These twats. I swear. Tweeted this out last night but it feels as though the 2023 Astros win most of the games they want to win and just kind of half-ass the games they think they should sail through. Houston loses to the 99-loss A's 4-0. They're 82-63, 37-36 at Minute Maid Park, or "home" as some people would call it. The Mariners lost to the Angels. The Rangers beat the Blue Jays. The 63rd loss of the season ensures the Astros won't win 100 games.
*Astros teams to win fewer than 100 games, franchise history: 1962-1997, 1999-2016, 2020-2021, 2023.
*The DAMF Astros were shutout for the sixth time this season, and the third time at Minute Maid Park. They've scored two or fewer runs in five of their last eight home games.
*They were held to three hits - all singles, and all at the top of the lineup: Altuve was 1x3 with a walk. Jeremy Pena was 2x4. 3-9 went a combined 0x22 with 5K:1BB.
*It's the 7th time this season Houston has been held to three or fewer hits, and the 7th time (different set of seven, tho) they didn't record an extra-base hit.
*After hitting 16 home runs in three games at Aledo, Houston has two home runs on this four-game homestand.
It wasn't necessarily our offense. It could've been their pitching. The first guy, Miller, we hadn't seen him and he was throwing 100. Then they switched to a guy that was completely the opposite. Sometimes that opener works. Waldichuk, he was changing speeds, high fastballs, a lot of changeups. We were in the fourth or fifth inning...before we could spit.
We've had a few good games of late against some playoff-contending teams. But tonight - in terms of on the mound - this was probably the best pitching performance we've had all year.
Oakland has won three of their last five games against a combination of Toronto, Aledo, and Houston. They had not shut anyone out since August 18 - it was their fifth shutout of the year.
Times Oakland has allowed 12+ runs: 8
Times Oakland has shutout their opponent: 5
*14 of the 17 hardest-hit balls in play came off of Oakland bats. The hardest-hit ball was by Yordan Alvarez in the 9th inning, with Altuve on second, Pena on first, Alvarez unleashed a 114.1mph liner with a .770 xBA...right at whatever faceless droid making $2.13/hour + tips plays right field for Oakland.
*Framber got Verlander'd: 7IP, 4H/3ER, 10K:1BB. He's the 8th pitcher in 2023 to put up a line like that and still get the loss. It's only the 12th time that an Astros pitcher has gotten 21+ outs, allowed four or fewer hits, struck out 10, and walked 1 and lost. Verlander has five of the other eleven, no kidding.
*It was the first time in MLB history that a team 50+ games below .500 shutout the "defending" World Series champion on the road. This needs to be taped to every single locker in the clubhouse.
*Astros Notes from Chandler Rome include: Dana Brown would get it if the Astros hire a President of Baseball Operations, J.P. France as Playoff SP3, Neris staying in Houston in 2024, and Kyle Tucker pricing himself out of an extension (for which the Astros would only have themselves to blame).
*American Sepp Kuss has a 1:37 lead coming out of the last rest day of the 2023 Vuelta a Espana.
The Astros beat the Oakland "Athletics" 6-4. They are 55-43, 12 games over .500 for the first time since they were 35-23 on June 3. The Rangers had a 5-4 lead over the Dodgers and blew it, so the Astros are three games back. The Astros have won three straight, and are 5-2 since the All-Star Break.
*Houston is 8-0 against Oakland in 2023, and are 5-0 at Whatever That Stadium Is Called. Since getting swept at Oakland July 25-27, 2022, the Astros are 14-1 against the A's.
*Last night was the 38th time in 2023 the Astros have scored 6+ runs. They're 32-6 in those games.
*The Big Story of the night was Kyle Tucker's three homers. It was the 3rd multi-HR game of his career, the first since May 17, 2022. His 3x4, 4RBI night last night raised his average to .303, over .300 for the first time since April 26.
Kyle Tucker, since Yordan's oblique injury: 35 games, 156 PAs, .356/.439/.644. 20 of his 47 hits in this span have been for extra bases (11 doubles, 9 homers). OPS leaders among qualified batters since June 9:
1. Shohei Ohtani: 1.422 (like, for real, dude is hitting .366/.487/.935 since June 9).
It was also his 6th home run in July. He needs one more this month to tie his previous record of 7 (September and June 2022, July 2021), or two more to break that record, which could be achieved by the 5th inning today.
One more home run against the A's would tie his career-high of homers against a single opponent, as he has hit 18 against the Angels, and hit his 15th-17th against Oakland last night.
Three homers in one game is a pretty good day at the office. Tuck's a special player. He puts in a lot of work...It's nothing new to me - I've seen him do it in batting practice and stuff like that. But he's kind of forming into a low-key superstar.
*Alex Bregman hit another home run, the first time he's hit a homer in consecutive games since April 11-12. Since the All-Star Break, Bregman: .355/.394/.710.
*Framber Valdez: 5IP, 6H/4ER, 4K:2BB. Framber has made 19 starts in 2023 and allowed 4+ ER in four of them, but three of those have been in his last four starts.
Framber, beginning of season until that St. Louis start where he "slipped on the dugout steps:" 15 starts, 99IP, 78H/25ER, 104K:21BB, 2.27 ERA / 1.00 WHIP.
Framber's last four starts: 4 starts, 23.1IP, 26H/15ER, 29K:9BB, 5.79 ERA / 1.50 WHIP.
*Ryan Pressly recorded his 100th career save, and his 99th with the Astros. He's the 17th active pitcher with 100 career saves, and the 160th player in MLB history to record triple digits. Pressly:
Whenever you get something like that, I think it's pretty special. I never thought I'd get here, to be honest with you.
I was going to put this on the cursed Twitter website, but realized I don't want that level of engagement/notifications, so I'm putting it here where no one can comment [evil laugh]. Pressly is one of five active pitchers on this list have been in the Astros organization at some point. Name the other four (answer underneath the musical selection).
*Rafael Montero, beginning of 2023-June 25: 31.1IP, 44H/27ER, 36K:17BB, 7HR. 7.76 ERA / 1.95 WHIP.
Rafael Montero, June 26-present: 10.1IP, 3H/2ER, 7K:4BB. 1.74 ERA/ 0.68 WHIP.
The Astros bludgeoned the Oakland "Athletics" 10-1, hitting seven home runs in the process. Houston is 31-21, ten games over .500 for the first time this season. The Rangers lost, so the Astros are two games back. As today is Memorial Day, the day until which I said that I would reserve judgment about the Astros, my overall takeaway is this: The Astros are good, and have accomplished all of this largely missing Jose Altuve and prominently featuring a "somehow not quite there yet" Alex Bregman and a mostly-dead Jose Abreu (more on him in a minute). The rotation is thin but holding it together. The bullpen is freaking nails (5th-highest WAR of any bullpen)...for now. I thought the Rangers would be a lot better than they were last year, and I was right about that, however they are extremely annoying and need to get out of the way.
Memorial Day Playoff Odds Check:
FanGraphs: 51.1% to win the division, 83.2% to make the playoffs, 9.8% to win the World Series.
B-Ref: 75.9% to win the division, 95.6% to make the playoffs, 19.4% to win the World Series.
*The first four runs for the Astros came from home runs with two outs. Astros home runs, 2023, with number of outs:
0 outs: 15
1 out: 23
2 outs: 15
*Houston hit seven home runs in a single game. It's the fourth time this season - and the second time in the last four days, Pittsburgh did it against Seattle on May 26, - that a team has hit seven homers in a game. Astros games featuring seven Astros homers, franchise history:
The Astros hit seven home runs total in eleven games between May 1-13.
*Futility Watch, after 54 games:
2013 Astros: 17-37
2018 Orioles: 17-37
1916 A's: 16-38-1
2023 A's: 10-44
*Yordan hit his 13th and 14th home runs of the season. He has 48 RBIs in 46 games. Franchise Single-Season RBI record holder 2006 Lance Berkman, through 46 games: 43 RBIs.
*Jake Meyers hit his 4th home run of the season - a three-run shot. Meyers' last 15 games: .275/.383/.510.
*Shoutout to Jose Abreu, who got his first home run as an Astro and then sprinted around the bases. It was his first home run since September 13, 2022. Abreu:
I think when I stepped on first base, that was when I noticed that the ball wasn't in play anymore. I think that's when I flipped the switch.
*Folks, it's over. In a must-win game, Leeds United [squints] gave up a goal in the first 90 seconds and went on to lose 4-1. They will be playing in the Championship which sounds cool but is actually the second division. So here's the entrance to Elland Road, Leeds United's home stadium, which will be in the second division:
And here is the entrance to Kenilworth Road, home of Luton Town, who will be in the Premier League next season (and I mean this with absolutely zero sarcasm, honestly: that will be freaking cool):
*The Athletic: Elland Road United in Despair (accurate).
*Early odds are 11/2 (2nd-best) for Leeds to get promoted right back to the Premier League next season. But the owner can't decide if he wants to sell the club, there's no Director of Football (think GM), no coach...
*You can play a very detailed version of Football Manager on Apple Arcade, so my entire summer just got blown up.
*The Wife and I are going to start this "Succession" show tonight and it will be Extremely Fun to try to avoid finding out literally anything about it.
*A Musical Selection:
A reminder that the Hot Links Playlist is on Spotify and now features 483 songs and almost 31 hours of my favorite songs of all-time.
The Astros beat the Oakland Triple-A's last night 5-1 in a game that felt a whole lot closer than it should have been. The Astros are 25-19, winners of five straight and eight of their last nine games.
The 2022 Astros opened the season with a rotation of Framber-Odorizzi-Verlander-Urquidy-Garcia. They threw 758IP, 52% of the innings Astros pitchers threw in 2022. This year those five have combined to throw 111.2IP, 28.3% of the Innings.
*Oakland is 10-36, a .217 "winning" "percentage." Now, the worst record in Major League history belongs to the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, who went 20-134 - a .130 winning percentage that saw them finish a wild-ass 84 games back. Jim Hughey, statistically the Spiders' best pitcher, posted a 4-30 record. Crazy Schmit went 2-17. Like, click that link. It's insane.
But in the "Modern" Era (since 1901), Oakland's bastard grandfather, the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics, hold the honor of the worst winning percentage, going 36-117 (.235) - get this - three years after winning the World Series. In June and July the 1916 A's went 5-47.
After 46 games the 1916 A's were 15-30-1 (don't ask questions - I don't know). The 2023 A's are five games worse. This will be fun to keep track of every day for the rest of the season.
*Oakland starter Ken Waldichuk came into the game with a 7.02 ERA, though that's inflated by his first two starts of the season, in which he threw 8.2IP, 17H/14ER, 7K:4BB, 7HR allowed. In his next six starts, it was more respectable: 32.1IP, 35H/18ER, 29K:19BB - a 5.01 ERA / 1.67 WHIP. So of course the Astros lowered his season ERA to 6.85.
*Kyle Tucker had a good night, hitting a two-run shot in the 6th Inning to put the Astros up 4-1 - his first homer since May 5. He ended the night going 2x3 with a double, homer, walk. On May 9, Tucker's slash line was .264/.358/.440. Since then, he's hitting .355/.382/.613.
The last couple of games, I've felt a little better at the plate with something I've been doing in the cage and trying to bring it out to the field. I feel good at the plate right now.
*Jake Meyers went 2x2 with 2BB - the first time in his career he's been on base four times in a single game.
*Yordan Alvarez - whom, you'll remember, the Astros acquired in a trade with the Dodgers for Josh Fields - was 2x5 with a double. He's hitting .317/.388/.567 in May, and nine of his last 19 hits have been for extra-bases. He's at a season-high six games without a home run. His 417-foot double in the 4th Inning would have been a home run in 25 of the 30 MLB parks. (Also worth noting that Martin Maldonado's bases-loaded liner to left that was impressively tracked down by JJ Bleday was 105.1mph off the bat and had an xBA of .520).
*Jose Abreu went 1x2 with two walks and a run scored. It's the second time this season that Abreu has drawn two walks in a game. He has raised his OPS 29 points from .515 to .544 in this four-game home stand. His 110.1mph single in the 2nd Inning was the hardest-hit ball of the game, and his hardest-hit ball of the season.
*Jose Altuve was 0x4 with a walk in his season debut, featuring a GIDP.
*The Astros left 10 men on base after going 2x12 w/RISP - including two innings of leaving the bases loaded. It doesn't feel like it, but the Astros are actually hitting .278/.349/.450 with runners in scoring position - above-average, relative to the rest of the league.
*Brandon Bielak had a nice outing, throwing 5IP for the second straight game, allowing 5H/1ER, 9K:3BB. The nine strikeouts are a career-high, breaking his previous high of 6K, which he had done twice, most recently on May 1. Bielak's last two starts: 10IP, 13H/2ER, 13K:3BB. McTaggart notes that his changeup has been the key to Bielak's recent success.
*Phil Maton extended his impressive start to the season, throwing another scoreless outing - the 17th such outing in 19 appearances. That said, he has allowed at least one baserunner in each of his last seven appearances.
*Rafael Montero: 1IP, 1H/0ER, 1K:1BB. His last clean outing was on April 28 - nine appearances ago.
He's ready, man. Wow, beautiful swing, made some good plays...I really love the way him and a few more guys on that team are ready to play in the big leagues.
The Houston MF Astros were down 3-0 thanks to Ramon Laureano before scoring 11 of the next 14 runs to take the ALDS against the Oakland Athletics. Houston is now 6-8 against Oakland in 2020 and they won't have a chance to even that season series up. Such a shame. Houston is now 34-32 on the season. The Astros averaged 2.5 runs in the regular season against Oakland, and then averaged 8.25 runs against them in the ALDS. The Astros will face the winner of the Yankees/Rays series in the ALCS, which begins on Sunday in San Diego on TBS. It's the only game that day, so the lights might actually need to be on, which would be a change. I might have to stay up past 9:30pm, and I'm not so sure how I feel about that.
Since the League Championship Series was introduced in 1969, five franchises have made it to the LCS at least four years in a row:
We just couldn't do enough on the pitching end to hold them down. And then you start to press a little bit, even though our guys had a good attitude every inning - even going into the ninth and getting some guys on. We battled to the end, as you would expect, but just not enough.
Since last winning the World Series in 1990, the A's are 2-12 in postseason series.
*The alphabetical 14-man pitching staff of the Oakland's ALDS roster, with innings pitched/pitches thrown in this particular series:
Chris Bassitt: 4.0IP, 73 pitches
Jake Diekman: 3.0IP, 53 pitches
Mike Fiers: 0.0IP, 0 pitches
Liam Hendriks: 3.0IP, 37 pitches
Jesus Luzardo: 4.1IP, 73 pitches
Sean Manaea: 4.1IP, 65 pitches
T.J. McFarland: 2.0IP, 32 pitches
Mike Minor: 3.2IP, 52 pitches
Frankie Montas: 3.2IP, 71 pitches
Yusmeiro Petit: 2.0IP, 26 pitches
Joakim Soria: 2.0IP, 36 pitches
Lou Trivino: 2.0IP, 31 pitches
Jordan Weems: 0.0IP, 12 pitches
J.B. Wendelken: 1.0IP, 34 pitches
Mike Fiers is the No Pitches All Bitches winner of the ALDS.
For us, it doesn't really matter who we play obviously. As a vindictive kind of thing, we want to take out the Astros, but I don't care who we play as long as we beat them - that's our biggest goal.
I'll say this for the A's: that's a good team with a lot of good, young players, and a good front office. The next few years are really going to draw out this little brewing rivalry with the Astros.
*2020 ALDS Game 4 was the first game the Astros won as the home team since 2019 ALCS Game 6, a span of 12 games (H/T to my dude Steve for that one).
The Astros scored 33 runs in 35 innings and slashed .322/.388/.594 at Dodger Stadium - the site where they secured a World Series championship many now consider tainted. Correa, Altuve, Bregman and Springer - a foursome that went from celebrated to vilified with one investigation - batted a combined .419 with eight home runs.
Given that the run differential was Houston +13, this seems important.
*The top six in the lineup from Game 4 had a batting average of at least .368
*Michael Brantley: 3x5, 2HR, 3RBI. Michael Brantley had hit exactly one postseason home run prior to Game 4, 31 postseason games. He hit two. He had nine career postseason RsBI prior to Game 4 (and eight of those were with Houston), and he had three yesterday. You will have to wind your way through all the statues to get to your gate at Minute Maid Park within ten years. And Cleveland didn't want to pay him! Brantley:
I don't know if we made any certain statement, but I know we played great baseball, and that's the most important thing. We played a great team over there, and we played a competitive, clean series, and we got the win today.
This is a special team that has been here before. We have young guys that are leaning on the veterans and the veterans are taking care of them right now. No one guy has to carry this team when you have so many special players in the locker room like we do.
*Jose Altuve: 1x3, HR, 2BB, 2RBI. He had never had a line like that in a postseason game before.
*Carlos Correa: 3x4, HR, BB, 5RBI. It was Correa's 3rd 5RBI game of his MLB career. He has hit 4 home runs this postseason, with 12 RsBI. Correa now has 15 career postseason home runs, five behind JEETS for most all-time by a shortstop. Litos has 102 postseason games to hit five home runs to catch the Marlins' slimy owner and the one who sullied Lyla Garrity.
Correa's Game 4 was the 78th postseason instance of a player driving in five runs. It's the third time in franchise history an Astros player had 5RBI (Bregman 2019 World Series Game 4, Morgan Ensberg 2005 NLDS Game 1) Correa:
We're motivated because we want to win, we want to be able to bring another championship to the city of Houston. We know what it feels like, so we want to be able to have that feeling once again...We're one step closer.
I mean, this is just our normal offense. We didn't show this too much during the season, but this lineup can do this every night. We were doing that this series. This lineup, one through nine, can produce at any moment, and we were doing it this entire series.
*On the opposite end of the spectrum, Yuli Gurriel: 2x23, 1K:1BB in the 2020 postseason. Gurriel hasn't had an extra-base hit since he homered against the A's on September 9. That's...that's not sustainable.
*Zack Greinke: 4.2IP, 5H/4ER, 4K:1BB, 2HR. All earned runs and home runs were courtesy of Ramon Laureano. Greinke said his arm felt better in Game 4:
If it feels how it felt today then there will be no issues.
Greinke's first five starts (through August 18): 29.1IP, 22H/6ER, 25K:4BB (1.84 ERA / 0.99 WHIP)
Greinke since (August 23-Game 4): 46IP, 52H/29ER, 47K:9BB (5.67 ERA / 1.33 WHIP)
Did Greinke signal his pitch when Ramon Laureano launched a short-lived 3-run home run? Former Astros Great Ramon Laureano said he didn't pick it up, if he did.
*Dusty Baker is now 6-17 in series-clinching/elimination games as a manager. Dusty:
I'm glad for the city of Houston and (thankful to) Jim Crane for trusting me with the leadership of this team and I'm glad for the whole Astros organization and the players.
I've been a villain most of my life, you know what I mean? So I might as well join the rest of the group.
*Richard Justice: Five ways the Astros pulled off the near-impossible.
*Ramon Laureano did most of the damage to the Astros in Game 4, hitting two home runs for 4RBI. As a reminder, the Astros traded Laureano to Oakland in November 2017 for Brandon Bailey after deciding to protect Dean Deetz instead. As a reward, Dean Deetz almost got stabbed by Reymin Guduan and tested positive for a PED while Ramon Laureano has hit .270/.343/.475 for the A's in the regular season since he got called up in August 2018.
To be able to hand the ball to probably the best pitcher in the game, there is some comfort in that. I am excited to see him go compete, like he always does.
Well that was less than ideal. Not the end of the world, but not ideal. Houston had a 7-4 going into the 7th, which translates into a 91.1% win expectancy via FanGraphs. And now the A's have hope, which is the worst possible thing a Team Like That can have. Game 4 is at 2:35pm Central on TBS.
*It was the 22nd time in franchise history that the Astros have scored 7+ runs in a postseason game. They're now 19-3, the last such loss coming in Game 1 of the 2004 NLCS.
*It will be Frankie Montas vs. TBA today. We'll find out who takes the mound later this morning. Is it Cristian Javier, and that's why Javier didn't pitch in Game 3? Or will it be Zack Greinke? The pressure mounts! Montas is coming off a 2020 regular season in which he posted a 5.60 ERA/1.51 WHIP with 10HR in 53IP. He has thrown 2IP (Wild Card Series Game 3) since September 27. In 15.1IP against Houston in 2020 he allowed 14H/7ER, 14K:3BB, a 4.11 ERA / 1.11 WHIP.
*Chandler Rome: We still don't know what's up with Zack Greinke.
I look at it like we're still in the lead. This team's been there before. These guys don't seem really worried about it. We got beat today. We made some mistakes. Hopefully, we don't make those mistakes tomorrow.
*Houston's opponents have scored first in four of the five 2020 playoff games. Houston is now 3-1 in those games.
*The Astros were 3x8 w/RISP, Oakland was 1x6. Oakland's one hit was just a back-breaking 3-run home run from Some White Guy Who Looks Like He Sells Insurance. Josh James hadn't pitched since September 22. It's debatable on whether or not this was the time to do it, but it was a three-run lead, and I don't know that there was a better option than Raley to clean it up. Just one of those games. And a guy named Chad hit it. That's ridiculous. As to leaving Raley in, I know you try to win every game, but I'm okay with letting him work through it because it saved some arms you'll need today and (hopefully not) tomorrow. It wasn't my favorite move to leave James in, but I can justify it to myself. Josh James:
It's tough, but everybody wants to get put in that situation. You always feel like you're the right guy for the job. You go out there no matter how long it's been, and you compete. Today, I got beat. It's part of the game.
You know who didn't pitch in Game 3? Enoli Paredes, Blake Taylor, Cristian Javier, Ryan Pressly.
*SI's Emma Baccellieri: The bad Astros bullpen has been good, and the good Oakland bullpen has been bad.
*Jose Urquidy: 4.1IP, 5H/4ER, 3K:1BB, 4HR. He had given up 4HR total in 29.2IP in the 2020 regular season. He had given up 2HR in a single game three times in his entire professional career, the only MLB start in which he gave up two or more home runs was July 31, 2019, and twice in 2016 when he was with Lancaster.
*Brooks Raley walked the leadoff batter, who later became Oakland's go-ahead run. It dawned on me recently that I have absolutely no idea how Brooks Raley ended up on the 2020 Houston Astros, so I looked it up: he was acquired on August 9 from the Reds for a PTBNL. Putting Osuna on the 45-Day IL was the corresponding move.
*George Springer was 0x4 with 3Ks, the 5th 3K game of his postseason career. In each of the last three times he's had a 3K day, the game following was a 2+ hit game, so that's good news for today.
*Jose Altuve was 3x5 with an RBI. His seven 3+ hit postseason games are the most in franchise history, and tied for the 5th most in AL postseason history.
*Alex Bregman was 2x4 with an RBI. The Astros are now 8-3 in the postseason when Bregman gets 2+ hits.
*Aledmys Diaz hit a massive game-tying two-run home run, and it was the first postseason home run of his career.
*How do you justify pinch-hitting Reddick for Maldonado? With Correa on 3rd, Tucker on 2nd, and two outs, and Maldonado's spot up, Dusty put in Reddick against Liam Hendriks. Also, Liam Hendriks looks like this. Ol' Shrek lookin headass.
Righties (Maldonado) vs. Hendriks (a righty) in 2020: .135/.148/.154, 18K:1BB
Lefties (Reddick) vs. Hendriks in 2020: .200/.243/.314, 19K:2BB.
First off, shoutout to Liam Hendshreks. That's a really good slash line, no matter from what side of the plate you prefer. Now:
Maldonado vs. Righties, 2020: .185/.324/.337, 4HR, 12RBI
Reddick vs. Righties, 2020: .236/.307/.358, 3HR, 13RBI
Neither is a *great* option. You needed a 2-out hit. In his career pinch-hitting:
Reddick: 80 PAs, .176/.225/.189, 1XBH, 22K:5BB
All this is to say...whatever. I don't get it. But what other options were there. Reddick could have been a hero. He wasn't. So it goes. Could Maldonado have done it? Maybe! It was a choice between this, Which Smells Worse: Your Butt, or Your Feet? The world will never know which choice actually smelled worse.
The Astros beat Oakland 5-2 to take a 2-0 lead in the Best-of-Five series. They've won four straight playoff games on the road. The 2019 Astros won five straight road games from September 13-25, and three straight playoff games at Dodger Stadium. Oakland leads the season series 7-5 now. I would be perfectly fine with this season series ending 7-6 in Oakland's favor. It's the second time the Astros have won four straight postseason games - the last time being the sweep of the 2018 Cleveland Indians and Game 1 of the 2018 ALCS against Boston. Houston needs to go 1-2 to go to their 4th straight ALCS. Game 3 is today at 3:30pm Central.
As McTaggart notes, teams that go up 2-0 in a Best-of-Five seal the deal 88% of the time. FiveThirtyEight has it 91-9 Astros in the series, and 58-42 Astros in Game 3. I made a mistake yesterday, and since my body is all, "Get up, punk" at 4:30am now, I checked FanGraphs before they had updated their Playoff Odds. FanGraphs currently has it 90-10 Astros in the series.
With every victory, the energy and the confidence grows. We're expecting good things to happen.
*Jesus Luzardo will pitch today for Oakland. It's going to be Game 4 Hero Jose Urquidy for the Astros, as Zack Greinke apparently has arm soreness, and recently saw a team doctor. Shoutout to the 2020 World Series Champion the Buies Creek Astros. Dusty:
Greinke is ailing some. He didn't say much about it, but it's been pretty evident the last three or four starts that he wasn't himself. Urquidy has been dealing, so it was kind of an easy choice.
Martin Maldonado said he found out about Greinke's arm soreness on Twitter after yesterday's game, so these events seem to be some sort of a surprise.
Luzardo pitched in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against the White Sox and allowed 6H/3ER, 5K:0BB, 2HR in 3.1IP.
*The Astros only needed 2IP from the bullpen. The A's needed 4.2IP from their bullpen.
It's my job to go out there and pitch, and I just didn't do that today. It sucks, but I know this team is going to figure this thing out and turn it around.
*Framber Valdez Frambushed the A's lineup: 7IP, 5H/2ER, 4K:1BB. He was nasty, and everyone knows it. He had a Gerrit Cole Special - the only two runs he allowed came on solo shots. The A's did not have a plate appearance with runners in scoring position all day. FanGraphs' Ben Clemens:
Valdez threw 103 pitches...and faced 24 batters. Exactly six of those batters hit a ball in the air, which I'll define here as a ball hit with a 10 degree or higher launch angle. Two were hit hard; those became home runs. He simply didn't give the A's many chances to leave the yard.
Here's something that should scare what remains of the postseason field: The Astros' offense looks locked in, and in Framber Valdez...the Astros have what appears to be the equivalent of a top-of-the-rotation starter.
*The funny thing is that Dusty said Enoli Paredes was unavailable. Then he handled the 8th on ten pitches.
Maldonado's solo shot in the fifth chased loser Sean Manaea in his first appearance of this postseason.
Just devastating.
It was George Springer's 2nd home run of the game and the 16th and 17th postseason home runs of his career. A full and complete list of MLB players with 17+ postseason home runs:
1. Manny Ramirez - 29
2. Bernie Williams - 22
3. Derek Jeter - 20
4. Albert Pujols - 19
5. Reggie Jackson / Mickey Mantle - 18
7. David Ortiz / Jim Thome / Nelson Cruz / George Springer - 17
Only Albert Pujols is an active player, and "active" is a generous qualifier. It was Springer's 2nd 2HR postseason game (2018 ALDS Game 3). Thanks to Stats by STATS, we find that the only other player to have a 4-hit game and a 2HR game in back-to-back postseason games was Mickey Mantle in the 1960 World Series (which the Yankees lost and I'm going to stop this sentence right n). He passed Babe Ruth and [squints] Jayson Werth on the all-time postseason HR list.
*Josh Reddick got his 2nd hit of the post-season! Truly the End Times are upon us. Now: Josh Reddick's last postseason extra-base hit was 2019 ALCS Game 3, a span of 38 PAs.
*Yuli Gurriel's 9th Inning GIDP was just the 2nd GIDP in his 187 career postseason PAs.
*Where's Mike Fiers? Not one of their four best starters, according to Susan Slusser - the A's beat writer.
*SI's Emma Baccellieri: Vindication or Nightmare: What to make of the Astros' postseason success.
*Yahoo's Tim Brown: Relegated to the shadows by scandal, the Astros are playing their way back into the spotlight.
*NY Times' David Waldstein: Ok, you despise the Astros, but you gotta love Dusty. There are a lot of great quotes and one including, for some reason, the Asterisk Tour guy.
He wants to get back. He wants to get back with the team. He says it almost every game. So we tell him, 'All right, show up.' It doesn't matter if you're injured, show up.
The Astros scored 10 runs for just the 6th time this season in a 10-5 win over Oakland. Houston has a 1-0 lead in the Best-of-Five. It's the 5th postseason game in which the Astros have put up double-digit runs in franchise history, and the first since Game 3 of the 2018 ALDS. Dusty Baker is the first manager in franchise history to win his first three postseason games. And now the Astros are 32-31 this season so all the "under .500" haters can suck it. Game 2 is at 3:37pm Central on TBS.
Houston is now 4-4 since 2017 in postseason games at Dodger Stadium. They've won three straight postseason games for the first time since Games 3-5 of the 2019 World Series. And we all know what happened next so...wait never mind.
*Yesterday, FanGraphs had the series 53.3-46.7 Houston. Today it's...53.7-46.3 Houston? FanGraphs apparently isn't so jazzed up about winning Game 1 in a best-of-five. FiveThirtyEight had it 52-48 Houston, and now it's 72-28, and FiveThirtyEight is Good, again.
*Per Brian McTaggart, whoever wins Game 1 has won 72% of the Best-of-Five series all-time, and 75% of the time since 2010.
*Houston got 16 hits, a number only eclipsed by the Astros in the postseason once prior - Game 5 of the 2004 NLDS.
The Astros scored eight runs for just the fourth time time since September 1.
*Yahoo's Tim Brown: The Astros are sticking together and looking dangerous.
*George Springer was 4x5. It's the first 4-hit postseason game of his career, the 13th 4-hit game of any kind in his MLB career, and his first since September 29, 2019. Springer:
To get down early and not quit and fight hard and come out with a win in the first game is obviously huge. As the game got deeper, the at-bats got better.
We just slowed it down finally. We really, really slowed the game down and understood this is the playoffs and you don't know if you're ever going to get back here or not, so you might as well enjoy it.
Correa, on Springer:
You can't judge this offense by 60 games. When you get the leadoff guy getting on base every single time, good things are going to happen. When he goes, we go as a team.
George is closing in on 200 at-bats, and that is about the time when the big boys start swinging it. The repetition and concentration level have increased. He's not fouling balls off or missing balls he was missing earlier in the year.
Oakland's bullpen: 5IP, 7H/7R (3ER), 5K:1BB. The A's came into the postseason with the 5th-best bullpen in MLB, according to FanGraphs. The Astros had the 16th-best bullpen, according to the same Web Site. FanGraphs' Jon Tayler: Houston's anonymous-yet-excellent bullpen helped Houston take Game 1.
*Carlos Correa was 3x5 with 4RBI. He hit two home runs, the 13th and 14th postseason home runs of his career. He has three home runs in his last two postseason games, and the 2HR postseason game was his first since Game 4 of the 2015 ALDS. Per TBS he's the first shortstop in MLB history with two multi-HR postseason games. A full and complete list of Astros' 2HR postseason games:
Correa came into this postseason with a career .247/.308/.474 line in 50 postseason games. After the first three games of this postseason, he's now hitting .256/.315/.508 in 53 postseason games.
I love October baseball. I want to be in there. I want to be in tough spots in decisive situations. I prepare myself every single day mentally for when that time comes. October baseball, the energy is just different.
When Carlos Correa's right, ain't nobody better. That's just facts.
Two players in the history of the American League have multiple postseason games with 2HR and 4RBI: Correa, and Babe Ruth. Correa and Alex Cintron spent hours in the cage in Arlington trying to get back to his 2015 swing.
Two outs and nobody on, next thing you know they get four runs. You have to give them credit, too. They hit some good pitches to get to that point, even Brantley off of Diekman. They were pretty relentless after an opening in that inning and took advantage of it.
*Jose Altuve was 2x4 with a big 2RBI single. It was his 19th multi-hit postseason game and his 7th 2RBI postseason game. Reid Leymance: Houston rode "vintage" Altuve yesterday.
*Josh Reddick was 0x4 with a run scored yesterday. In 43 postseason games with the Astros (40 starts), he's hitting .183/.236/.244 in the postseason, and is 6x40 since the beginning of the 2019 Postseason (.150/.190/.225).
*The Bullpen of Blake Taylor, Enoli Paredes, Cristian Javier, and Ryan Pressly held the A's to 0H/0ER, 5K:1BB in five innings of work. As a reminder:
Blake Taylor: Had thrown 11.1IP above Double-A prior to 2020
Enoli Paredes: Had only thrown 50IP above High-A prior to 2020
Cristian Javier: Had thrown 11IP above Double-A prior to 2020
*Lance McCullers made his first start since September 26 and gave up his first earned runs since September 4. He gave up three home runs for just the second time in his career (May 26, 2018).
*Rays pitcher Shane McClanahan became the first pitcher to make his MLB debut in a postseason game last night and gave up a hit and a walk in 0.1IP. More like Boo McClanahan?
*29 Minor-League players suing MLB over minimum-wage claims got a big W when the Supreme Court gave them class-action status, instead of making them take on MLB individually.
*Texas Monthly: How high school QBs prepared for the strangest season in football history.
Well let's do this. I cannot remember an October weekend that didn't feature at least one playoff game, but it seems as though MLB deferred to Football. Maybe that was the right call, I don't know. Hope you all enjoyed your weekend and, from what I saw on Twitter Dot Com, Bill O'Brien brought you a sack full of delights and treats. So now you're ready to chew nails, and I'm here for it. 1st Pitch is at 3:07pm Central on TBS, and I hope you love afternoon playoff baseball because that's what we have all week.
*Lance McCullers takes the mound today vs. Chris Bassitt. It will be McCullers' third playoff appearance at Dodger Stadium. The first was Game 7 of the 2017 World Series. The second was August 4, 2018 - his last start before undergoing Tommy John Surgery. The third is today. McCullers:
I've spoken a lot in the past about how there's no guarantees with this surgery, this rehab I went through. I did believe that I would come out on the other side a better pitcher, a better teammate, and I believe I've done that. Just a full-circle moment for me being back in the postseason.
Chandler Rome: McCullers is bringing an expanded repertoire to the ALDS.
*Oakland starter Chris Bassitt's last five starts, including the 2020 postseason: 33.2IP, 29H/2ER, 30K:6BB, 0.53 ERA / 1.04 WHIP. Having last pitched on September 30, Bassitt is on regular rest. Astros batters, career, vs. Bassitt:
Carlos Correa: 14 PAs, .400/.571/.500
George Springer: 17 PAs, .294/.294/.706
Yuli Gurriel: 19 PAs, .368/.368/.474
Kyle Tucker: 10 PAs, .200/.200/.600
Alex Bregman: 15 PAs, .286/.333/.357
Jose Altuve: 19 PAs, .263/.263/.421
Michael Brantley: 23 PAs, .273/.304/.364
Josh Reddick: 18 PAs, .056/.056/.222
*McTaggart has your Game 1 FAQ. Astros/A's positional breakdown. Sean Manaea is facing Framber Valdez in Game 2. No word on how Mike Fiers is going to be able to avoid the Astros yet.
*Mattress Mack won $625,000 thanks to the Astros' Game 1 Wild Card win, and he has another $250,000 bet on 24:1 odds for Houston to win the World Series.
*David Schoenfield: Breaking down all of the bad blood in the Division Series.
*In a weekend full of guano crazy Premier League results (Manchester United lost 6-1 to Tottenham, Liverpool lost 7-2 to [squints] Aston Villa) our collectively-beloved Leeds United drew with Manchester City 1-1.
*Vice: "Kid A" will always be relevant as long as the world is a terrifying mess.
*Wired: The mad scramble to claim the world's most coveted meteorite.
The White Sox and A's had themselves a bullpen game to determine who would face the Astros. The Coward Mike Fiers threw 39 pitches in 1.2IP, allowing 5H/1ER to start it off. Ultimately, the A's string of eight pitchers was slightly better than the White Sox' string of nine pitchers, and the A's won the game 6-4, and the series 2-1. It was Oakland's first playoff series win since the 2006 ALDS. Game 1 is Monday vs Oakland at Dodger Stadium.
*FiveThirtyEight has it 53-47 Houston and I'll just cross my leg over my other leg and let you tell me the last time FiveThirtyEight had an outcome wrong in October of an election year.
*McTaggart: The heated Astros/A's rivalry hits the postseason. Reddick:
We have to grind it out and get our butts in gear. Playing a team in your division is going to give you an upper hand recognizing and knowing how...[bullpen] guys are going to pitch you, and starters, because they've faced you before.
Oakland's Liam Hendriks:
I think there's a little bit of us wanting to make sure they know what they've done and we can prove it to them that they weren't the top team in the AL West. But we also don't want to be petty and let our emotions get the best of us.
Houston was 3-7 against Oakland in the "regular" "season," with Oakland outscoring the Astros 38-35. Five of those losses were within two runs, as were all three of Houston's wins. The Astros took both ends of a double-header on August 29 before COVID forced the rescheduling of the third game on August 30.
*Chandler Rome: A Best-of-Five-in-Five-Days series is going to require some careful pitching management, but Dusty deserves some credit for how he's deployed the pitching staff this season.
*ESPN: Looking for some playoff spice? Astros/A's could be for you.
*Justin Verlander had Rob Manfred Tommy John Surgery on Wednesday, and his timetable to return is 12-14 months which [takes off socks] is somewhere between October-December 2021. So unless he signs an extension, his time in Houston is over.
I'm very proud of these guys. It's been a tough year for them and I'm so happy for them to go to Minnesota, sweep them and move on to the next round.
Osuna said Tommy John surgery was recommended, but a second opinion said otherwise. Osuna:
I started playing catch about three weeks ago and I've been feeling much better. So at this point right now, we don't believe we're going to need surgery, which is good. Hopefully, it stays this way and continues to get better and better.
Ahhh the old Verlander recovery plan. Worked out well for him, too.
*In two games (22 Innings) against the Braves, the Reds' "offense" scored exactly zero runs on 13 hits. The Reds were 1x15 with runners in scoring position in two games.
A bus driver who drove the Tennessee Titans last weekend in Minnesota also drove MLB's Houston Astros on their trip for a playoff series this week against the Twins, per sources. After the Titans' COVID-19 outbreak surfaced, the Astros removed the driver.
*Human Delight Fernando Tatis, Jr. hit two home runs, becoming the third youngest player to hit multiple homers in a game, behind Carlos Correa and Andruw Jones.
The Astros were off yesterday, the last day off before a possible postseason return trip. Houston is coming off a 2-9 road trip in which they got out-scored 65-39 - including four one-run losses - that lost them 4.5 games on Oakland and pretty much knocked them out of the running for a 4th straight division championship.
Oakland and Seattle played a double-header yesterday, and honestly it would be great if they could both lose. That said, the Fightin' Dipotos split the double-header with Oakland. The Astros are the only team in MLB below .500 with a positive run differential (+5). Here's the AL West, as of Tuesday morning:
Oakland: 30-18
Houston: 23-24 (-6.5)
Seattle: 22-26 (-8.0)
For the Astros to win the AL West, they would need to win out and have Oakland go 5-7.
*MLB.com says that the Astros one goal for these last 13 games is to just get healthy. To that end, Justin Verlander could return for the last week of the season in a tune-up start for the postseason, and Lance McCullers is scheduled to start Wednesday against Arlington.
*Chandler Rome: What happens to foul balls in an empty Minute Maid Park? If you're a season-ticket holder, you might start checking your mailbox.
*Jake Kaplan: Three big questions facing the Astros' pitching staff (and you can find an offer to subscribe to The Athletic for $1/month. I know I used to write for The Athletic, and they dropped me like 3rd Period French, but it's a really good deal.)
*Leeds United is currently at 31% to get relegated from the Premier League and, if you watched that Liverpool match on Saturday, you can join me in giving the most exaggerated of wanking motions towards Nate Silver.
*A minor miscalculation cost Intel $500m. A minor miscalculation, by me, means I still have $17,000 of student loan debt 18 years after graduating from college and 14 years after graduating from grad school. So who's the real victim here.
*I have a lot of bad habits, and I'm trying to rectify all of those. This song helps, A Musical Selection:
WOW this is really stupid. The Astros had a 2-0 lead against Oakland and the three guys who had MLB experience prior to 2020 managed to completely blow it. Houston is 22-22, 6-16 on the road, and are now 5.5 games back of Oakland with 16 games to play.
*I know that 2020 is adjacent to the very pit of hell itself, but let's take a look at recent road winning percentages:
2020: 6-16 (.273)
2019: 47-34 (.580)
2018: 57-24 (.704)
2017: 53-28 (.654)
2016: 41-40 (.506)
2015: 33-48 (.407)
2014: 32-49 (.395)
2013: 27-54 (.333)
2012: 20-61 (.247)
2011: 25-56 (.309)
2010: 34-47 (.420)
*Let's look at the pitching lines from last night's "game:"
Garcia/Scrubb/Paredes: 6.2IP, 3H/0ER, 6K:2BB. None of these pitchers had pitched in the Majors before this year.
Perez/James/Pressly: 2IP, 2H/3ER, 1K:5BB. All of these pitchers had pitched in the Majors prior to 2020.
The Astros walked the 8-hole catcher, .222-hitting Sean Murphy, three mf times. Dusty:
It's totally debilitating because they live off walks. The last few innings we had walks. We're pitching Murphy like it's Johnny Bench or something...We just gave that game away to them.
Murphy had never walked three times in a game before.
*Houston is 3-8 in September, 1-7 in their last eight games.
*Houston vs. AL West: 15-13. They're 8-2 against Seattle/Arlington, and 7-11 against Oakland and Anaheim. Morons.
*Last night was the third time this season the Astros have been held to four or fewer hits. It's the 7th time in 44 games the Astros have hit 2+ HR and lost the game. It happened 15 times in the 2019 regular season.
*Luis Garcia who, prior to 2020 had not pitched above High-A Fayetteville, was excellent: 5IP, 1H/0ER, 4K:2BB. Everyone except George Springer owes him a got dang apology. Chandler Rome: Luis Garcia's ascent to the Majors started on top of a parking garage.
*George Springer hit his 38th career lead-off home run, 4th-best all-time in the AL. Springer has a 9-game hitting streak, raising his OPS from .718 to .826 in the process.
*Oakland tied the game on a two-run double that glanced off of Kyle Tucker's glove. Dusty:
It looked like Tucker had caught the ball, and the next thing I know, the ball is rolling around in the bullpen. That was the first downer. Like I said, we just gave that game away to them.
Sorry about yesterday's Hot Links, I just...didn't feel like doing it.
The Astros lost Sunday to the Mets, 3-1. Aledmys Diaz, Lorenzo Quintana, Alex De Goti, and Taylor Jones had doubles. Taylor Jones is legit. Justin Verlander left the game with sore triceps after 2IP, Cy Sneed threw 2IP, 2H/0ER, 0K:1BB, and Jose Urquidy had a rough one with 4IP, 6H/3ER, 3K:1BB.
The big news of the day was Verlander's sore triceps. He was scheduled to throw 4IP but left after 2IP. Verlander was not "available to the media." Dusty: We got to take care of the big horse. Like I said, we sent him for precaution and observation, and hopefully it's not [worse]...We don't know if he is hurt. Like I said, it's precautionary. I was surprised his velocity was down a tick from the last time, but you know Verlander can dial it up when he gets ready. We didn't see anything. I was quite surprised when Strommy came over and told me he had to come out of the game.
In that link we also find that Devenski's slider is coming back around, and that there's a new autograph policy in place for the Nationals and Astros based on recommendations from the CDC and MLB.
*This is fun: Joe Smith was asked questions about...Joe Smith. The level of detail that Smith remembers about games in which he has pitched is insane. I could not tell you what I wore yesterday.
*Hahahahaha here's a SUPER-CONCERNING ARTICLE about Forrest Whitley. Brent Strom: Whitley was not ready to come into camp physically and compete for a position, for whatever reason, in my opinion. So we had to slow-walk him a little bit.
Whitley: Impressing people right now isn't really what I'm trying to do. I'm just trying to get my work in, stay healthy and do everything I can to have a successful season.
This is the first official "Maybe don't get too excited about Forrest Whitley" article of 2020.
*The Oakland Athletics are ready to take on the Houston Astros for the 2020 season, according to Boob Nightengale. Something called a "Liam Hendriks:" It's going to be very interesting to see how they handle the day-to-day lifestyle of everything. It's going to be a very long season for them. There are only two outcomes: either it overwhelms them, or they embrace it. I wouldn't want to be in their shoes. Just wait until they come to Oakland. We may not have the most fans in baseball, but we have the most passionate fans in baseball. They're going to be loud, they're going to be obnoxious. And they're going to be wearing guys out. They're going to have no recourse. If they start fighting back, it's going to snowball even more.
*Forrest Whitley talked about reporting to camp at 230 pounds, up 40 from the 190 at which he showed up in 2019. Whitley: I was just so skinny that by the time the season would reach like June or July, I wasn't ready. That showed in 2018; I got hurt quite a little bit....I think just the general thought process that went into that was just not coming into camp absurdly skinny like I had the past couple years. I remember a couple years ago I came into camp at like 190, so I wanted to lower the workload, eat a little bit more, and focus on coming into camp at a little better weight.
I'm sitting at about 235, down five since the beginning of the month. Of course, I'm like 5'11" so
*Jim Crane told James Click he can have more money if he needs it. Click: I know where our payroll is relative to the CBT line. (Crane) just shot it down and was like, 'We're over it, that's fine because we're going to win, and if you need more for us to win, I'll get you more.
Spotrac has the Astros' payroll at $214m to $231m. The line in which you pay the tax in 2020 is $208m, with a further penalty if you go over $228m. $37.3m is coming off the books after the season when Brantley ($16m), Reddick ($13m), and Gurriel ($8.3m) become free agents, with the possibility of a further reduction should the Astros not re-sign George Springer ($21m in 2020). I love savings. Love it when my favorite team has coupons. Getting a jersey embroidered with "Savings" on the back.
*Rob Manfred, on punishing the Astros' players themselves: Look, it's impossible, given the facts that we found - and, frankly, the statements of the Astros' players since the decision came out - to escape the fact that, independent of what the GM did, the manager did, (the players) had an obligation to play by the rules, and they didn't do it. I understand when people say, 'The players should have been punished.' I understand why people feel that way, because they did not do the right thing...If I was in a world where I could have found all the facts, without granting immunity, I would have done that.
Manfred says throwing at Astros' hitters is "dangerous, and not helpful to the current situation."
Manfred, on the use of buzzers in 2019: Can I tell you 100 percent certain that it didn't happen? No. You can never know that. People tell you what they tell you. I will tell you, the evidence on this issue was as consistent in the direction that nothing was going on as the evidence was consistent in the direction that there was inappropriate behavior in (2017 and 2018).
So stay with me here: The part of the quote that, and this is shocking I know, people are keying in on is the first part, where Manfred says he can't be 100% certain the Astros weren't wearing buzzers in 2019. But he goes on to say, if you take the time to read the whole quote, that the evidence was as consistent for them not wearing buzzers as it was consistent that they did shady crap in 2017 and 2018. In other words, Manfred's investigation probably got that right, since the Astros themselves are coming out and admitting it.
It is incredibly shocking to me that people are running to Jomboy's defense and taking what he throws against the wall as gospel, while ignoring evidence to the contrary. I can't quite put my finger on a parallel in society where people believe the guy they like is telling them the truth in the face of evidence to the contrary, and vilifying the people who provide said contrary evidence. It's right on the tip of my tongue. I'll figure it out, I guess, after a little more coffee.
Anyway, here's where the buzzer theory originated: Reddit user meme-engineer on October 24: I had a dream a couple weeks back when the Astros were playing the Rays, it was that after the post season finished a news story came out that the Astros had a team of people deciphering signs with cameras and then that team relayed the signal to transponders that were worn in the cleats of the top (trusted not to snitch) Astros players, the transponders would vibrate according to what pitch was coming (example: once for fastball, twice for off-speed). But it was just a dream haha. That wouldn't happen.
*Say, what's happening with Mike Fiers: Sunday, The Chronicle asked Fiers, the public whistleblower in the Astros' cheating scandal, if he'd like to respond to Correa's prompting, and Fiers politely declined comment. Then, before walking away, Fiers added, 'We did it as a team.' *The A's had filed a formal complaint to MLB about the Astros before Fiers' allegations were revealed in The Athletic, and nothing was done.
*Yu Darvish says the Astros should lose their title. Darvish: It's like the Olympics. When a player cheats, you can't have a gold medal, right? But they still have a World Series title. It feels weird.
Darvish threw 3.1IP in the 2017 World Series in two starts - Game 3 in Houston and Game 7 in Los Angeles - and allowed 9H/9R (8ER), 0K:2BB, 2HR, and threw 61 of his 96 pitches for strikes.
*Chris Sale: Yeah, it sucks. But what am I going to do? Am I going to hold them at gunpoint? Am I going to sit here and curse them out through a bunch of cameras? If I have something to say to them, I know those guys. I can get one of their numbers and text them and talk to them face-to-face or whatever. It happened. What are you going to do about it? You can sit around and cry about it or I can get my ass to work and try and win a championship.
*GM James Click says the focus is on rebuilding trust: Every Astros employee, every single one of us, is absolutely committed to making sure that that kind of thing never happens here again. That's our focus. There will be absolutely zero tolerance, no tolerance whatsoever, for that kind of behavior in the Houston Astros organization ever again. And furthermore, that would be the case whether there had been an investigation or not. Any organization that I'm a part of would be absolutely 100 percent in compliance with the rules. There'll be no question about that.
*Yahoo's Tim Brown: The Astros should stop apologizing and go full heel.
*Will Harris is "in a tough spot" in Washington. Harris: Oh, man. They're obviously my friends, and guys that I consider family, guys I will have a relationship with the rest of my life, hopefully. And now watching them go through this...
*MLB will restrict access to video during games. Dugout phone calls will be recorded. Bo Bichette, on technology in the games: In a way it would be dumb to not take advantage of what we have, but at the same time I think that...personally I'd be fine if there was no technology in there whatsoever. I mean they did it back in the day, why can't we do it now? So I'm sure part of the reason (the Astros) did what they did, it is because of how easy the access was to it. And for me, I'd have no problem taking every bit of it away.
