Thursday Lunch Links

The Astros have advanced to the ALCS for the 7th straight year, or every single year in which Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, Yordan Alvarez, Jose Urquidy, Framber Valdez, and anyone else whose career began with the Astros after 2016 have been in the Majors. This is a dynasty, and anyone who says otherwise deserves to get their teeth knocked into their throat. 

*Franchises to make seven straight League Championship Series:

Atlanta: 8 (1991-1999, there were no playoffs in 1994)

Houston: 7 (2017-2023)

*Playoff Wins, 2015-2023 (as of the morning of October 12):

Houston: 60

Los Angeles: 47

Atlanta: 24

New York Yankees: 20

Chicago Cubs: 19

Boston: 18

Cleveland/Washington: 16

Philadelphia/Tampa: 15

Kansas City: 11

Toronto: 10

New York Mets: 9

San Diego: 8

Milwaukee: 7

Arizona/Six Flags: 6

St. Louis: 5

San Francisco: 4

Minnesota/Oakland: 3

Chicago White Sox/Miami/Seattle: 2

Colorado: 1

Anaheim/Baltimore/Cincinnati/Detroit/Pittsburgh: 0

Verlander:

We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the bond that we have and the relationships that we have in this locker room, and we hold each other accountable in a good way. Obviously, this team is built different. These guys are built different. When it's time to step up, we play our best baseball.

*The Astros were held to six hits. Two of them, accounting for all three runs, were home runs. Houston is now 16-32 in postseason games in which they've recorded six or fewer hits. 

Houston is also now 1-5 in games where they do not draw a walk. 

15 straight Astros were retired until Jose Abreu got a base hit with two outs in the top of the 9th. 

*Jose Urquidy: 5.2IP, 3H/2ER, 6K:1BB. 53 of his 82 pitches were for strikes. Three of his 17 starts for the 2023 Astros went 17 outs or longer. Urquidy has allowed two or fewer earned runs in 11 of his 13 career postseason appearances. 

Bregman, on Urquidy, Mr. Game 4:

We've seen that since his rookie year, winning World Series games for us. We have a lot of confidence every time he goes and takes the mound. We know what we're going to get every single time: a guy who's competing, a guy who's trying to go execute pitches.

*The bullpen of Neris/Abreu/Pressly struck out eight of the last ten Twins batters in G4. 

*Bullpens:

Houston: 15IP, 10H/6ER, 26K:4BB (4ER were courtesy of Hector Neris in G1)

Minnesota: 19IP, 16H/8ER, 21K:7BB

*Carlos Correa watched Max Kepler watch Strike Three to end the series from the on-deck circle. 

Correa, Games 1/2: 5x8, 3 doubles, 3RBI, 2K:1BB

Correa, Games 3/4: 1x7, 0RBI, 2K:0BB

Correa:

I wanted that at-bat (in the 9th) so bad. I know Pressly very well, and it would've been a fun matchup. It didn't get there, but that's the way it's supposed to be.

Imagine moving Correa down in the order so that Max Kepler can represent the tying run with two outs in the bottom of the 9th and swing twice. 

*What a find by GMs Jim Crane/Jeff Bagwell in this Jose Abreu fella. Abreu was 2x4 with the eventual go-ahead 2-run homer. Abreu had 2HR/7RBI in Games 3&4. Abreu:

The only thing I can say is thank you.k The person that's not grateful with what life has given them isn't going to reach many goals. I can't say anything other than thank you. I'm just very grateful to be here.

*Michael Brantley hit his first postseason home run since 2020 ALCS G3 - a span of 22 games. Brantley:

The core guys that have been here the last seven years, they know how to win games. Since I got here five years ago, you can call it pressure, or when our back is against the wall, we play our best baseball. We always have. And it's a testament to those guys.

*Jeremy Pena went hitless for just the second time in 17 career postseason games. 

*Bryan Abreu: 1IP, 0H/0ER, 2K:0BB. 

Bryan Abreu since July 18: 31IP, 13H/0ER, 41K:13BB

*Ryan Pressly: 1IP, 0H/0ER, 3K:0BB.

Pressly, postseason career (all with Houston): 40.2IP, 30H/11ER, 53K:12BB. 2.43 ERA/1.03 WHIP.

Pressly last gave up an earned run in the postseason in 2021 ALCS G1. In the 17 postseason games since: 18.2IP, 6H/0ER, 28K:5BB. 0.00 ERA / 0.59 WHIP.

*Correa, on Maldonado:

He knows what he's doing behind the plate, and he knows every hitter's weaknesses and he's going to try to exploit. He pitches against the xSLG...and we knew it, and still it was hard to make the adjustments, the way he was pitching backwards. Hitters counts, he would go off-speed, and then a count where he would go off-speed regularly, he would go fastballs up. 

*Verlander, on the Astros' culture: 

There's been a culture established here that hasn't faded away. It's still very present, and that's a testament to the guys that were here before and the guys that remain here and the guys that are leaders of this ballclub. They don't allow slacking off, but they do it in a respectful manner. They expect the best of everyone because they're giving their best every single day. What a great way to lead by example. I think our culture is something not tangible. Funny that one (for) one of the most analytic-forward teams in baseball, something that makes this team so special is something that's not measurable. 

*Jeff Passan:

For seven years - one short of Atlanta's record eight-straight championship series appearances - the Astros have managed to win at least one playoff series. And as dissatisfying as that might be for those who harbor resentment against the organizaiton for its cheating in 2017, anyone who refuses to acknowledge the Astros' exceptional staying power is just willfully ignorant.

*FanGraphs: Houston 60.9 - 30.1 Six Flags

Other Stuff:

*100-win teams (Baltimore, Atlanta, Los Angeles), 2023 postseason: 1-8.

Pretty sweet to watch the Astros clinch the ALDS and then turn it over to watch the Dloldgers get swept by a team that went 5-8 against them in the regular season. The Dodgers are the second team in MLB history to win 100 games in the regular season and never even hold a lead in the postseason. The Bastard Dave Roberts:

There's some things with the format that people can dissect or whatever, but the bottom line is we've gotten outplayed in the postseason. 

Read every single word above this section to see why maybe the playoff format isn't the reason. 

Dodgers, regular season, 2018-2023: 558-313 (.641)

Dodgers, postseason, 2018-2023: 30-28 (.517)

Or, Dodgers, postseason, non Mickey Mouse years (2018-19, 2021-23): 17-23 (.425)

*Jay Jaffe: Dodgers take another early exit from the postseason tournament.

*London to Norman: Inside one recruit's 5,000 mile official visit

*Respect to The Ringer for not having a single solitary baseball article on the front page of their website. 

*The radical empathy of Jason Isbell.

What To Watch, October 12:

1:45pm Central: UEFA Euro Qualifying - Scotland @ Spain

3:30pm: CONMEBOL Qualifying - Uruguay @ Peru

7:00pm: Rockets @ Pelicans 

7:07pm: Braves @ Phillies

*How Braves-Phillies became Baseball's Best Rivalry.

*A Musical Selection:

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

What can you say? Roadstros showed up, as usual (for 2023), Cristian Javier showed up. Houston took a 2-1 lead and needs to win one of the next two to advance to play Six Flags for the AL Pennant. 

*FanGraphs: Houston 77.8 - 22.2 Minnesota

*Houston is 7-3 in potential series-clinching games since 2020. The Astros push the Twins to the brink of elimination.

*Cristian Javier was unreal, again: 5IP, 1H/0ER, 9K:5BB. The walks were stupid, don't worry about them. Maybe we'll get to them in a bit.

Javier, postseason appearances, career: 15GP, 37.2IP, 15H/8ER, 57K:21BB, X.XX ERA / 0.96 WHIP.

Javier, postseason starts, career: 3GS, 16.1IP, 2H/0ER, 23K:10BB. 0.00 ERA / 0.73 WHIP.

Javier, on the Twins fans counting down the pitch clock as a way to try to frustrate him:

I did notice it, and when I did, I used it in my favor. At that point, I stopped paying attention to the clock because they were counting and just paid attention to the catcher. 

Full and complete list of pitchers with three consecutive scoreless postseason starts of 5+ IP: 

4: Whitey Ford (1960-61)

3: Cristian Javier (2022-23)

3: Madison Bumbarner (2014-16)

3: Kenny Rogers (2006)

3: Christy MF Mathewson (1905)

Full and complete list of pitchers with back-to-back postseason starts of 5+ IP and 0-1 hits allowed:

1. Cristian Javier

Martin Maldonado, on Javier:

The only way you can rattle him is if you punch him.

Yordan, on Javier:

It's incredible. Obviously, nobody's surprised about what he does in the playoffs. I know in the regular season he was a little bit up and down. But now it's the real Cristian Javier. 

*Twins SP Sonny Gray had allowed 8HR in 184IP - his 0.4 HR/9 led the League. Gray had given up 2HR in 26.1 career postseason innings thrown. Gray had not allowed 2HR in a game since September 24, 2021.

Yet, there he was, serving up homers to Jose Abreu and Alex Bregman - accounting for all four of his charged earned runs. 

*Jose Abreu hit two home runs in Game 3. He had one 2HR game in all of 2023 (September 6, against Six Flags). Granted, it was only the 10th postseason game of his career, but Abreu's 2HR/5RBI game improved his postseason numbers from 1HR/6RBI in the previous nine games combined. He had not homered in a postseason game since his first career postseason game, in G1 of the 2020 Wild Card Round.

*Alex Bregman was 2x5 with a homer and 2RBI - his 16th career home run and 49th career RBI in the postseason. The 49 RBI move Bregman past Reggie Jackson into sole possession of 9th place in MLB Postseason history, one behind Jose Altuve, who is in 8th with 50. 

Bregman's 16 postseason homers are the 3rd-most by anybody who played even an inning at 3B (Pujols, 19; and Jim Thome, 17), and the most by anyone who only played 3B in MLB history.

*Yordan Alvarez was 3x5 with two doubles and a home run. It was the 5th 3+ hit postseason game for Yordan's career. Yordan has a home run in four straight postseason games - only the 11th time in MLB history that's happened. 4+ postseason game homer streaks:

6: Daniel Murphy (NYM), 2015

5: Giancarlo Stanton (NYY), 2020; George Springer (HOU), 2017/18; Carlos Beltran (HOU), 2004

4: Yordan Alvarez (HOU), 2022/23; Evan Longoria (TB), 2008; Jim Thome (CLE), 1998/99); Juan Gonzales (6FL), 1996; Jeffrey Leonard (SF), 1987; Reggie Jackson (NYY), 1977; Lou Gehrig (NYY), 1928-1932.

Reggie Jackson who, with Yordan, are the only players to have six extra-base hits with at least three homers in any three-game postseason span:

He's a force, buddy. He's nice to have on your side. 

To have two doubles and a homer in a postseason game has been done 31 times, with Jeremy Pena's 2022 ALCS G1 coming as the last time it's happened.

*57 MLB players in history have hit 10+ career postseason home runs. Six of them have played with the Astros (Altuve, Beltran, Correa, Springer, Bregman, Yordan).

*Martin Maldonado was 2x4. It's his 2nd 2-hit postseason game, 2019 ALDS G2 being the first. Yesterday was his 16th multi-hit game of 2023, and the first since September 25 against Seattle. Yainer Diaz is 0x6 with 4K:0BB in the 2023 ALDS. 

*Jose Urquidy will start G4 this evening. Twice before in Urquidy's career, he wanted to quit.

*The AL East's three playoff teams (Baltimore, Tampa, Toronto), who went a combined 289-197 in the regular season, went 0-7 in the 2023 Postseason.

*This Day in Astros Postseason History:

2022: Yordan hits a walk-off moonshot off Robbie Ray.

2015: Dallas Keuchel and the Astros win Game 3 of the ALDS to take a 2-1 series lead.

2004: Roy Oswalt gets the win and Jeff Bagwell actually homers in a postseason game as the Astros win NLDS G5, and the Astros actually win a series, over the Braves.

*What To Watch, October 11:

Braves @ Phillies: 4:07pm Central

Canadiens @ Maple Leafs: 6pm

Astros @ Twins: 6:07pm 

Sam Houston @ New Mexico State: 8pm

Dodgers @ D'Backs: 8:07pm

*The gorgeous, eternal guitar tone of Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun."

*Is it cheaper to make your own granola?

*The Mississippi River is losing its fight with the ocean.

*A Musical Selection:

Monday Morning Hot Links

Pablo Lopez (whose parents are both doctors and, you may be aware, was accepted to medical school at 16) was good. Framber was not. It's the Astros' first home loss in the division series since Game 4 of the 2015 ALDS, a streak of 12 straight wins. They managed to snatch a game at Minute Maid Park and finally go back on the road in what is now a Best-Of-Three. So there's that. Game 3 is Tuesday. 

*FanGraphs: Houston 55.7 - 44.3 Minnesota.

Twins outfielder Michael A. Taylor:

We're in the driver's seat now.

*The Astros' 2 runs scored are the lowest scored in a playoff home game since Game 6 of the 2021 World Series. 

*Framber Valdez was...not good. Framber goes as his mindset goes. And while I am certainly not one to say that Framber - the winning pitcher in two of the 2022 World Series games - is "mentally weak" or a "basket case," it's pretty well-known that if Framber gets in his head, it's going to be an uphill battle for him. And ALDS G2 looked like Framber had the incline setting to Max thanks to D.J. Reyburn's "strike" "zone." 

Framber's seven hits allowed were tied for the second-highest he's allowed in 14 postseason starts, and the most since 2021 World Series G1. 

Framber, by postseason: 

2020: 24IP, 14H/5ER, 26K:10BB, 1.88 ERA / 1.00 WHIP

2021: 19.2IP, 28H/17ER, 16K:7BB, 7.78 ERA / 1.78 WHIP

2022: 25IP, 14H/4ER, 33K:8BB, 1.44 ERA / 0.88 WHIP

2023: 4.1IP, 7H/5ER, 5K:3BB, 10.38 ERA / 2.31 WHIP

It's not fair to put one start up against three full postseasons, but the point is the Astros need Framber's Even-Year Bullshit to come back. 

*That strike zone was wild for both sides, so let's not pretend that it was a total screw-job on the Astros. But if I remember the home plate umpire's name the morning after the game, it's safe to say that the home plate umpire needs to look in the mirror and re-evaluate some things. 

*How Pablo Lopez, whose parents were doctors and was accepted to medical school at 16, stymied the Astros to tie up the ALDS. Szymborski:

Houston's lineup, despite the dangerous hitters in the top half, mostly just watched their demise pass them by, only swinging at 52% of Lopez's in-zone pitches; Lopez is at 70% for his career and has never had a game in which opponents swung less often at his in-zone offerings. The result was seven strikeouts on just 12 whiffs the entire game, against 22 called strikes. To put that into context, of the 251 games in 2023 in which a pitcher struck out seven batters, only 17 featured fewer swings-and-misses.

Were you aware that Pablo Lopez has two doctors for parents, and was accepted to medical school at the age of 16?

Dusty, on Lopez, whose parents are doctors and who himself was accepted to medical school at the age of 16:

There's nothing you can say. The guy was dealing tonight.

*Yordan hit a two-run homer and is responsible for five of Houston's eight runs in the ALDS, and eight of their last 12 postseason runs. He has four homers and eight RBIs in his last three postseason games. Yordan also has a five-game postseason RBI streak, which has only happened 53 times in MLB postseason history. Astros with 5-game postseason RBI streaks:

Carlos Beltran: 5 (2004)

Alex Bregman: 5 (2017)

George Springer: 5 (2017-2018)

Carlos Correa: 5 (2020)

Yordan Alvarez: 5 (2022-2023)

*Speaking of Carlos Correa, he had 3RBI in G2 of the 2023 ALDS. He had five regular season games in 2023 of 3+ RBI. It was his 8th postseason 3+ RBI game. 

Framber:

I thought Correa got a little bit lucky with the sinker there. It was going down to the ground, he was able to get to it.

How Correa prepared for the AB that knocked Framber out of the game.

*Jose Altuve was 2x4, the 32nd multi-hit postseason game of his career. Jose Altuve is the greatest Astro of all-time, and it's not even close.

*In the seven postseason games since Kyle Tucker went 3x5 with 2HR/4RBI in 2022 World Series G1, he's hitting .087/.214/.174.

*The Astros have "parted ways" with Assistant GM Bill Firkus and Farm Director Sara Goodrum.

*Baltimore is going to "reset" after losing their two home games to Six Flags.

What To Watch, October 9:

Cambridge United @ Burton Albion: 2pm Central

Phillies @ Braves, 5:07pm

Packers @ Raiders? I think?, 7:15pm

We're 24 hours from NHL Opening Night, and 48 hours from my beloved Montreal Canadiens' 2023 season opener. 

Diamondbacks @ Dodgers: 8:07pm

*A Musical Selection:

Sunday Morning Hot Links

The Astros enjoyed OktOBERfest haha got em. Hector Neris made it interesting, but the Astros go to Game 2 of the ALDS with a 1-0 lead for the 8th time since 2015, and the 7th straight time from 2017-2023. Houston is 22-7 in the ALDS since the beginning of the 2015 postseason (20-4 since 2017).

*Jose Altuve hit a first-pitch homer to open the game. It's his 24th postseason home run. He needs five more to tie Manny Ramirez for the most in MLB history. It was also his first postseason homer since 2021 World Series G4 - a span of 13 postseason games. 

Altuve RBI, 2022 Postseason: 0

Altuve RBI, 2023 Postseason (so far): 1

Houston Astros with a leadoff postseason home run:

Jose Altuve, G1 2023 ALDS

George Springer, G5 2020 ALCS

Craig Biggio, G7 2004 NLCS

*Justin Verlander is now tied for 2nd all-time with 35 postseason starts. He started Game 1 for an MLB-record 13th time. 

Verlander needed 23 pitches to get out of a (scoreless) 1st Inning. He only had three innings as an Astro in 2023 where he threw more: 2nd Inning September 30, 2nd Inning August 27, and 2nd Inning August 11. He took a little while to settle in:

1st Inning: 23 pitches, 0H/0ER, 0K:2BB

2nd Inning: 13 pitches, 2H/0ER, 0K:0BB

3rd Inning: 19 pitches, 1H/0ER, 1K:0BB

4th Inning: 10 pitches, 0H/0ER, 1K:0BB

5th Inning: 13 pitches, 0H/0ER, 2K:0BB, HBP

6th Inning: 15 pitches, 0H/0ER, 1K:1BB

Verlander got two GIDPs in the first two innings, the most he's induced in a game since May 10, 2022 against...the Twins. It's just the 27th time in his career he's gotten two GIDPs in a start, playoffs included, and the 3rd time he's gotten two GIDPs in a postseason outing. G1 was his 545th career MLB start. 

Dusty, on Verlander:

Early, he was forcing his breaking ball...he couldn't get it over. He got in trouble a couple times early, but if you don't get to JV early, he usually finds his groove.

Postseason Wins, MLB Career:

1. Andy Pettitte: 19

2. Justin Verlander: 17

3. John Smoltz: 15

4. Tom Glavine: 14

5. Clayton Kershaw: 13

Verlander, regular season career: 18 seasons, 257-141, 3342K:925BB, 3.24 ERA / 1.12 WHIP

Kershaw, regular season career: 16 seasons, 210-92, 2944K:669BB, 2.48 ERA / 1.00 WHIP

Verlander, postseason career: 36 appearances, 17-11, 236K:71BB, 3.54 ERA / 1.11 WHIP 

Kershaw, postseason career: 39 appearances, 13-13, 213K:51BB, 4.49 ERA / 1.11 WHIP

Verlander:

It's been a whirlwind of a year, season for me. To find myself back here in Houston and pitching in the playoffs is not something I foresaw, but happy to be here, happy to help contribute, and happy to be in the playoffs.

*Jeremy Pena was 1x4. He has at least one hit in 13 of his 14 career postseason games. 

*Yordan Alvarez hit a two-run homer in the 3rd, the 7th postseason home run of his career, and the second consecutive postseason game with a home run, going back to the when he turned the game upside-down in G6 of the 2022 World Series. Yordan has at least one RBI in four straight postseason games. 

Worth mentioning that Yordan Alvarez has 199 career post-season plate appearances, and just one GIDP. 

2+ HR games, postseason, Astros history:

Jose Altuve: 3 - G1 2017 ALDS

Yordan Alvarez: 2 - G1 2023 ALDS

Kyle Tucker: 2 - G1 2022 World Series

Michael Brantley: 2 - G4 2020 ALDS (somehow I have zero recollection of this)

George Springer: 2 - G2 2020 ALDS

Carlos Correa: 2 - G1 2020 ALDS

George Springer: 2 - G3 2018 ALDS

Carlos Correa: 2 - G4 2015 ALDS

Carlos Beltran: 2 - G5 2004 NLDS

Yordan:

When I go up there, I try not to think about the situation, try not to think about the noise. Just say to myself, 'I'm the only one that can get the job done at this moment.

Dubon, on Yordan:

It's not easy to face him in general. You have no idea what he's going to do. He can hit a ball out dead center 460 feet or he's on his front foor and (hitting) it out 400 feet. Pick your poison - what do you want?

Twins pitcher Caleb Thielbar had not allowed a home run to a lefty all season. Lefties big, righties small...Yordan hits them all.

*FanGraphs: Behind Verlander's arm, and Yordan's bat, the Astros snatch Game 1. 

*Jose Abreu now has at least one RBI in five of his career eight postseason games. The Athletic: A healthy Jose Abreu now has a clean slate in front of him.

*Hector Neris had not allowed a home run since August 14. So of course he gave up a 3-run shot to make it 5-3 Astros in the 7th and then another one a batter later to make it 5-4. Neris had only given up two homers in a game five times previously in his career. The last time he gave up multiple homers was June 29, 2018. 

Neris, 2022 postseason: 6IP, 2H/1ER, 9K:0BB

Neris, 2023 postseason; 0.2IP, 3H/4ER, 2K:0BB, HBP

*The Astros were 2x10 w/RISP, the Twins were 1x12 w/RISP.

*Kendall Graveman was left off the ALDS Roster because he is literally butthurt. 

*It was the 48th time the Astros have won a postseason game with Carlos Correa in uniform:

Wins with Correa as an Astro: 47

Wins with Correa as a Twin: 1

Elsewhere in the playoffs:

Rangers 3 - 2 Orioles. FanGraphs has it: Rangers 72.6 - 27.4 Orioles

Phillies 3 - 0 Braves. FanGraphs: Phillies 59.9 - 40.1 Braves 

D'Backs 11 - 2 Dodgers. FanGraphs: D'Backs 61.7 - 38.3 Dodgers

Other Stuff

*Two climbers were stranded on a big wall. An iPhone saved the day.

*A 1994 UFO sighting changed lives. What if this guy made it up? 

*The Struggle Is Awesome. 

What To Watch, October 8:

Roma @ Cagliari: 11am Central

Texans @ Falcons: 12pm 

Barcelona @ Grenada: 2pm

Rangers @ Orioles: 3:07pm

Twins @ Astros, 7:03pm

*A Musical Selection:

Thursday Night Hot Links

Doing this tonight so I have time to do something else in the morning. Nothing has changed in the FanGraphs Playoff Odds. Here's what else is going on in and around the Astros...

*Justin Verlander will start Game 1 on Saturday at 3:45pm, Framber Valdez will start Game 2 on Sunday at 7:03pm. We don't know who starts Game 3, but it will be Tuesday in Minneapolis at 3:07pm.

Verlander, career, ALDS Game 1: 23.1IP, 21H/12ER, 25K:11BB

This is clouded, somewhat, by his 2022 ALDS G1, in which he gave up 10H/6ER, 3K:1BB in 4IP against Seattle - the game that Yordan walked off when the Mariners hilariously threw Robbie Ray. 

*Dusty, on Minnesota:

Nobody gave them a chance to beat Toronto, I don't think. They've got good pitching, they've got good defense, they've got a number of left-handed hitters, which poses a problem. They've got a good manager. I mean, they're a good team.

*The Chronicle's Matt Kawahara has a good piece on the Astros' ALDS roster decisions, which have to be finalized Saturday morning,

*Chandler Rome's Notes Column in The Athletic runs down the following:

-Michael Brantley is available for the ALDS

-Get ready to watch a lot of Yainer Diaz on the bench in the ALDS

-Jose Urquidy will shift to the bullpen, which pretty much ensures Cristian Javier will start Game 3. 

-There will be some promotions in the front office this offseason

*Dusty Baker would very much like everyone at MMP to be quite loud.

*Here is MLB.com's position-by-position breakdown between the Astros and Twins.

*Hector Neris has been fined for his actions "against" Julio Rodriguez, but he won't be suspended.

*FanGraphs: The 30/30 Season That Wasn't, Then Was, Then Wasn't (And Still May Be)

*A former Astros video room employee answered questions on Reddit about the Ben Reiter doc on PBS.

*Minnesota's Byron Buxton and Nick Gordon are enjoying the Twins' ride, despite just sitting there wanting to play. Click the link for other notes from Minneapolis. 

*Former Blue Jays Manager John Gibbons STFU Challenge.

*ESPN: Which impending free agents have made - or lost - the most money in the playoffs so far?

*The Mets and the very-recently-resigned Billy Eppler are under investigation for abusing IL rules.

*Jose Altuve, by postseason series, career:

2015 AL Wild Card vs New York: .250/.250/.250, 1RBI, 1K:0BB

2015 ALDS vs Kansas City: .136/.174/.136, 1RBI, 2K:1BB

2017 ALDS vs Boston: .533/.632/1.133, 3HR/4RBI, 2K:4BB

2017 ALCS vs New York: .320/.414/.560, 2HR/4RBI, 5K:4BB

2017 World Series vs Los Angeles: .194/.219/.452, 2HR/6RBI, 7K:1BB

2018 ALDS vs Cleveland: .286/.286/.571, 1HR/2RBI, 2K:0BB

2018 ALCS vs Boston: .250/.348/.300, 2RBI, 4K:3BB

2019 ALDS vs Tampa: .350/.381/.900, 3HR/5RBI, 3K:1BB

2019 ALCS vs New York: .348/.444/.652, 2HR/3RBI, 1K:4BB

2019 World Series vs Washington: .303/.294/.394, 1RBI, 3K:0BB

2020 Wild Card vs Minnesota: .000/.222/.000, 1RBI, 0K:2BB

2020 ALDS vs Oakland: .400/.526/.800, 2HR/5RBI, 3K:3BB

2020 ALCS vs Tampa: .462/.563/.885, 3HR/5RBI, 5K:6BB

2021 ALDS vs Chicago: .313/.476/.625, 1HR/3RBI, 5K:4BB

2021 ALCS vs Boston: .125/.214/.375, 2HR/4RBI, 3K:3BB

2021 World Series vs Atlanta: .222/.250/.482, 2HR/2RBI, 9K:1BB

2022 ALDS vs Seattle: .000/.059/.000, 6K:1BB

2022 ALCS vs New York: .188/.278/.250, 5K:2BB

2022 World Series vs Philadelphia: .308/.333/.385, 3K:1BB

*Astros Postseason Record When Altuve Gets...

0 Hits: 13-16

1 Hit: 21-11

2 Hits: 16-6

3 Hits: 6-3

*Astros Postseason Record When Altuve Homers: 16-5

*Most Career Postseason Home Runs, MLB History:

1. Manny Ramirez: 29

2. Jose Altuve: 23

3. Bernie Williams: 22

4. Derek Jeter: 20

5. Albert Pujols / George Springer: 19

7. Carlos Correa / Nelson Cruz / Reggie Jackson / Mickey Mantle: 18

*Esquire: The Scout Who Found Patrick Mahomes

*The Ringer: Inside the Ugly Standoff Between James Harden and Daryl Morey.

*Rolling Stone: The 50 Best Latin American Rock Albums

*In the wake of Kevin McCarthy's historic ousting as Speaker of the House of Representatives, I took a look at the last time the House tried to body-check the Speaker (all the way back in 1910).

*A Musical Selection:

Friday Morning Hot Links

The Astros beat the Rays, just as we all knew in our hearts would happen and bowels definitely was not loose heading into Game 5. Houston is 15-4 at home under A.J. Hinch in the postseason, and Jim Crane should give Gerrit Cole whatever he wants. ALCS Game 1 is tomorrow night against the Westchester Yankees, 7:08pm Central on Fox. Great. Houston is the first team since the Verlander-led 2011-2013 Tigers to reach the Championship Series three years in a row.

Some series stats stuff before getting into G5:

-FiveThirtyEight gives the Astros a 54-46 edge in the ALCS, and a 36% chance of winning the World Series. FanGraphs has just about the same projection for the ALCS: 53.6% for the Astros, with the highest-probability scenario of Astros in 6. FanGraphs also has the Astros at 49.7% to win the World Series, highest of the four remaining teams by far.

Game 5

*Gerrit Cole:
Really, honestly, now that we've won it, it was good to get hit in the mouth twice.

*Hinch:
This was a grinder of a series, obviously, and we get to Game 5, and we get to have it at our home field, and we get to have Gerrit Cole. A lot of that is lined up well for us, and we respond with a really good game. Big moments, big atmosphere today and big-time performances by big-time players. 

*The Astros held the Rays to two hits - one of them a solo home run from Eric Sogard. Gerrit Cole was unbelievable, again: 8IP, 2H/1ER, 10K:2BB.

Since 1962 there have been 31 instances of a pitcher throwing at least 7.2IP in a postseason start, allowing no more than four hits, and striking out 10+ batters. Gerrit Cole has done it in back-to-back starts. The last player to do it before Cole was Matt Moore in 2016 NLDS G4. The only other Astros pitcher to do it was Nolan Ryan in 1986 NLCS G5. The only other time a pitcher did it in back-to-back postseason starts (in the same series): Sandy Koufax in the 1965 World Series. 22 pitchers made at least one start with those parameters in the postseason. Notably, Justin Verlander has three such starts, Zack Greinke has one. Now Cole has two.

Cole's 25 strikeouts in the Division Series broke Stephen Strasburg's record of 22. Elias Sports Bureau noted that, when Cole went through the 2nd Inning, it broke a streak of 73 straight innings dating back to August 1 in which he failed to strike out at least one batter, the longest streak in the expansion era. 1999 Pedro is 2nd, with 40 straight innings. That's insane. Bregman:
This team is special, and the reason that we're special is because different guys step up every single night. Yeah, if one guy goes off we're probably going to win. Gerrit went off twice this series.

Jayson Stark: Gerrit Cole's historic run is almost impossible to put into words.

Cole was so good that I didn't even realize the Astros went 19 batters between hits.

*The Astros got four runs on five hits in the first six batters of the game. Bregman:
The Rays pitching staff was unbelievable to face. I think the only time the ball looked that small was opening weekend of the year when we faced them. So they were really, really good. It was a really good test.

*Springer, who is back:
To get Gerrit a lead, to make them play from behind a little bit, it was obviously huge for us. Playing from behind is not easy. We spent basically Games 3 and 4 playing from behind. It's not easy to do, so for us to have a lead was pretty big.

*Brantley and Altuve hit back-to-back home runs in the 8th, and it was Altuve's 11th home run of the postseason, most ever in the playoffs by a second baseman. It was Michael Brantley's first-ever postseason home run.

Postseason home runs, Biggio/Bagwell: 4
Postseason home runs, Springer/Altuve: 22

*Was Tyler Glasnow tipping pitches? Manager Kevin Cash:
I'm aware that there is speculation about pitch tipping. It's something that we have discussed. It's a little tough to do that, make an adjustment in Game 5 of a division series. But at the end of the day, give the guys the credit that went up to the plate and put the ball in play and hit line drives. I think that's what did us in.

Glasnow:
I'm not going to say that was the reason why. I left some pitches that were there to hit over the middle of the plate. They are really good hitters. They can do things [with those]. I don't care how hard you throw, they are good hitters. I don't know if that's what it was, but when I look back, it was pretty obvious.

Hunter Atkins addresses the pitch-tipping (noting that it was the height of Glasnow's glove when he came set). Kevin Kiermaier:
I had a great view from center field. The way they were swinging at certain pitches and taking others, it didn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

*Carlos Correa was 0x4 with 3Ks. His line in the ALDS: 3x19, 9K:0BB. .158/.158/.211. Correa, on the ALCS:
It's the matchup that we wanted. It's the matchup that everybody wants to watch. It's must-see TV right there. So everybody is going to be tuning in. It's going to be fun.

*The only thing that is not ideal is that it would likely take a Game 7 for Cole to pitch twice against the Yankees. If the Astros can finish off the Yankees early, then Cole would be set to start the World Series. I can't believe I'm actually typing these Ifs.

*Josh Reddick, with the line of the night:
We're ready for [the Yankees]. We know it's going to be a good series. We know they're a great ballclub, but we're a better ballclub.

*MLB.com: Astros vs. Yankees, position-by-position.

*Looks like it'll be Greinke and Verlander at home, with Cole starting Game 3 at Yankee Stadium.

*FanGraphs' Jay Jaffe: Did MLB pull a switcheroo with the playoff baseballs?

*A Musical Selection:

Thursday Morning Hot Links

Wake up, time to die. Today is the day we find out if the Astros move on to the ALCS or if they flushed a 107-win season down the toilet in the span of four days. Game 5 is tonight at 6:07pm Central on Everyone's Favorite Sports Broadcasting Network FS1. Your pals Joe Girardi and AJ Pierzynski will no doubt be on the call tickling your eardrums with their delightful commentary.

*The Astros - unlike a lot of you/us - are confident. Bregman, on playing behind Gerrit Cole:
He's an ace. We look forward to it. It's going to be a lot of fun. We're going to be fired up and looking to play as well as we can behind him.

Hinch:
I love that we're here [Ed. Note: I'm assuming "here" means "Minute Maid Park," not "Game 5"] And the way we got here is nerve-wracking just because you don't want to get to a Game 5. We fought all year to have a better record and to win our division to get this particular game at home. And they've got to come into our house and beat us again. With Cole on the mound, I don't know who could be more confident than us.

A few stats on Gerritund Brentford Cole:

*The Astros scored an average of 6.67 runs/game when Cole started. Houston is 22-4 when Cole starts at home since the beginning of 2018 (postseason included).

*On April 20, Gerrit Cole allowed 9H/8ER to the soon-to-be-eliminated Farmers Branch Rangers. His season ERA was 5.22 In 29 starts since then (ALDS G2 included), Cole has thrown 190.2IP, 120H/42ER, 297K:40BB, a 1.98 ERA / 0.84 WHIP. His strikeouts alone from April 25-today would rank 6th-highest in franchise history.

*On May 22, Cole allowed 7H/6ER to the White Sox in a 9-4 loss. That was the last time Gerrit Cole has taken an L. That's 142 days.

*On July 12, the Astros lost a game Cole started against the Lower McKinney Ramgers. That was the last time the Astros lost a game Cole started. Since that start, Houston is 12-0 when Gerrit Cole takes the mound.

*Gerrit Cole, in 17 starts at Minute Maid Park in 2019, threw 120.2IP, 74H/33ER, 189K:20BB, a 2.46 ERA / 0.78 WHIP.

*Gerrit Cole, in two postseason starts at Minute Maid Park: 14.2IP, 7H/1ER, 27K:1BB, a 0.61 ERA / 0.55 WHIP.

*Houston is 14-4 at home in the postseason under A.J. Hinch.

*Opposing starter Tyler Glasnow, who literally cried when Altuve hit a home run, could go 90 pitches. It'll be a bullpen game if the Astros make it a bullpen game. Oh wow did you know Gerrit Cole and Tyler Glasnow were taken by the Pirates in the same draft? Jordan Shipley's dad and Colt McCoy's dad were roommates when they were in college.

*Carlos Correa, on the almost-non-existent offense in the ALDS:
It's time for us to go off as an offense. You guys are used to seeing us score 10, 15 runs in the regular season, but when it comes to the playoffs, it's the best of the best, and they're doing a good job. At the same time, we're the best offense in the league, and we have to adjust in our approach.

Houston, regular season: .274/.352/.492, 5.68 runs/game
Houston, 2019 ALDS: .241/.294/.391, 3.25 runs/game

*FanGraphs has the Astros at 65.4-34.6 to win Game 5. FiveThirtyEight has it at 70-30 Astros. Figure out the ALCS when it comes, tip your cap to the Rays if it doesn't and start to heal your liver.

*Mike Lupica: It's Tampa's biggest game in a decade. This is a side note, but I really appreciate Kevin Cash. Hell of a manager. Good job, dude.

*Richard Justice: The Rays' bullpen makes them so difficult. Altuve:
I think I faced four different guys [in Game 4]. They're all different. And they have something really special.

*Alyson Footer: A.J. Hinch likes his own bullpen depth. Hinch:
Oftentimes these relievers are only talked about when they struggle or when they give up a big hit. It's a thankless job. If they don't do their job, they blew the game. Nobody has really blown games in this series. Both teams have won the games that they kind of are ahead in and how they're supposed to win, and how we match up in the end. We'll see if that can continue. And I like the chances with the depth we have

*Let this be Bulletin-Board (or Insta-story material) for Carlos Correa: FanGraphs ranks him as the 16th-best (fantasy-wise) shortstop going into 2020, and places it solely on his injury history.

*MLBTR - who is genuinely reliable in matters of this sort - released their arbitration projections for 2020. With Game 5 looming, I'm not ready to discuss this, but it's worth a look, especially for George Springer's projected $21.4m salary.

*The Los Angeles Dodgers gave up a 10th Inning grand slam to lose Game 5 7-3. Clayton Kershaw gave up back-to-back homers in the 8th to tie it.

Kershaw, regular season: 169-74, 2.44 ERA / 1.01 WHIP.
Kershaw, postseason: 9-11, 4.43 ERA / 1.10 WHIP.

*It would be okay with me if the Astros did a Cards tomorrow. Related: Former Astros Great Brian McCann retired after the game. From 2005-2019 - McCann's entire career - he posted 54.5 fWAR, ranked only behind Russell Martin (?) for catchers. Better than Yadier "IG Tough Guy" Molina. Most fWAR, Catchers, 1962-2019:

1. Johnny Bench (74.8)
2. Gary Carter (69.4)
3. Ivan Rodriguez (69.2)
4. Carlton Fisk (68.3)
5. Mike Piazza (63.7)
6. Joe Torre (59.3)
7. Russell Martin (55.2)
8. Brian McCann (54.5)
9. Ted Simmons (54.2)
10. Yadier Molina (54.0)

McCann: 282 home runs, 1018 RBIs, .789 OPS, 110 OPS+, never struck out 100+ times in a season, 7-time All-Star, 6-time Silver Slugger, World Series Champion. The next item on McCann's to-do list is to write his HOF speech.

That said, having already defeated Cleveland, Boston, New York, and Los Angeles in the playoffs in 2017-2018, it would be extremely satisfying to beat St. Louis - who apparently took exception to how an Atlanta player reacted to an HBP in a game the Cardinals were handily winning, would take the cake.

*The road team won both Game 5s in the NL on Wednesday.

*Astros Bench Coach Joe Espada is up against Carlos Beltran, Joe Girardi, and David Ross for the Cubs' managerial position, which could explain why Girardi won't shut up with his Manager-Speak for Mother FS1.

*How Sean Forman started Baseball-Reference.

*Thankfully someone could interpret the WAG War of 2019 that happened on Twitter/Instagram between the wife of Wayne Rooney and the wife of Jamie Vardy.

*Sinners, Scalpers, and the Search for God: One man's descent into the underworld of sports.

*A Musical Selection, with a special note: I'm a dad with a beard, happily married for many years, so I hit all the pre-requisites for liking Jeff Tweedy and Wilco. That said, I saw Wilco play in a downtown Nashville parking lot in the summer of 2002 for free and, fresh with nicotine poisoning, told my future wife that I loved her for the first time. We got married 365 days later. It was because of this song (and her):

Monday Morning Hot Links

It's Game Day! Literally Game DAY! 12:05pm is first pitch on MLB Network, with Zack Greinke facing off against Charlie Morton.

This will be the third time the Astros have faced Former Astros Great Charlie F. Morton:
March 29: 5IP, 3H/2ER, 8K:2BB in a 4-2 Rays win in Game 2 of the season.
August 27: 4IP, 7H/6ER, 4K:2BB in a 15-1 Astros win. His 26 Game Score here was his worst of the season. Correa was not in the lineup.

The Astros are 51.7-48.3 favorites today by FanGraphs. Since the Trade Deadline, the Astros are 27-6 in games started by Verlander, Cole, and Greinke.

*McTaggart: The Astros know the opportunity they have with a sweep today. Hinch:
The biggest value is guys get a day off, too. We would love to be done and close the series out. There's no reason for us to want to play any more games other than the ones we have to. If you can escape a series without using JV and Cole [more than once], that would be outstanding, setting up the next series.

*Under A.J. Hinch, the Astros are 4-4 in games where they can win a series. The losses: 2015 ALDS Games 4 & 5, 2017 ALDS Game 3, 2017 WS Game 6.

*Most wins in a season, franchise history, postseason included:

1. 112 - 2017
2. 109 - 2019
3. 107 - 2018
4. 103 - 1998
5. 98 - 1999, 1986

*Game 1 of the ALCS will be Saturday.

*You can read the transcript of Zack Greinke's media session from Sunday afternoon. If you decide to interpret his comments as "dismissive" or "difficult" then you can go piss right off. We have talked before about Zack Greinke and anxiety, and this is just who he is because it's what he deals with on a daily basis. He's not weak, he's not fragile. His brain works a little differently. It's not his fault. I'm sure - on some level - he wishes he could be Alex Bregman in front of the cameras (who doesn't wish they could be Alex Bregman...anywhere) but that's just not him. It's not a personality flaw, it's not a symbol of a broken person. His brain is different. And if you make light of it, then you should be ashamed of yourself.

*Anthony Castrovince: How dominant is the Astros' starting trio? Hinch:
I think it's hard for us, while we're in it, to put ourselves in a historical context or kind of compare eras. Like, we're in the middle of something really special here in Houston with the players that we have. I think we're going to look back and have even a greater appreciation for how unique a group of guys this is.

*Yahoo's Tim Brown broke down Gerrit Cole's historic ALDS performance.

*ESPN's Jeff Passan: The overpowering art of Gerrit Cole.

*Jose Urquidy and Wade Miley are both available out of the pen as the Astros try to end this series today.

*Kyle Tucker will not start, but Hinch was pleased with his effort in Game 2.

*Yuli Gurriel: Scoop Machine. If Yuli doesn't get some Gold Glove love at 1B this year, then what are we even doing. Hinch:
He's got incredible hands, but he works on it every day. He has that as part of his routine. He started that back a couple years ago and he does it every day. Repetition helps. Hand-eye coordination helps. He never panics. He has soft hands.

*FanGraphs' Meg Rowley: The Astros remind the Rays and us of their, and our, mortality.

*Atlanta beat St. Louis to take a 2-1 series lead in the NLDS. It's their first series lead since 2002.

*Around the Odds of advancing to the LCS:
Astros: 93.1%
Yankees: 86.5%
Braves: 75.8%
Dodgers: 73.7%

*Buster Olney: How the Yankees' "monsters in the box" could own October. [Eyes roll completely out of head]

*The Ringer: Daryl Morey spoke out for a just cause - and now his job is in jeopardy.

*When My Louisiana School And Its Football Team Finally Desegregated.

*How much money do parking lots actually make?

*Deadspin: A philosopher's definitive case against Replay Review.

*California Sunday Magazine: The People Behind The Memes They Can't Escape.

*Rolling Stone: Ten Essential Ginger Baker Tracks.

*A Musical Selection:

Friday Morning Hot Links

It's Game 1 Day! Since 2015 the Astros are 3-0 in ALDS G1s (2015 Royals, 2017 Red Sox, 2018 Indians). G1 Starters in the aforementioned games? Keuchel, Verlander, Verlander. Verlander goes today.

*Since 2012 the home team has won 9 of the last 14 ALDS. The exceptions:
-2018 Yankees lost in five games to Cleveland.
-2016 Ramgers got swept by Toronto
-2014 Angels got swept by the Royals.
-2013 A's lost in five games to the Tigers.
-2012 A's lost in five games to the Tigers.

There's a Verlander theme running here.

*There have been 15 100-win teams in MLB since the beginning of the 1998 season:
-1998 Yankees (114-46): Won WS
-1998 Braves (106-56): Lost in NLCS
-1998 Astros (102-60): Freaking Padres

-2002 Yankees (103-59): Lost WS to Anaheim
-2002 A's (103-59): Lost ALDS to New York
-2002 Braves (101-61): Lost NLDS to San Francisco

-2003 Yankees (101-61): Lost WS to Florida
-2003 Braves (101-61): Lost NLDS to Chicago
-2003 Giants (100-62): Lost NLDS to Florida

-2017 Dodgers (104-58): Lost WS to Houston
-2017 Indians (102-60): Lost ALDS to New York
-2017 Astros (101-61): Won WS

-2018 Red Sox (108-54): Won WS
-2018 Yankees (100-62): Lost ALDS to Red Sox
-2018 Astros (103-59): Lost ALCS to Red Sox

Do with that what you will.

*McTaggart and Juan Toribio combined for a piece on how the Rays and Astros match up.

*FanGraphs has the math behind the matchups (and is a very good read):
In short, the Astros have baseball's best rotation, most patient lineup, best contact hitters, and arguably more pop than anyone else. They have no holes, and they will be favorites in every series the play from here on out. Our new ZiPS game-by-game odds give Houston a 69.5% chance of winning the series - the highest percentage in any first round matchup.

*FiveThirtyEight gives the Astros a 71-29 edge in Game 1. Also favored today: St. Louis, New York, Los Angeles.

*Carlos Correa says he feels great. Correa:
It's tough, but between [missing] four or five games in the regular season and being able to play in the playoffs, obviously I'll pick the playoffs. I feel great right now. My back feels really good. I had no issues at all during these three workouts. I'm very happy I get to play with my teammates and perform for my city.

*Good news! Yordan is "excited" for the playoffs! Yordan:
I'm excited, but this is normal. This is baseball. I'm going to just continue to do the same work as I did during the regular season and keep doing that.

Keep doing that, Yordan.

*Jake Kaplan has a piece regarding the age-defying Yuli Gurriel. Gerrit Cole, on Gurriel:
He's really been incredible. It's pretty fascinating to watch, especially because he's not even in the three-hole. Most people's third hitters are putting up those types of numbers, if they are.

*The Astros - as of 5:44am on Friday - have yet to announce their ALDS roster as "coming down to the wire." Miley, on coming out of the bullpen:
I would be completely fine with anything to try to go out and help the team. I know everyone's made a big deal out of the last month. It was a pretty ugly month. It is what it is. It's baseball. But, at the same time, I think I can help this club.

*Verlander:
Playoffs is a different animal. If you don't have it that given day, you don't have that leash that you normally have in the regular season to log some more innings. The games can get away from you quickly. I'm OK with that.

*Richard Justice says the Astros and Rays find the "best version" of players.

*Chandler Rome: The Astros' emergence into a superpower comes from putting the ball in play.

*The Astros are about to play a whole bunch of afternoon games.

*Shoutout to Dad of Twins Josh Reddick. He about to go on a tear.

*If the Astros re-sign Gerrit Cole and payroll is $227m (over the Luxury Tax Competitive Balance Tax, but below the next tier of penalties), the Astros would have to pay a (measly) $3.8m tax before slipping back under the CBT in 2021.

*Elsewhere: The Cardinals took Game 1 from the Braves after Dallas Keuchel had thrown 74 pitches. Reminder that the Cardinals are a team of actual corncobs. Then the Braves called out Ronald Acuna.

*Sports Illustrated got decimated yesterday.

*The Atlantic: The Cult of Rich-Kid Sports.

*"You won't believe what happened:" The wild, disturbing saga of Robert Kraft's visit to a strip mall sex spa.

*A Musical Selection To Turn Up To 11:



And this is the 200th song in the Hot Links Music Spotify playlist!

ALDS Champion Hot Links

It would have been a pretty boss move for TBS to cut to the Astros' clubhouse and see them all in smoking jackets, holding a glass of bourbon, raise a toast, and then get dressed. But I guess spraying Budweiser on each other is cool, too.

*Houston celebrates its first postseason sweep in franchise history, which seems really weird to type out. The Indians have lost nine of their last 11 postseason games.

The Astros also tied a Major League record by hitting a home run in 12 straight playoff games

*That game was sketchy at first, though. Keuchel was working well, but the offense had some trouble, until the Astros chased Clevinger. Bauer came in and gloriously made two errors, gave up some hits, and then Houston blew it wide open against the bullpen.

It could have been decided early, but Marwin JUSTMISSED a grand slam in the 3rd before lining out.

*Astros w/RISP, innings 1-6: 0x3
Astros w/RISP, innings 7-9: 6x12

*Dallas Keuchel threw 5IP, 4H/2ER, 2K:1BB. It was Keuchel's 4th career start in the ALDS: 18.2IP, 14H/7ER, 16K:8BB. 3.38 ERA / 1.18 WHIP.

Keuchel reminisced a little bit before he undertook his first start of what could be his last month in an Astros uniform:
This season has been more meaningful, I think, just because it could potentially be my last. I've never taken for granted anything to this point with the Astros or my own career. You start to cherish the little things when, potentially, it could be - you could be in a different spot next year.

Notable: The qualifying offer for free agents will be $17.9m. Would you extend that to Keuchel?

*Collin McHugh was lights out: 2IP, 0H/0ER, 4K:0BB. McHugh faced six batters and struck out four of them. He had previously faced 63 batters in the postseason, and had struck out just nine. The 4Ks tied a career-high from 2017 World Series G5, when he struck out four Dodgers (but also walked three batters and gave up a home run. It was his 2nd playoff appearance without allowing a hit (2017 ALCS G3: 4IP, 0H/0ER, 3K:1BB

*Cleveland was 0x4 w/RISP yesterday, 0x6 w/RISP in the ALDS. The Indians didn't have a single AB with a runner in scoring position in G2. That's insane.

*Jose Ramirez/Edwin Encarnacion/Josh Donaldson, 2018 ALDS: 2x33, 11K:4BB

*Clevinger vs. Houston, yesterday: 5IP, 3H/1ER, 9K:1BB.
Indians' bullpen, yesterday: 4IP, 10H/10ER, 5K:5BB.

*Tyler Bauer's ALDS vs Houston: 4IP, 7H/3ER, 4K:1BB, two errors. Bauer had not committed an error all season, and committed one error since the beginning of 2016 - 541.2IP.

Bauer came into the ALDS with a career 51IP, 36H/18ER, 68K:18BB, 3.18 ERA / 1.06 WHIP.

Lance McCullers, on Bauer:
Trevor is a great pitcher, you can't take that away from him. He threw 160-plus innings. He had an amazing ERA. He had a bunch of strikeouts. He takes the ball, he's a dog. You can't take it away from him. But he came at us a little bit and came at our pitching staff and came at a couple of our position players, with videos on social media, that type of stuff...I know we had some jabs here and there on social, that's how this day and age works. But I think everyone understands what kind of message we sent with how we played.

Today was Bauer's first career Loss vs Houston in 11 outings, 2018 ALDS included.

*George Springer hit two home runs. He now has ten postseason home runs, most in franchise history. Eight of those home runs have come in the last nine postseason games, which ties Reggie Jackson, Jim Thome, and Carlos Beltran for the most in such a short span. He was 3x6 in Game 3, his 10th career post-season multi-hit game, and his 3rd 3-hit postseason game. It was his first 2HR game since April 13 against Arlington. Springer:
It's a great day for us as a team, a great day as a city. I understand that personal results don't mean anything now. It's all about, 'How can I help us win?'"

Springer hit 3HR in the ALDS after hitting 3HR in his previous 135 plate appearances dating back to August 17.

Most postseason hits, franchise history:
1. Craig Biggio: 39
2. Lance Berkman: 34
3. George Springer: 32

Springer has now tied Lenny Dykstra with nine home runs as the leadoff hitter in the postseason.

*God bless Carlos Correa. Correa was 1x3 with two walks but, most importantly, hit what I'm sure was a weight-lifting three-run home run. Hitless for the first two games of the ALDS, 'Litos hit a homer on September 29. Before that, his last one was August 24. Now he gets some time off to try a back replacement before coming back for the ALCS.

*Alex Bregman was 2x3 with 0K:2BB and was JUST EARLY on what would have been two home runs, had he been a fraction of a second later. Bregman's ALDS: .556/.714/1.333. Team full of MVPs.

Alex Bregman, ladies and gentlemen. pic.twitter.com/mgRPfe00O8

— Anthony Castrovince (@castrovince) October 8, 2018

*Like all of us, except our British friends, Alex Bregman wasn't thrilled with the all-afternoon starts:
Does Tiger Woods tee off at 8am when he's going to win a Masters? Does Floyd Mayweather fight the first fight of the night? No, he's the main event. The 'Stros need to be playing primetime television, 7pm, so we're looking forward to playing primetime television in the ALCS. 

Give this man a key to the city.

*Let's hear it for Tony Kemp. Making his first career postseason start, Kemp went 1x3 with 1K:2BB and two runs scored.

*Marwin was 2x6 with 3RBI. Check out the location of the pitch where he hit the go-ahead double.

Marwin Gonzalez double was off a pitch 4.22 feet off the ground... The 2nd highest pitch he's ever gotten a hit off of. pic.twitter.com/4oDzUwO8CA

— Daren Willman (@darenw) October 8, 2018

Marwin's first 23 postseason games: 4RBI.
Marwin's last two postseason games: 5RBI.

Hinch, on Marwin:
He's a unique player because I can put him anywhere. I push him into left field because of the makeup of our team. At any given point on any team, this guy can literally play six positions every day....As I've said before, he's the answer to everything. We have a problem, we insert Marwin, and no matter what, he steps up in a huge way.

*Josh Reddick was quietly nice, getting a hit in all three games and finishing the ALDS 4x10 with just one strikeout.

*Legendary Cleveland reporter Paul Hoynes compared Lindor's home run to Roy Hobbs. Seriously. Bauer:
It's disappointing. We really didn't play well today. If you're going to go out, you want to make sure you put your best foot forward and that didn't happen....They outplayed us all series.

Lindor:
They out-pitched us. They out-hit us. They ran the bases better than us. Hats off to Houston. They've got a great ball club. They played way better than us the whole three games and they deserved to win.

*Impending free agents, Cleveland: Andrew Miller, Michael Brantley, Josh Donaldson, Cody Allen, Josh Tomlin, Oliver Perez, Rajai Davis, Melky Cabrera, Adam Cimber.

*Cleveland.com's Doug Lesmirises laments how short the postseason is, as though the rules are different for Cleveland than they are for anyone else:
That Monday's 11-3 lackluster effort served as an exit is the fault of the Indians and their frozen bats, but also the fault of baseball, the sport of the excruciating regular season and potentially fleeting postseason. To slog through a 162-game regular season and get swept in a best-of-five series to take part in a postseason that is 1.85 percent of your regular season. Translate that to basketball's 82-game regular season and it would be like if the Cavs could lose Game 1 of a playoff series, trail at halftime in Game 2 - and be eliminated.

Hold the phone. If you compare a 23-year old Baseball Thing to a sport where they play just over half the games, your stay in the postseason could represent a smaller sample size than the other sport? That's crazy talk. DID YOU KNOW that if you lose the first three games of a Division Series in baseball, but it was actually football, you could lose the first quarter and be eliminated? That doesn't matter, because it's a completely different sport? Oh, okay. Cool.

*By now Steve Sparks' broadcast from a celebrating clubhouse is legendary. Check it out after the Cleveland sweep.

*Jenny Dial Creech: Astros show what they're capable of in obliterating Cleveland.

*Jake Kaplan: How Ryan Pressly became the Astros' most important reliever.

*The Athletic's Ralph Jim Bowden: The Astros' lopsided trades got them here.

*Oh whaddayaknow: Angel Hernandez is bad at his job.

*Charles Pierce: The 2018 Brewers look like the 2015 Royals. Kill them with fire.

*It's been 15 years since Steve Bartman and Grady Little blew up the postseason. Read about it here.

*You now have five nights to get reacquainted with your family, read for pleasure, and drink Detox Tea before the ALCS starts - in Houston if it's New York, in Boston if it's the Red Sox.

Post game celebration in the Astros locker room with @JSMarisnick and @ABREG_1 after @Astros swept the @Indians pic.twitter.com/xH0hZsCFAO

— Karen Warren (@karenwarrenHC) October 8, 2018

*A musical selection:

Sunday Morning Game 2 Hot Links

Okay then. The Astros were kept quiet, Gerrit Cole kept the Indians quieter, and now the Astros have a 2-0 lead in the ALDS.

*Division Series, team up 2-0: 52
Won in three: 30
Won in four: 13
Won in five: 2
Lost in five: 7

So of the 52 times since 1995 that a team has gone up 2-0, that team has gone on to win the Division Series 45 times (86.5%).

Teams that were up 2-0 in a Best-of-Five and lost the series:
2017 Cleveland Indians
2015 Texas Rangers
2012 Cincinnati Reds
2003 Oakland Athletics
2001 Oakland Athletics
1999 Cleveland Indians
1995 New York Yankees

McTaggart notes that, in the 2-2-1 format, teams that win the first two home games win the series 24 out of 27 times.

FanGraphs has the Astros at 86.8% to win the ALDS. FiveThirtyEight has Houston at 90%.

*Gerrit Cole was phenomenal, throwing 7IP, 3H/1ER, 12K:0BB. He needed 98 pitches, 70 were thrown for strikes. Cole's one bad pitch was a Francisco Lindor home run that looked like it might hold up.

Cole's three previous postseason starts: 16IP, 11H/7ER, 14K:3BB.

It was Cole's sixth 12+ strikeout game of the season, and his 4th with 12+ Ks and no walks. It's his 3rd 12+ strikeout game with fewer than 100 pitches thrown in 2018. Cole:
There's no doubt we expect to be good, but this is a team effort. So, we expect to keep our team in the ballgame. I don't know about all the personal accolades or all the dominance or that kind of stuff, but we just want to put up a fight. 

*More Cole:
I'm pretty thrilled with the no walks. Baserunners in postseason games are kind of tough to deal with at times. Sometimes the walk is needed. But [Maldonado] was just dropping down the right signs, and we were just pounding the zone. Pretty special day.

Maldonado:
It's always fun when you got a guy like that throwing strikes and overpowering the other team. It's really fun. That's why I didn't go out there [to the mound] once. He was in a rhythm. He knew coming into the game what he wanted to do, and he did it.

Cole joins Tom Seaver as the only pitchers in MLB history to strike out 12 with no walks in a postseason game. Lol Seaver lost his game - 1973 NLCS G1 - because he allowed two solo homers. Trash.

Hinch:
[Cleveland] is one of the best offenses in the league. They can do damage. They can put long at-bats together. Cole used all his pitches. He was creative. What else can I say? He was awesome.

Jerome Solomon: Gerrit Cole set the tone for the Astros in Game 2.

*Houston held Cleveland to three hits for the 2nd straight game. Cleveland had gotten three hits or fewer just four times in the regular season. The last time they were held to three hits in consecutive games was August 22/23, 2017.

*Marwin went 4x4 with 2RBI and put the Astros up 2-1. He has a four-game postseason hitting streak. The Astros are 8-3 in postseason games when Marwin gets a hit. Francona, on the Marwin AB:
With a one-run lead, and with Gonzalez coming up the way he had swung the bat against him prior and Andrew's history, I felt really good about it. Didn't work out the way we obviously planned.

Hinch:
I'm proud of him because he's had to fight and claw, and he's been a huge part of our success not only this year, but recent years, and that's pretty awesome to see him come through.

Marwin was 1x8 against Andrew Miller with 6K:0BB prior to the 2-run hit. Jake Kaplan: Marwin's switch-hitting ability paid off.

Chandler Rome takes you inside the two-run 6th inning rally.

*Alex Bregman took Tyler Bauer deep. It was glorious. In 20 postseason games, Alex Bregman is hitting .231/.291/.500. He's 3x6 with 2HR in the ALDS.

Alex Bregman takes T̶r̶e̶v̶o̶r̶ Tyler Bauer deep. pic.twitter.com/LWlET9uysu

— Cut4 (@Cut4) October 6, 2018

*Bauer: I'd say that was a bad pitch.

The average AL player's OPS went down 19 points from 2017 to 2018

Alex Bregman's went up 99 points

— Mark Simon (@MarkASimonSays) October 6, 2018

*Rustin Dodd: Alex Bregman is heating up, and that's bad news for everybody else. Bregman:
The one thing that us winning the World Series last year did is drive us to win another one.

*Tyler White was intentionally walked twice. Jeff Bagwell was intentionally walked twice in 33 postseason games. Craig Biggio was intentionally walked twice in 40 postseason games. Jose Cruz was intentionally walked three times in the 1980 NLCS Game 3.

*Anthony Castrovince talked about Verlander and Cole carving up the Indians.

*Lance McCullers will be key for Hinch in how he uses Ryan Pressly. Hinch:
I think McCullers is key for a lot of reasons. His health and quality will help me use Pressly how I did in Game 1. I don't want to call him a backup plan, but having an additional arm I'm comfortable with in the latter third of the game allows me to deploy Pressly in so many different ways.

I like Hinch using "deploy" as though Pressly is a literal weapon.

In that article, Hector Rondon said he was preparing his arm (for what exactly, I'm not sure), causing him to miss his on-field introduction. Rondon:
I was doing something inside to prepare my arm. I know I'm not on this roster, but I was preparing my arm for the next round. I apologized to my teammates and A.J., too. I was out for the first pitch. I try to help my guys and support my guys, and be with them. 

On being left off the ALDS roster, Rondon admitted it hurt:
I only had a bad outing in September. I felt like I'd made the roster, but they made the decision, and I take it. I take it like a man.

He's probably thinking about September 17, when he allowed 4H/4ER and a walk in a 4-1 loss to Seattle. But the game prior and following was a three-game stretch where he allowed 8H/8ER, 3K:2BB. Tough to leave Rondon off because of three games in a 63-appearance season, but...

*Jose Altuve tweaked something in his leg on his dribbler up the 3B line that Josh Donaldson - whose trade was garbage, by the way - inexplicably picked up. George Springer "panicked." Jayson Stark notes how the Jose Altuve Effect is real.

*LOL Jon Heyman's "Inside Baseball" column this week doesn't even have an Astros section.

*David Price has made ten postseason starts. His teams are 0-10 in those starts. He has a career 5.28 ERA / 1.25 WHIP in the postseason. $217 million is a lot of money to spend for zero wins.

*A philosopher says that our addiction to stories keeps us from understanding history.

*Suge Knight's son says that Tupac is living in Malaysia.

*A Musical Selection:

Saturday Morning Hot Links

The Astros have now taken a 1-0 lead in the ALDS over Cleveland after yesterday's 7-2 win. The A's were off, so they're now 6.5 GB of the Astros. Oh wait.

*With a Game 1 win, the Astros are now given a 76% chance of making the ALCS, according to FiveThirtyEight who has a long history of accurately predicting outcomes. AL Pennant Odds, according to FiveThirtyEight:
Houston: 41%
Boston: 29%
New York: 21%
Cleveland: 10%

FanGraphs has the Astros at 65.8% to win the ALDS. FanGraphs' AL Pennant Odds:
Houston: 35%
Boston: 29.3%
New York: 16.8%
Cleveland: 18.8%

The last team to lose a Division Series after winning Game 1 was the 2017 Cleveland Indians. Last time before that was the 2015 Astros. Sad face. And the 2015 Ramgers. Happy face. (Three of the four Division Series in 2015 featured a Game 1 winner that ultimately lost the series). Overall, 23 out of 32 Game 1 winners (71.9%) since 2010 went on to win the Division Series.

*Houston recorded 12 hits, their 9th 10+ hit game in the postseason since the beginning of 2017.

*Springer, Bregman, White, and Reddick all had two hits each. The Astros hit four home runs: Springer, Bregman, Altuve, and Machete. George Springer has now hit a home run in five consecutive playoff games dating to last postseason, joining 2004 Carlos Beltran and 2015 Daniel Murphy.

*Bregman's homer left his bat at 107.1mph, the highest of his career.

*Hinch:
The guys did a really good job of having a good at-bat and letting the next guy have a good at-bat. Obviously, we had some explosive at-bats with the home runs.

Altuve:
Everybody did something to help this team win today.

*The last time Corey Kluber allowed three home runs in a game: April 3, 2017. He has pitched in 210 games (postseason included) and allowed 3+ HR six times.

Corey Kluber's last four postseason games: 15IP, 22H/17ER, 12K:5BB, 9HR. 10.20 ERA / 1.80 WHIP.

*A list of pitchers off of whom Alex Bregman has hit a postseason home run:
-Chris Sale (x2)
-Clayton Kershaw
-Kenley Jansen
-Corey Kluber

*Hunter Atkins: The Astros rattled Corey Kluber.

*Josh Reddick had 2RBI. His last 2+ RBI game: August 4. Reddick, on his role in the lineup:
Last postseason, I think I got caught up in trying to be in the spotlight with these guys and try to hit the long ball. In reality, I'm the eight-hole, I'm not here to drive in runs - ironic today - but I'm not there to drive the long ball. I'm there to get on for those guys at the top of the lineup.

*The only Astro to go hitless was Carlos Correa, who was actually unlucky - hit the ball hard a couple of times, had a flare hang up a little and allow whatever Clevelander to run under it.

*I legitimately hate Tyler Bauer. Like, a Julian Tavarez-level of hatred. So wow what a shame that Tyler Bauer gave up two hits that lead to runs, including one from Alex Big Nutz Bregman:

Last time I saw this matchup... at @DST_Houston this past offseason.. Bauer v. Breg pic.twitter.com/pG1T0wLXo0

— Kevin Poppe (@TheKevinPoppe) October 5, 2018

*Hinch:
As much as I've heard different opinions about our offense, it's pretty long, it's pretty good, it's pretty potent. Case in point today.

Insert your own "that's what she said" here.

*Justin Verlander went 5.1IP, 2H/2ER, 7K:2BB. Both earned runs came courtesy of Ryan Pressly, making his postseason debut. He spiked his first pitch, allowing a run to score, and then got a groundout to Gurriel, playing deep, allowing the 2nd run. Verlander:
I think you want to set a tone. You want to allow your team to go out there and kind of of put up a couple runs and just relax. I was able to do that early in the game. First five innings was right where I wanted to be against a team that's kind of given me fits. 

And to that, yesterday was Verlander's first win vs. Cleveland since May 2, 2017. Verlander has a sub-.500 record vs two American League teams: Toronto (3-6, .333), and Cleveland (20-24, .455).

It was Verlander's 23rd career postseason start. He has allowed Two or Fewer Earned Runs in 14 of them. Six of those have come with Houston.It's his 11th postseason start with a Game Score over 60. Four of those have been with Houston. I think he might like it with Us.

Verlander is now 12-6 in the postseason. Most postseason wins, MLB history:
1. Andy Pettitte: 19
2. John Smoltz: 15
3. Tom Glavine: 14
4. Roger Clemens: 12
4. Justin Verlander: 12

Jayson Stark in The Athletic on the lessons of Justin Verlander.

*The Astros threw 150 pitches to the Indians. Houston threw 150+ pitches in a game 59 times in the 2018 regular season and went 27-32.

*Anthony Castrovince on the different decisions by Francona and Hinch in pulling their starters.

*Meet the Astros fan who said he'd buy the entire section beer if Springer homered, then Springer did, and he did.

*NY Post's Kevin Kernan: Astros made it clear who the best team in baseball is.

*Hector Rondon was "very upset" that he was left off the ALDS roster and subsequently did not go on to the field for "reserve" introductions or the National Anthem. He could find his way on to the ALCS roster, should it come to that.

*Brian McCann will see a diminished role this postseason, as opposed to last season when he caught all but one inning of the Astros' postseason. Hinch:
It's a different setup for him this year than last year. I expect him to catch Game 3 with Dallas, potentially close out some games as a catcher for us. If I end up needed to run or hit for Martin, then B-Mac is more than capable of coming in and finishing the game.

*From The Athletic's Rustin Dodd: How Gerrit Cole and the Houston Astros are the perfect marriage. Cole:
You're not asked to conform to a system. You're asked to use the system to make yourself better. So, from an analytic standpoint, from a scouting report standpoint, from teammates and instructors, there's just a high level of quality here that's ahead of quite a bit of other teams.

*FanGraphs: There's no reason to think Gerrit Cole can't repeat his 2018 in 2019.

*All-around Good Dude Francisco Lindor thanked Jim Crane for helping Puerto Rico.

*Chloe now has to go to every game this postseason

Chloe Beaver, the little special-needs fan who got yelled at by another fan at an #Astros game for cheering too loudly, gets her jersey from Lance McCullers Jr. Chloe wanted Lance's jersey number and her name in it and Lance and the Astros took care of her. pic.twitter.com/FULjer9mSh

— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) October 5, 2018

*A musical selection: