he's on his game like that, because you really have to be disciplined at the plate. One of the things he's really good at is when he gets ahead in the count, the balls are just off the edge and they look like strikes. Veteran pitcher and he was really on top of his game tonight. Coming in after Cole, it's totally different styles.
More Servais, on facing Greinke:
It is torture. Those guys, certainly different styles. That's the beauty of our game. Everybody doesn't have to be the same size or throw the hardest, whatever, there's a lot of different ways to be successful in this game.
Greinke, after losing a no-hitter in the 7th against Washington earlier this year:
I don't really think about [no-hitters] that much. I just assume I'll never throw one. Just probably be more hassle than anything.
Legend. Greinke's next start will be Game 3 of the ALDS.
*Alex Bregman had three of the Astros' seven hits, two of them doubles (one of those on the 14th pitch of the AB). Bregman is hitting .298/.421/.595. He has 37 doubles. Three more and he joins 2000 Richard Hidalgo (42 doubles, 44 home runs) and 1997 Jeff Bagwell (40 doubles, 43 home runs) as the only Astros with a 40-40 season.
*Kyle Tucker hit the 3rd home run of his career in the 9th inning, extending the Astros' franchise record for consecutive games with a home run to 21.
*Jake Marisnick is 5x31 in September.
*Carlos Correa was out of the lineup last night. The Astros have played 320 regular season games since the beginning of the 2018 season. Carlos Correa has played in 185 (57.8%) of them. He turned 25 on September 22. Why was he out? His back was still tight after the flight from Houston to Seattle. Were this the playoffs, he'd be in the lineup, he said. Carlos Correa has had eleven PAs since August 19. He played September 17, September 20, and September 21.
A.J. Hinch announced that Correa won't play tonight at Anaheim, due to getting in so late. Hinch:
I think it is smart for us to play it more cautiously. I'll feel better when he's on the field. There's a certain timing and rhythm and playing that he needs to do to make us all feel better. He played very well when he was active a few days ago.
*Join Astros All-Access as they take you inside the clubhouse following the clinching of the division.
*Chandler Rome talked to Gerrit Cole about his strikeouts, and Cole ended up talking about wins:
Ultimately, it's a team stat. It's one of the things that I don't have as much control of as I think I do, but I'm as proud of it as any stat that I have. I'm looking forward to the opportunity [to win 20 games]. I think it would be really unique to have to guys win 40 games out of however many we're going to win, that would be really special and be really special for the guys playing behind us.
*In The Athletic, Jake Kaplan has three potential solutions to the Wade WTF Miley Conundrum in Game 4:
a) Jose Urquidy
b) Short-Rest Verlander
c) Bullpen Game for G4.
*Eno Sarris wonders what - if anything - predicts a team's success in the playoffs.
*A Musical Selection:
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Wednesday Morning Hot Links
You're not going to believe this, but the Houston Astros defeated the Seattle Mariners again. Here is the recap.
Gerrit Cole set a franchise strikeout record with 316 K's this season and counting.
Carlos Correa sat out once again with back tightness that inflicted him while on the plane to Seattle, but """""plans""""" to be in the lineup tomorrow. Carlos will now be taking a boat for ALDS road games in Tampa.
A.J. doesn't expect us to take it easy now that the division is locked up.
The Astros just in general are having a real good time.
So what's the plan with Miley? If not Miley, who else?
Can Alex Bregman do enough to pass Trout? He's trying.
Jose Urquidy looks like he will be seeing the 2020 rotation.
Joe Espada may be finding a manager job this offseason.
Bagwell v. Landscapers has officially kicked off.
The first article of a guy putting an insane amount of money on the Astros has now been uploaded to the Internet.
This might be my new favorite article headline: "After Woman bites Tiger Truck Stop Camel, Animal Given Precautionary Antibiotics"
Gerrit Cole set a franchise strikeout record with 316 K's this season and counting.
Carlos Correa sat out once again with back tightness that inflicted him while on the plane to Seattle, but """""plans""""" to be in the lineup tomorrow. Carlos will now be taking a boat for ALDS road games in Tampa.
A.J. doesn't expect us to take it easy now that the division is locked up.
The Astros just in general are having a real good time.
So what's the plan with Miley? If not Miley, who else?
Can Alex Bregman do enough to pass Trout? He's trying.
Jose Urquidy looks like he will be seeing the 2020 rotation.
Joe Espada may be finding a manager job this offseason.
Bagwell v. Landscapers has officially kicked off.
The first article of a guy putting an insane amount of money on the Astros has now been uploaded to the Internet.
This might be my new favorite article headline: "After Woman bites Tiger Truck Stop Camel, Animal Given Precautionary Antibiotics"
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Tuesday Morning Hot Links
The Astros didn't play last night. They already clinched the division. The links will unsurprisingly be light today.
New episode ofJeter Lima Time Time has been released for you, the viewer.
Urquidy, Devenski, Abreu, Tucker? Postseason "for fun" tryouts start today.
Jake Kaplan is trying to forecast the 25 man roster himself ($)
Who is the scariest AL opponent for the upcoming postseason?
Your regularly scheduled "the Astros offense is nuts" article:
The October merch has arrived and I'm going to be honest, this stuff is already way better than last year's.
Tickets for the ALDS are dropping soon. If you want to go, you might want to read this.
Someone tracked down Roger Clemens and asked him a lot of questions about the Astros.
This couple got engaged right under Justin Verlander's giant painted face.
The Astros are in, but a lot of teams aren't. Here's what to keep an eye on for the rest of the regular season around baseball.
Some pilot had to make an emergency landing because he spilled his coffee on all his buttons.
People donated nearly $100,000 to a plumber when they found out he hadn't been charging elderly customers a dime.
New episode of
Urquidy, Devenski, Abreu, Tucker? Postseason "for fun" tryouts start today.
Jake Kaplan is trying to forecast the 25 man roster himself ($)
Who is the scariest AL opponent for the upcoming postseason?
Your regularly scheduled "the Astros offense is nuts" article:
The October merch has arrived and I'm going to be honest, this stuff is already way better than last year's.
Tickets for the ALDS are dropping soon. If you want to go, you might want to read this.
Someone tracked down Roger Clemens and asked him a lot of questions about the Astros.
This couple got engaged right under Justin Verlander's giant painted face.
The Astros are in, but a lot of teams aren't. Here's what to keep an eye on for the rest of the regular season around baseball.
Some pilot had to make an emergency landing because he spilled his coffee on all his buttons.
People donated nearly $100,000 to a plumber when they found out he hadn't been charging elderly customers a dime.
Monday, September 23, 2019
Monday Morning Hot Links
The Astros will officially not play in the wild card game this season! If you would like to catch the full audio recording of the Astros afterparty where Steve Sparks goes trademark bonkers in the celebrating clubhouse, you can find the whole thing right here.
If you like photography, maybe this form of media will suit your needs.
As for the game itself, it went just about as normal as you would think. The Astros dropped 13 at home on the pour guests and absolutely dominated in every facet of the game. George Springer also had his first 3 home run game of his career. The next important game is October 12th. Mark your calendars.
In celebration of the year that was, here is the Top 10 Astros Moments of 2019.
Also to celebrate how awesome our team is, here is a fun refresher of when Trevor Crowe was hitting 3rd in our favorite real life baseball team, to remind us how far we've come.
Back to fun stats about the 2019 Astros, they do, in fact, have the best offense since the '27 Yankees. I'd argue they have the best offense of all time considering half your beer league softball team could probably hit a 1927 mlb pitcher's fastball with 400 innings and a gnarly case of yellow fever under his belt, but I digress.
Could the Astros make the first end-of-awards sweep this season?
Alleged-fully-functional-pitcher-this-time Brad Peacock is back just in time for playoffs and baby, that's real good.
Here is the rotation for the remainder of the regular season, which also includes a floating of an idea that involves Urquidy making the playoff roster over Wade Miley. Because. You know..
Altuve called his 30 HR season "a dream come true"
Larry Dierker reminisced about the "great ride" he has had with the Astros.
Astros v. Twins ALDS. What would that matchup look like? How sick would Flick Nickem feel if he had to actively root against Marwin Gonzalez. Time may soon tell..
Forrest Whitley was awesome in his AFL debut, which is a very good sign.
New words were added to the dictionary recently for 2019. Words like "fatberg", "fabulosity", "aphantasia", and more.
Indiana University students, because I'm sure it's getting old for them to always watch their sports teams lose all the time at this point, decided to take up a new pastime that doesn't revolve around a whole lot of competition but I'm sure just as much fun: making giant paper mache things!
If you like photography, maybe this form of media will suit your needs.
As for the game itself, it went just about as normal as you would think. The Astros dropped 13 at home on the pour guests and absolutely dominated in every facet of the game. George Springer also had his first 3 home run game of his career. The next important game is October 12th. Mark your calendars.
In celebration of the year that was, here is the Top 10 Astros Moments of 2019.
Also to celebrate how awesome our team is, here is a fun refresher of when Trevor Crowe was hitting 3rd in our favorite real life baseball team, to remind us how far we've come.
Back to fun stats about the 2019 Astros, they do, in fact, have the best offense since the '27 Yankees. I'd argue they have the best offense of all time considering half your beer league softball team could probably hit a 1927 mlb pitcher's fastball with 400 innings and a gnarly case of yellow fever under his belt, but I digress.
Could the Astros make the first end-of-awards sweep this season?
Alleged-fully-functional-pitcher-this-time Brad Peacock is back just in time for playoffs and baby, that's real good.
Here is the rotation for the remainder of the regular season, which also includes a floating of an idea that involves Urquidy making the playoff roster over Wade Miley. Because. You know..
Altuve called his 30 HR season "a dream come true"
Larry Dierker reminisced about the "great ride" he has had with the Astros.
Astros v. Twins ALDS. What would that matchup look like? How sick would Flick Nickem feel if he had to actively root against Marwin Gonzalez. Time may soon tell..
Forrest Whitley was awesome in his AFL debut, which is a very good sign.
New words were added to the dictionary recently for 2019. Words like "fatberg", "fabulosity", "aphantasia", and more.
Indiana University students, because I'm sure it's getting old for them to always watch their sports teams lose all the time at this point, decided to take up a new pastime that doesn't revolve around a whole lot of competition but I'm sure just as much fun: making giant paper mache things!
Sunday, September 22, 2019
Sunday Morning Hot Links
There is a big ol pile of human feces on a mattress in Minute Maid Park after Wade Miley's bowels was loose on the mound in a game that could have resulted in a third straight division title. Instead, the champagne goes back on ice for another day. Maybe tomorrow. Astros lose 8-4, snapping a 6-game win streak. Houston is 101-54. There are seven games remaining.
*Houston is now 10-4 against Anaheim. They're now a paltry 31-6 at home against AL West teams.
*Scoreboard Watching: the Yankees beat the Blue Jays, the Dodgers lost to Colorado.
Houston (101-54): -
New York (101-55): -0.5
Los Angeles (99-56): -2.0
*Wade Miley: 1IP, 4H/4ER, 0K:1BB. He faced nine batters.
Miley's September: 50 batters faced, 22 outs. 7.1IP, 23H/18ER, 4K:5BB.
It's worth wondering if Miley has cost himself a spot on the postseason roster. He would normally get one more start, likely at Anaheim next weekend in the closing series. But when you're scuffling as bad as he is - and let's be clear: Miley has not made it into the 2nd Inning in three of his last four starts (and those starts coming against the Mariners, A's, and now Angels) - it is a concern. For me, Saturday night it looked like he gave up that leadoff homer to .731 OPS-having ass David Fletcher - who had not hit a home run since June 15 - and thought, "Here we go again," and here we, in fact, did go again. Miley is basically Jose Urquidy's opener. Mentally he's beaten right now.
Miley:
I'm not doing my part, I'm not getting the job done, and I'm not giving us a chance. It's tough to swallow, but at the same time, I've been through this, and I've got to keep working and try to get through it.
Side note: No, Wade Miley has not "been through this." He has made 243 starts in his career. Eleven of them have been shorter than 2IP, six of them shorter than 1IP, but never three out of four starts.
Hinch:
We're going to figure it out and he's going to be really effective for us. But given the time, it's a difficult time to assess because he's got one start left before we've got to make some decisions, but we'd obviously like to get him in a better frame of mind.
Miley, on the urgency of his last start of the regular season:
Pretty high, I would say. I got to gain some trust back. I got to go out and prove I can get outs in the Big Leagues and prove I can give this team a chance to win.
Chandler Rome: The Astros have a full-fledged 4th Starter problem. Miley threw 27 pitches last night. The Angels swung and missed on exactly zero of them. Martin Maldonado:
Me and Chirinos were talking at the end of the game and we just have to try to find out how we can get him back to what you saw earlier in the year. I think tomorrow we're going to watch a lot of video to see, as catchers, what we have to do to get him back.
*Bryan Abreu struck out the side in the 5th before getting touched up in the 6th. Last week Chandler Rome talked up Abreu's chances of making the postseason roster.
*Hector Rondon gave up a back-breaking 2-run home run to Kolk Kalkouk. It was the 10th home run Rondon has allowed (which feels low by about 50) and the second appearance in a row in which Rondon has given up a homer.
*Yordan hit his 27th home run of the season. He was called up on June 9 - the 67th game of the season.
*Kyle Tucker was 2x4 with two doubles.
Kyle Tucker, 2018: 72 PAs, three extra-base hits. .141/.246/.203.
Kyle Tucker, 2019: 50 PAs, seven extra-base hits. .313/.340/.542.
*Carlos Correa came out of the game after the 6th Inning, and everyone went crazy with their "Massage!" tweets or Daniela pics. But A.J. Hinch told us last Saturday this is what he was going to do these last games of the season. Hinch, literally last Saturday:
It will be borderline like a Spring Training schedule with in-season responsibilities. He may play six innings and come out, even if it's not a blowout.
*Don't be an idiot.
*Down 6-4 with Stubbs on first and two out in the 7th, Garrett Stubbs got thrown out at third base on an Altuve infield single that Stubbs thought went into the outfield. "Inexcusable," he said.
*Join our Patreon.
*Forrest Whitley threw 4.2IP last night, allowing a hit and striking out six.
*B.J. Surhoff was fired by Mike Elias and the Orioles, and is extremely upset with how Elias "treats people," which sounds like a familiar complaint.
*Saturday marked the final Cubs home game to be aired on WGN. The 7th Inning Stretch was pretty cool.
*Check The Hardball Times' Alexandra Simon with a retro review of 1996's "The Fan" with Robert DeNiro and Wesley Snipes.
*Chaos at the Black Keys' LA show!
*A Musical Selection: One of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands.
*Houston is now 10-4 against Anaheim. They're now a paltry 31-6 at home against AL West teams.
*Scoreboard Watching: the Yankees beat the Blue Jays, the Dodgers lost to Colorado.
Houston (101-54): -
New York (101-55): -0.5
Los Angeles (99-56): -2.0
*Wade Miley: 1IP, 4H/4ER, 0K:1BB. He faced nine batters.
Miley's September: 50 batters faced, 22 outs. 7.1IP, 23H/18ER, 4K:5BB.
It's worth wondering if Miley has cost himself a spot on the postseason roster. He would normally get one more start, likely at Anaheim next weekend in the closing series. But when you're scuffling as bad as he is - and let's be clear: Miley has not made it into the 2nd Inning in three of his last four starts (and those starts coming against the Mariners, A's, and now Angels) - it is a concern. For me, Saturday night it looked like he gave up that leadoff homer to .731 OPS-having ass David Fletcher - who had not hit a home run since June 15 - and thought, "Here we go again," and here we, in fact, did go again. Miley is basically Jose Urquidy's opener. Mentally he's beaten right now.
Miley:
I'm not doing my part, I'm not getting the job done, and I'm not giving us a chance. It's tough to swallow, but at the same time, I've been through this, and I've got to keep working and try to get through it.
Side note: No, Wade Miley has not "been through this." He has made 243 starts in his career. Eleven of them have been shorter than 2IP, six of them shorter than 1IP, but never three out of four starts.
Hinch:
We're going to figure it out and he's going to be really effective for us. But given the time, it's a difficult time to assess because he's got one start left before we've got to make some decisions, but we'd obviously like to get him in a better frame of mind.
Miley, on the urgency of his last start of the regular season:
Pretty high, I would say. I got to gain some trust back. I got to go out and prove I can get outs in the Big Leagues and prove I can give this team a chance to win.
Chandler Rome: The Astros have a full-fledged 4th Starter problem. Miley threw 27 pitches last night. The Angels swung and missed on exactly zero of them. Martin Maldonado:
Me and Chirinos were talking at the end of the game and we just have to try to find out how we can get him back to what you saw earlier in the year. I think tomorrow we're going to watch a lot of video to see, as catchers, what we have to do to get him back.
*Bryan Abreu struck out the side in the 5th before getting touched up in the 6th. Last week Chandler Rome talked up Abreu's chances of making the postseason roster.
*Hector Rondon gave up a back-breaking 2-run home run to Kolk Kalkouk. It was the 10th home run Rondon has allowed (which feels low by about 50) and the second appearance in a row in which Rondon has given up a homer.
*Yordan hit his 27th home run of the season. He was called up on June 9 - the 67th game of the season.
*Kyle Tucker was 2x4 with two doubles.
Kyle Tucker, 2018: 72 PAs, three extra-base hits. .141/.246/.203.
Kyle Tucker, 2019: 50 PAs, seven extra-base hits. .313/.340/.542.
*Carlos Correa came out of the game after the 6th Inning, and everyone went crazy with their "Massage!" tweets or Daniela pics. But A.J. Hinch told us last Saturday this is what he was going to do these last games of the season. Hinch, literally last Saturday:
It will be borderline like a Spring Training schedule with in-season responsibilities. He may play six innings and come out, even if it's not a blowout.
*Don't be an idiot.
Fan interference. Stay in your seats. Just a thought. #astros pic.twitter.com/L8XhtVvvrb— Karen Warren (@karenwarrenHC) September 22, 2019
*Down 6-4 with Stubbs on first and two out in the 7th, Garrett Stubbs got thrown out at third base on an Altuve infield single that Stubbs thought went into the outfield. "Inexcusable," he said.
*Join our Patreon.
*Forrest Whitley threw 4.2IP last night, allowing a hit and striking out six.
*B.J. Surhoff was fired by Mike Elias and the Orioles, and is extremely upset with how Elias "treats people," which sounds like a familiar complaint.
*Saturday marked the final Cubs home game to be aired on WGN. The 7th Inning Stretch was pretty cool.
*Check The Hardball Times' Alexandra Simon with a retro review of 1996's "The Fan" with Robert DeNiro and Wesley Snipes.
*Chaos at the Black Keys' LA show!
*A Musical Selection: One of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)