The Ramgers won the World Series. I hate it. But they went 11-0, outscoring opponents 71-29, on the road in the postseason, defeating the Rays, Orioles, and Astros on the way to the World Series. I hate them, but you can't argue with that.
We're not going to rush through this. So there's not really a timefrane. But as far as a candidate, I'm looking for someone with some leadership ability, someone that could run the clubhouse, of course, looking for someone with great feel for players and managing players...There's a lot that I'm looking for. I mean, he's got to know the game. He's got to be able to run a bullpen and most of all he's got to have the leadership skills. I'm looking for someone who I could gel with and communicate well with.
This is a little different from what Jim Crane said at Dusty's retirement press conference on October 26 regarding the timeframe:
We've got things running well in the back office. And, so I don't think it'll take us very long to find someone that will fit in well with us.
*The World Series, which they're still playing for some reason, is tied 1-1. Game 3 is in Arizona tonight. FanGraphs has it Six Flags 52.2 - 47.8 Arizona.
*I watched "Race to the Summit" on Netflix. It's about speed-climbing crazy-ass mountains without ropes and whatnot. It's subtitled. Any of the preceding may be disqualifying for you, but I liked it.
I don't care who wins the NLCS, I will be their biggest fan for the next two weeks, despite the fact that I'll likely not watch a minute of the World Series. This is a time for resetting, for reacquaintance, for recharging. More at the end.
To the Links:
*Only two teams in MLB history have lost all four home games in a seven-game series: the 2019 Astros and the 2023 Astros. As much as I hate the Rangers right now, I might hate the Astros just as much.
*Chas McCormick, who got 16 plate appearances in seven games in the ALCS:
I mean, we just didn't play well enough at home. That's what finished our season. We didn't win at home. Game 5, when we came back and won, I was like, 'We have this. We're going back to the World Series.' It's a different taste in the mouth just because I've been in the World Series my first two years in the big leagues, so it's different.
Martin Maldonado, who went 1x7 with runners in scoring position in the ALCS:
It's frustrating, but at the same time, I feel like we accomplished a lot of stuff. It wasn't easy all year. We had a lot of injuries. I'm really proud of this group of guys. We never gave up. Just to make it seven in a row, it's pretty special.
Jeremy Pena, who hit .160/.192/.160 in the ALCS:
I wouldn't consider [this season] a success.
Kyle Tucker, who hit .150/.292/.225 in the 2023 postseason, 0x6 w/RISP in the 2023 ALCS, and .180/.295/.326 in 24 games in the 2022-23 postseasons combined:
We had a good year, a lot of ups and downs throughout the season. And we at least had the opportunity to get there.
There's a whole bunch of stuff you can point to in that ballgame. And so we just got beat. Sometimes there's no rhyme or reason. Sometimes you lose and sometimes you get beat. There's a difference. We got beat.
*Dusty Baker is going to take some time to evaluate his situation for 2024:
I haven't had time to evaluate or think about my future because I'm not that kind of dude. I don't want to steal the spotlight or anything from these guys. You've got to savor what we did. You've got to think about how we can get better. And then I'll evaluate my situation and my life.
*Alex Bregman, who only had four hits in the ALCS but included a triple and two home runs:
I think we fully expected to be here, and we expected to win. We got outplayed, and we'll learn from the mistakes this offseason. We'll get after it and be ready to get back to competing.
Justin Verlander, who allowed 12H/6ER in 12.1IP in the ALCS:
I think moving forward, there's still a good window available. It's a little early to say I'm excited about next year (Ed. note: SAME) I'm still dealing with this, but that was on my mind.
*Career Postseason Home Runs, MLB History:
1. Manny Ramirez: 29
2. Jose Altuve: 27
3. Bernie Williams: 22
4. Derek Jeter / Kyle Schwarber: 20
6. Alex Bregman / Albert Pujols / George Springer: 19
*Yordan Alvarez, 2023 Postseason: .465/.510/.977, 6HR/15RBI. Yordan's 41st career postseason RBI moved him into a tie for 18th all-time with Lance Berkman and Alex Rodriguez. His .949 career postseason OPS is 5th all-time among players with 50 postseason games played.
*I had completely forgotten that The Bastard Chris Young threw 4IP in G1 of the 2015 ALDS for the Royals. I don't think I've ever hated another team's GM more, and I hope his bicycle gets stuck in a cattle grate and skins up his knee real bad.
What To Watch, October 24:
2:00pm Central: Champions League: Arsenal at Sevilla.
6:15pm: New Jersey at Montreal
7:07pm: DiamondBacks at Phillies.
*Please allow me a moment of introspection and vulnerability: 51 days ago I decided to stop drinking, which is my personal longest streak since the day I was born until the day I turned 21. It was enough of a problem that I recognized it as a problem. It was not recommended by a doctor (mainly because I don't go to the doctor), it was a personal choice. The first few days were really hard. There were certain triggers around particular days of the week and work milestones and whatnot that I recognized were particularly difficult. Still, I made it through with the help of my wife, a couple of friends who are various stages of their sobriety journey, and a lot of mineral water. I didn't want me opening a beer to be the soundtrack of my kid's childhood. I didn't want to have anxiety about what time I got home in the evenings based on when I could have a drink. It hasn't been easy. It still isn't easy, but I'm not fragile. This weekend I'll go to the wedding of one of my best friends (who happens to be a Ramger fan despite not being able to name three Ramgers on the active roster) armed with a six pack of HEB Lime Mineral Water, and it'll be fine. I feel better, I eat better, I can actually feel rested after sleeping, and get up and go to the gym. I was emotionally dependent on alcohol, and probably will continue to feel that way for a while, but I'm doing fine. If I can make it through an Astros postseason - especially this absolute pile of dogshit of a postseason - without drinking, I feel like I'm invincible. I don't know why I'm telling any of you this, but if you feel like you're in a similar circumstance or vortex or whatever you want to call it, feel free to reach out. FTR.
The Astros got to an early lead, choked it up, and then monstered all the way to a 10-3 win. The ALCS is tied 2-2. Houston has one more opportunity in this series to take advantage of being on the road. But we know that the Astros will be forced to play at least one more game in Houston.
The beauty about this team, there's not an easy out. When you think there's an easy out, something big happens.
*Jose Altuve was 3x4 with a walk and three runs scored. It's the 10th 3-hit postseason game of his career, and the 6th time he's scored three runs in a postseason game. Altuve's last ten plate appearances (Games 3&4): Flyout to the track, home run, flyout to the track, single, out, double, single, walk, out, double.
Jose Altuve home runs, Minute Maid Park, 2023: 5
Jose Altuve home runs, Globe Life Field, 2023: 8
*Only seven players in MLB history have appeared in 100 postseason games:
It's been an honor to be his teammate - a Hall of Fame player and a Hall of Fame person, incredible leader every single day. From Day 1 of Spring Training, he shows up, works his tail off. He always has a smile on his face. He's so nice to everyone that he comes into contact with - players, coaches, staff, people at the stadium, fans. He's an unbelievable human being, and to be able to be his teammate, it's been an honor. Hopefully I can be his teammate forever.
*Yordan Alvarez was 2x4 with 3RBI. Those 3RBI bring his postseason total to 39 in 55 games, tying him for 4th in franchise history with Yuli Gurriel. Postseason RBI, Astros, career:
1. Carlos Correa: 59
2. Alex Bregman: 52
3. Jose Altuve: 51
4. Yordan/Gurriel: 39
6. George Springer: 38
...
13. Jeff Bagwell: 13
16. Craig Biggio: 11
Yordan has three straight postseason games with at least 2+ RBI. It's only the 28th time in MLB history that a player has three straight postseason games with multiple RBI. The last person to do it was Yordan Alvarez, who did it from 2022 World Series G6 to 2023 ALDS G2. The all-time record is four games, set by Giancarlo Stanton (2020) and Reggie Sanders (2005).
*Jose Abreu crushed a crushing three-run home run and stole a base. Thanks to the incredible Sarah Langs, we now know that Abreu is the oldest player since Fred Clarke in 1909 to hit a homer and steal a base in a playoff game. Abreu:
We're the Houston Astros, and we never give up. It was very important to give credit to all these guys here in this organization who never give up. It's up to us to be able to turn this around.
Abreu, Opening Day-June 13: 273 PAs, 3HR
Abreu, 2023 Postseason: 33 PAs, 4HR
*Mauricio Dubon was 2x5 in G4. He has started four postseason games in his career - all in 2023 - and is 8x17 with three runs scored.
*Chas McCormick hit his first postseason homer since 2022 ALCS G3, at New York.
*The Astros were 8x16 w/runners in scoring position, which is approximately nine more hits than they got with runners in scoring position in Games 1 and 2.
*The only Astros player to not get on base a single time (in a game with 10 hits and seven walks): Kyle Tucker, who went 0x5 with a strikeout.
Tucker, since hitting two homers in 2022 World Series G1: 13 games, 55 PAs, .089/.236/.156
*Bullspen Matchup, Game 4:
Ramgers: 8.1IP, 7H/7ER, 8K:6BB
Astros: 6.2IP, 3H/0ER, 5K:1BB
*Phil Maton: 2IP, 1H/0ER, 2K:0BB. It's his first postseason six-out appearance since his second career postseason appearance in 2020 Wild Card G2 against the Yankees.
*Hunter Brown: 3IP, 2H/0ER, 2K:0BB. Stanek, on Brown:
He's grown into knowing what he's supposed to be doing and how to handle himself. He came in last year, didn't have a whole lot of experience under his belt and pitched in the playoffs, did really well and then came into this year, and he's had some trials and tribulations. And he's battled and grown and learned and handled it well. It's a hard job to have, especially being a young kid and being a starter, and then he was out in the bullpen. You've got to do a lot of different things, and he's just handled it really, really well. It's awesome to see.
*Stanek is the third pitcher in baseball history to throw one pitch and get the Win in a postseason game, joining St. Louis' Jeff Fassero (2002 NLDS G2) and Lance Lynn (2011 NLCS G2).
*The Hall of Fame announced eight candidates for the Veterans Committee to consider for induction in 2025: Managers Cito Gaston, Davey Johnson, Jim Leyland, Lou Piniella; executives Hank Peters and Bill White; umpires Ed Montague and [snicker] Joe [guffaw] West.
A quick story, one that I'm not terribly proud of (but proud enough to lead the Hot Links with): I live in Ramger Country. It's gross. I shower four times a day. Anyhow, a co-worker was giving me crap about the Astros being down 2-0. Annoying. So I hollered back, "I've watched the Astros lose more World Series in the last five years than your middle aged ass has ever seen the Rangers play in." Might have ended it with, "Bitch." I'm not sure. I was a little Ragey.
Anyhow, the Astros won 8-5 to make the series 2-1. Michael Brantley:
They eliminated the big inning for the first two games against us. So we had a nice crooked number to put up on the board. But at the same time, it's a great offense over there. We had to keep scoring. We continued to keep pressure on...and we have to continue to do that throughout the entire series.
1st Inning: 100.7mph off the bat, flyout to dead center. A homer in 13/30 parks.
3rd Inning: 104.4mph off the bat, homer. A homer in 30/30 parks.
5th Inning: 102.4mph off the bat, flyout to dead center. A homer in 12/30 parks.
That would have been 3HR in 3PAs if the game was played at Wrigley, Cincinnati, whatever the White Sox call their field, Angel Stadium, Dodger Stadium, Milwaukee, or Oakland.
It was Altuve's 25th postseason home run of his career. He needs four more to tie Manny Ramirez for the most all-time. Altuve:
Down in the series 0-2, it feels like we had no choice but to win tonight.
*Yordan Alvarez: 2x4, 2RBI. He has 10RBI in the 2023 postseason. The Astros have scored 32 runs in the 2023 postseason. It was the third game out of seven in the 2023 postseason that Yordan didn't hit a home run, but...
Alvarez's 6th Inning flyball that was robbed by Leody Taveras had a 1.000 xBA and would have been a home run in 22 out of 30 ballparks.
*Kyle Tucker hit 6th in the order for the first time since June 11, 2022 and went 0x1, 3BB. It was the 7th 3BB game of his career, and just the 3rd multi-BB postseason game of his career. He also got a double, his 3rd hit of the 2023 postseason, and his first XBH since ALDS G1.
*Mauricio Dubon had three hits for the 12th time in his career and the 7th time in 2023. He's 6x12 in the 2023 postseason and got his first career postseason RBI. Dubon:
I was telling somebody today that, yeah, I got smarter, I got a little stronger. But my ability hasn't changed. For me, it was a matter of getting a chance. And the Astros gave me a chance to get out there and show people what I can do.
*Martin Maldonado was 2x4 with 2RBI - the 3rd 2-hit game of his postseason career, and 2nd of the 2023 postseason. It was his first postseason RBI since Game 1 of the 2022 World Series.
He can throw any pitch any count. Because he bounces a slider doesn't mean he doesn't come back with another slider. So I was trying to see something up, just to put a good swing on it.
*Alex Bregman hit a ball in the 9th (stop me if you've heard this before) that Leody Taveras caught against the wall. It would have been a home run in 18 out of 30 ballparks.
*Cristian Javier: 5.2IP, 3H/2ER, 3K:1BB.
Four career postseason starts: 22IP, 5H/2ER, 26K:1BB, 0.82 ERA / 0.27 WHIP.
We got hoodwinked, Framboozled, led astray, run amok. Framber was bad. The Astros offense was...offensive, going 0x6 w/RISP. Houston goes to Six Flags down 2-0.
Since 2004, teams that went up 2-0 in the LCS are 18-2 in the series. The 2020 Dodgers came back from 0-2 down to win the NL Pennant over the Barves. Otherwise, in non-Mickey Mouse years, the 2004 Red Sox came back from 3-0 down against the Yankees, and I highly suggest that you watch the "Four Days in October" 30 For 30 before Game 3. Speaking of, here's Derek Jeter on the 2023 ALCS:
This team in Houston is great on the road. Just because they're down 2 games, it's not over. We've lost the series being up 3-0. I don't want to bring it back up...but my point is, everyone in this Texas Rangers clubhouse knows this series is not over.
We have an off day, and I think everyone's gonna regroup and focus on winning the next pitch. That's all you can do. You've got to take it pitch by pitch in the postseason when you're playing against a great team like them. Come in and compete and try to execute just a little bit better. I don't think we've played terrible; they've just played a little bit better than we have.
*The "Houston" "Astros" are 5-14 at Minute Maid Park since September 1. They're 11-3 on the road in the same time frame.
*The Astros had the bases loaded with nobody out in the 5th. Yainer Diaz, finally pinch-hitting for Maldonado, struck out. Altuve struck out. Bregman grounded out weakly to end the inning with no runs scored. The Astros had runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs in the 8th with no runs scored. This feels impossible. But it's true.
*Altuve: 0x5, 2K. He has one hit in his last 18 PAs, and is 4x25 in the 2023 postseason. Since the beginning of the 2022 postseason, Altuve:
I thought the quality of my pitches was good. There were a couple balls that they didn't hit well that fell for base hits. It happened a couple times there.
The xBA on the Rangers' five singles that scored four runs: .470, .450, .950, .910, .320
*Yordan Alvarez hit his 11th and 12th career home runs in his 53rd career postseason game - his 2nd 2HR game of the postseason, and his career. It's the 11th 2HR postseason game in franchise history.
He also drew a walk and scored on Michael Brantley's double. It's his 35th, 36th, and 37th career postseason runs scored, tied with Carlos Correa for fourth in franchise history.
I've seen him get frustrated. This is a guy that expects excellence from himself. But I never see him doubt.
*Alex Bregman passed Carlos Beltran with his 17th career postseason home run and into a tie for 7th-most all-time with David Ortiz and Jim Thome.
*Yainer Diaz is 0x10 with 5K in the 2023 postseason.
*Kyle Tucker was 0x4 with a strikeout. He's 2x22 with a double, 7K:3BB this postseason - an .091/.200/.136 line - just what you want in the middle of the order. Tucker, on his ABs:
They're terrible. I feel fine, just my swing is not there. I haven't done anything with any of the pitches. It's been tough.
Dusty:
It's frustrating when you're not getting hits. And I'm sure he's frustrated. We need Tuck. He's a big part of our team. Big part of our offense. I just know that Tucker will come across and come through with it in [Six Flags].
*Astros bullpen: 6.1IP, 1H/0ER, 6K:2BB. Just shameful to waste that.
*J.P. France: 2.1IP, 1H/0ER, 1K:1BB. Congratulations to J.P. France, who became the 95th pitcher in Astros history to make a postseason appearance.
It could be that everything finally is catching up to the Astros. All those years of playing so deep into the postseason, which perhaps contributed to injuries to Lance McCullers, Luis Garcia, and Jose Urquidy and the inconsistencies of Valdez and Cristian Javier. All those years of spending modestly in free agency while the Rangers invested $800 million on the open market the past two offseasons.
*Cristian Javier will start Game 3 against Max Scherzer.
Well Jordan Montgomery did his best Pablo Lopez impression and the Astros now find themselves down 1-0 in the Series. Is it ideal? [sensibly chuckling] No, but it's not the end of the world.
*It's the first time the Astros have been shutout in a playoff game at home since 2021 World Series Game 6. There wasn't a game after that.
*Houston got five hits - all singles - against Six Flags last night. Dusty:
Sometimes you've got to say: 'Hey, the guy threw a great game tonight against us, excellent game. And they say good pitching beats good hitting, but when you don't hit, everybody wants to know what's wrong. There's not a whole bunch to say. He threw a real good game against us.
*Justin Verlander pitched really well - Evan Carter's 2nd Inning run happened because he took an extra base on his shot underneath Abreu and then hustled to home. The 5th Inning run was one mistake from Verlander. This offense should have bailed Verlander out.
It's the 17th postseason start of Verlander's career in which he has thrown at least 6IP and recorded 0-2 earned runs. His teams are 12-5 in those games. He's done it with Houston 10 times, and the Astros are now 8-2 (2017 World Series Game 6 was the other one with the Astros).
Verlander:
We lost Game 1 in the World Series last year. We've lost Game 1 of some playoff series before. And that's the great thing about this team. Obviously nobody is sitting in the locker room right now happy. But it's very matter of fact, okay. We just got punched, how do you answer?
*Yordan Alvarez had one of the worst games you'll see him have, going 0x4 with 3K and a weak grounder. In 52 career postseason games, it was just the 3rd time Yordan struck out three times.
Jeff Passan: How Jordan Montgomery finally solved Yordan Alvarez.
*1-5 in the lineup (Altuve-Bregman-Yordan-Abreu-Tucker) went a combined 2x19 with 5K:1BB. Of course Bregman was robbed of a double by Evan Carter, and then was a fraction of a second away from tying the game in the 8th. So that's kind of a hard-luck 2x19, but it still happened.
Tucker is "hitting" .111/.238/.167 in the 2023 postseason. He's 3x34 in his last ten postseason games.
This is the best team I've been around about moving on. And there's nothing you can do. If you're going to lose a game, you'd rather lose it in the first game versus in the middle of the series. And so we know we've got a tough pitcher in Eovaldi tomorrow But we also have a tough pitcher in Framber on our side.
Eovaldi vs Houston, postseason career: five appearances (2018 and 2021 ALCS), 17.2IP, 19H/10ER, 14K:6BB.
Eovaldi vs Houston, regular season career: 3-4, 53IP, 55K:26BB, 45K:19BB, 4.42 ERA/1.40 WHIP.
Game 2 is at 3:37pm.
What To Watch, October 16:
Sweden @ Belgium: 1:45pm Central
Six Flags @ Astros: 3:37pm
Arizona @ Philadelphia: 7:07pm
*SI: The Wild Quest to Create A Fake Indian Cricket League...That Was Just The Beginning.
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.
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:
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.
*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.
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.
*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.
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:
*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.
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
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.
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.
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.
The Houston MF Astros won the AL West for the sixth straight (full) season, wresting it from the grubby, idiotic, webbed fingers of the Cedar Hill Rangers. Houston finishes the 2023 regular season with a dismal, unbelievably-bad 90-72 record. The Astros will play G1 of the ALDS on Saturday.
*AL Playoff Picture:
1. Baltimore (101-61)
2. Houston (92-70)
3. Minnesota (87-75)
4. Tampa (99-63)
5. Cedar Hill (92-70)
6. Toronto (89-73)
Baltimore and Houston will get a bye.
Minnesota will host Toronto, and Houston will get the winner. Check out FanGraphs' preview of the Minnesota-Toronto series. FanGraphs gives the Blue Jays a 55.6-44.4 edge.
Tampa will host Cedar Hill, and Baltimore will get the winner.
FanGraphs has already given the Astros a 60.4% chance to win the ALDS, and a 19.4% chance to win the World Series, easily the highest in the AL.
*Days in 1st Place, AL West (with Last Day in 1st)
Cedar Hill: 159 (September 30)
Houston: 23 (October 1)
Seattle: 12 (September 4)
Anaheim: 10 (May 5)
Oakland: 2 (March 31)
*The following Astros hitters did not play in the following number of games in the 2023 regular season:
Jose Altuve: 73
Yainer Diaz: 59
Yordan Alvarez: 49
Chas McCormick: 48
*The 2022 Astros got 10+ starts from six pitchers: Framber, Verlander, Urquidy, Garcia, Javier, and Odorizzi. Combined they threw 907.2IP, you can add Lance McCullers Jr's eight starts to bring that total to 955.1IP.
The 2023 Astros got 518IP from those six starters. Hunter Brown, J.P. France, Brandon Bielak, and Ronel Blanco threw 423IP in 2023.
*Alex Bregman was 2x4 with a home run - his first since September 19, and he enjoyed his first 2RBI game since September 4. Bregman, in this must-read Chandler Rome piece about the 2023 Astros:
In a game as tough as baseball where it's just built on failure, you have to be able to move on to the next pitch, turn the page and bounce back, be resilient. No matter what, we've had our ups and downs this year, but it's a damn resilient team.
*The Astros were at 27.1% to win the AL West...entering Sunday. On September 27 they were at 5.1% to win the AL West.
And then the Astros went 5-1 in Seattle and Arizona. Cedar Hill, who were up 2.5 games with four to play, went 3-4 on their seven-game season-closing road trip.
We're never out of it with this ballclub. I think we have a phenomenal lineup and pitching staff. It wasn't ideal how we did it. But we came back and won it. That's all that matters.
Tucker will appeal the decision to give him a triple + fielder's choice.
Tucker's 112 RBI led the American League - he has 219 RBI since the beginning of the 2022 season. He's the third Astro to lead the league in RBI, joining Jeff Bagwell (1994) and Lance Berkman (2002).
Tucker's 112 RBI are the 15th-most in franchise history in a single season, tied with 2019 Alex Bregman. It's the 38th time in franchise history an Astro has recorded 100+ RBI in a season, and Tucker is just the 18th Astro to do it.
Back-to-Back 100+ RBI Seasons, Astros history:
Kyle Tucker: 2022-2023
Alex Bregman: 2018-2019
Carlos Lee: 2007-2009
Lance Berkman: 2001-2002, 2006-2008
Moises Alou: 2000-2001
Jeff Bagwell: 1996-2001
Bob Watson: 1976-1977
*Houston has gone 101-60 on the road since the beginning of the 2022 season.
*The Astros finished Sept/Oct with a 13-14 record, the second calendar month of the season with a losing record.
*Jose Abreu was 2x4 with a home run, his 8th homer since September 1, tied with Yordan Alvarez for the team lead this month(s). His 18 home runs in the 2023 regular season are the second-fewest in his 10-year MLB career, behind only 2022 when he hit 15.
*Cristian Javier: 6IP, 3H/0ER, 4K:2BB. Javier's last four starts of the 2023 regular season: 20.2IP, 14H/7ER, 27K:8BB, a 3.05 ERA / 1.06 WHIP.
*Yainer Diaz got 1 Plate Appearance in the last four games of the regular season.
*Most Postseason Games in MLB, Since 2015:
Astros: 92
Dodgers: 86
*The Astros and Texans won on the same day for the first time since September 12, 2021.
*The Rangers got shutout 11 times in 2023 - two of those times came in the last series of the season against Seattle: Friday, and Sunday.
The Houston Astros came crashing back to earth after their one (1) win in Seattle and were sloppy as hell, from all accounts (I had to be out of town from about 3:30-11pm yesterday so mercifully I didn't watch a minute of the game). Houston lost 6-2. They're 86-72. There are four games remaining.
*Houston has lost 10 of its last 14 games. Their opponents in those 14 games: v Oakland, at Kansas City, v Baltimore, v Kansas City, at Seattle.
*The Astros committed three errors (Altuve, Bregman, Tucker). The Astros have allowed eight unearned runs in their last eleven games. Dusty:
We had (Kirby) on the ropes in the first inning and then we had another bases loaded and nobody out, and we just got one run out of it. We didn't play real well tonight. We kind of threw the ball around and then we didn't back up the bases a couple of times. We didn't play well.
*Houston got 10 hits last night, but only scored two runs, mainly thanks to going 2x13 with runners in scoring position. Jose Abreu was 0x3 w/RISP, Yordan and Yainer were 0x2 w/RISP.
*Last night was the 7th time in 2023 the Astros had 10+ hits and lost. Four of those games have come in September. It's the 3rd time in 2023 that the Astros recorded 10+ hits, scored two or fewer runs, and lost.
*Jose Altuve and Jeremy Pena had three hits each. It was the 14th 3-hit game of Altuve's 2023 season, and the 9th of Pena's season. Neither of them scored a run last night. Altuve, on the series finale:
Probably the biggest game of the year. Gotta win. Gotta go out there and score more runs than them and win the game, win the series.
*Yordan went 0x5. It was the 33rd time in 478 games he had at least five Plate Appearances and no hits.
*Chas McCormick was plunked in his large of the back by a 99mph fastball from Ariel Munoz (I know his name is Andres, I stand by it). It was his 5th HBP to 205 batters faced in 2023. Four of those HBPs have come in September. Dusty:
I'm tired of our guys getting hit. It makes guys a lot bolder when they don't have to hit.
The Astros' 72 HBPs are the 6th-highest in the League. Yordan (13) and Chas (11) have worn it the most in 2023.
*Cristian Javier didn't live up to the tone Verlander set: 4.2IP, 3H/4R (3ER), 6K:3BB. He needed 91 pitches to not get through the 5th Inning.
*And so was Rafael Montero, who allowed three hits and a walk without recording an out.
*Bennett Sousa threw 1.1IP, 0H/0ER, 2K:0BB. In four appearances for the Astros in 2023, Sousa: 5.1IP, 0H/0ER, 7K:0BB.
*Whoever wins tonight's game will be in the third and final Wild Card spot heading into the last series of the season.
*The Athletic: Welcome to the "Gold-Plated" Villages the Premier League's elite call home.
Fresh off of getting swept by the GDKC Royals, the Astros got a vintage Verlander performance last night in Seattle. Houston is 86-71, 2.5 back of The Colony, 1.5 up on Seattle. There are five games remaining in the regular season.
Keep in mind: The Astros have the tie-breaker against the Rangers. So in order for the Astros to win the Division, they would need to match the Rangers' record. You can safely assume that the Anaheim Possums are going to do exactly that, so the Mariners are going to have to do something in the last series of the season, and the Astros can't afford to...be the 2023 Astros.
Houston is 2.5 back of The Colony. If the Astros just win out, it puts them at 91-71. The Rangers would have to go 4-2 to finish a game ahead of Houston. If the Astros go 4-1, the Rangers would have to go 3-3. It's a tough, uphill battle. Unless! the Astros actually want the Wild Card, in which case they'd get the advantage of not playing at home, but also getting the Twins and not the Rays. Chess, not checkers?
After a 21-6 August, the Mariners are 8-15 in September. They're 5-15 against teams not named "Oakland" in September.
It's one. We got five to go. Hopefully, we come back out tomorrow and do the same thing.
*Houston "improved" to 3-8 against Seattle in 2023. The Astros are 57-33 (.633) all-time at Seattle.
*Houston is 61-22 when scoring first in 2023.
*Verlander did what they brought him back to do: 8IP, 3H/1ER, 8K:1BB. And on only 96 pitches, 65 of which he threw for strikes. It's the 56th time in his career that he's gotten 24 outs and allowed only an earned run (or less) - the 12th time he's done it for the Astros.
Opponents who have gotten shut down to the tune of at least 8IP of 0-1ER baseball by Verlander, career:
Incredible. That's obviously what this team needed. He knew that, and going out there and putting the team in that type of position was great.
*A Full and Complete List of Astros Starting Pitchers to throw 8IP+ in 2023:
Framber Valdez: 4
Justin Verlander: 1
It's the first time an Astros starter has recorded 24 outs since Framber's no-hitter on August 1. Verlander's 79 Game Score is the highest by an Astros starter since Framber's 78 on August 25.
It was Verlander's 256th career win, by far the most by an active pitcher (Zack Greinke's 224 is 2nd). He's tied for 42nd all-time with Former Astros Great Andy Pettitte. 264 wins gets him in the Top 40 all-time.
*Bryan Abreu closed out the 9th with a scoreless inning. That is now 25 straight scoreless outings for Bryan Abreu, dating back to July 15. Only six pitchers have a 25+ game scoreless streak for the Astros:
1. Ryan Pressly: 40 games (Aug 15, 2018-May 20, 2019)
2. Ryne Stanek: 30 games (Apr 29-July 22, 2022)
3. Joe Sambio: 27 games (May 3-July 14, 1979)
4. Will Harris: 26 games (April 9-June 8, 2016)
5. Billy Wagner: 25 games (Aug 13, 1999-April 16, 2000)
5. Bryan Abreu: 25 games (July 18, 2023-present)
It's the longest active streak in the Majors, and only two other pitchers have managed to throw at least 25 consecutive scoreless outings: Cleveland's Sam Hentges, who saw his 25-game scoreless streak end on September 24; and San Diego's Josh Hader, whose 26-game scoreless streak ended on August 29.
*The 107 pitches thrown in a 9-inning game by Verlander/Abreu are the 4th-lowest pitch total by the Astros in 2023.
*It's the 36th time in 2023 that Astros pitchers have held their opponent to 0-1BB. They're 19-17 in those games...somehow.
*Yordan Alvarez was 2x4 with his 30th home run of the season. It's the third season in a row Yordan has hit 30+ homers.
Three or More Consecutive Seasons of 30+ Homers, Astros history:
8: Jeff Bagwell (1996-2003)
3: Yordan Alvarez (2021-2023)
That's it. Kyle Tucker needs one more home run to join this list.
*Alex Bregman was 0x5. He's now gone five straight games without a hit, hitless in seven of his last eight. His five-game hitless streak ties a career-high, set in 2021 and 2016. Since his 3-hit game against Kansas City on September 16, Bregman has one hit in his last 28 Plate Appearances, but with 3K:9BB. The Astros are 28-31 when Bregman does not get a hit.
*Martin Maldonado was 2x3 with a walk - his 15th multi-hit game of the season. He raised his OPS from .601 to .612 last night.
*Mauricio Dubon opened the scoring with a base hit to score Jose Abreu, who ran 270 feet like a big boy. Alvarez, on Dubon's hit:
Very big. Having the runner on third there with nobody out and then having two outs, getting him in, I think, gave the team second wind. So it was very big to get it all started.
Other Stuff
*Ronel Blanco and Will Wagner were named the PCL's Pitcher and Player of the Week, respectively.
I don't know if that's it for the Astros' 2023 season. What I do know is that I'm going to feel a whole lot better whenever the season ends, given the performance of this team in the last two weeks. Kansas City completed the sweep of the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Houston is 85-71, 2.5 back with six to play.
*AL Playoff Picture
1. Baltimore (97-59)
2. Forney (87-68)
3. Minnesota (83-73)
4. Tampa (95-62)
5. Toronto (87-69)
6. Houston (85-71)
7. Seattle (84-71)
*AL West Odds, and change from September 7 - the day after the Astros swept the Rangers:
Forney: 81.9% (+78.3%)
Houston: 11.5% (-51.1%)
Seattle: 6.6% (-27.2%)
*AL Postseason Odds:
Baltimore/Tampa/Minnesota: 100.0%
Toronto: 97.5%
Forney: 97.0%
Houston: 60.7%
Seattle: 44.8%
*Would you qualify what has happened to the Astros in the last 18 days as a Collapse, a Fade, or just the Devil coming to collect his check? To ride the high of beating the absolute historic dog piss out of Forney in their own stadium to getting swept by the Royals and going 2-7 against the A's and the Royals?
The A's lost the last game of the Astros series on September 13...and then proceeded to lose the seven consecutive games after that. They're 48-108. Kansas City defies logic. Houston went to Kaufmann Stadium and the Royals had won two in a row. After completing the sweep the Royals have won 10 of their last 11 games. 18.5% of their 2023 wins have come in the last 13 days.
But Houston! What a bunch of nonces. The loss confirmed a losing season at home, the Astros "finishing" 39-42 at Minute Maid Park. They've lost five of their last six, nine of their last 12. They're 8-13 in September. They're 18-21 in 1-run games. They're 4-11 in 15 home games in September.
The Game
*Once again the pitching staff was suspect. Hunter Brown absolutely could not/did not deliver: 3IP, 6H/6ER, 4K:1BB, 4HR allowed. Hunter Brown is just the fifth Astro Starting Pitcher in franchise history to get no more than nine outs and allow four home runs. Jake Odorizzi last did it on August 4, 2021. He joins a distinguished group that includes Odorizzi, Brandon Bielak, Collin McHugh, and Ezequiel Astacio.
I couldn't get the fastball away to the right-handed hitters. The ones that stayed middle or went inside, they were able to hit it out of the park.
On June 13 Hunter Brown threw seven scoreless innings against the Nationals to lower his ERA to 3.35 after 12 starts. Since then: (17 appearances, 16 starts): 79.1IP, 93H/60ER, 95K:28BB, 6.81 ERA / .906 OPS-against.
Bullpen, September 22-24, 2023: 13.2IP, 1H/0ER, 15K:5BB.
*The Astros were 1x10 with runners in scoring position, making them 4x30 in a series they lost by a total of four runs. Houston went 11x65 w/RISP against the Orioles and Royals - losing five games against the two teams by a total of nine runs.
*Jose Altuve was 2x5 with an RBI - his 29th multi-hit game of the season. He has played 84 games in 2023.
*Alex Bregman was 0x5, going 1x23 in his last seven games.
*Yordan Alvarez was 2x4, hitting his 29th home run of the season. He had an extra-base hit in every game against the Royals this season (4 doubles, 2 homers).
It sucks not being able to win right now and getting swept, but we've just got to forget and go to Seattle and play. Everybody knows what's going on. So we've just got to go there and be focused and try to win baseball games.
Jose Abreu:
The champions always have pressure and I think the guys know what they need to do to be able to get out of this. We haven't got the results but we know what we need to do and it starts tomorrow.
The clock's ticking down and getting close to the finish line. So every game, every pitch, every inning is important.
*Chandler Rome: Do the Astros have the stomach for this?
*Verlander goes tonight against Luis Castillo to open just another critical series of the rapidly-waning regular season. In six days it'll be over. Michael Brantley might be back tonight.
Yet again the Dumb Ass Houston Astros couldn't do what other teams have done 102 times this season: beat the Kansas City Royals. Houston is 85-69, 39-40 at "home." They're idiots, and I hate them at the moment. They've lost seven of their last ten games. There are a maximum of eight games remaining. Those nuns who fronted Alex Cora need to bring wheelbarrows full of sage.
I do not want the Astros to miss the playoffs out of spite. Dusty has done some incomprehensible things (Dubon batting leadoff, Abreu batting cleanup, scroll down for Maldonado Slander) but I still want him to succeed because that means this God-forsaken team (meaning 2023) succeeds. That said, should the Astros miss the playoffs they have absolutely nobody to blame but themselves. At some point we'll talk about Jim Crane's Jerry Jones Heel Turn last fall, but that's another talk for another time.
*The DAMF Astros have lost 11 of their last 15 home games against Boston, New York, San Diego, Oakland, Baltimore, and Kansas City. Only Baltimore is over .500 for the season.
*These morons have given up 25 runs on this homestand (1-3).
*The Trashstros were 2x13 with runners in scoring position against the Royals last night.
*Framber was a disaster, then he wasn't, then he was again. Framber: 5.1IP, 4H/7R (6ER), 10K:3BB. It was the 10th 10+ K start of his career.
His 6ER allowed match the total number of earned runs he'd allowed in his last five starts combined. Framber also hit two batters - the first time since July 30, 2022 he'd done that. The Astros are 3-5 when Framber hits 2+ batters in a game.
*Bullpen: 4.2IP, 1H/0ER, 4K:1BB.
*Astros pitchers held Kansas City to five hits. Five. The Astros are now 25-10 when allowing five or fewer hits. They've scored 3 or fewer runs in 12 of those 35 games.
*3-5 in the lineup (Yordan, Bregman, Tucker): 2x12, 2K:3BB. 0x4 w/RISP.
No, I don't think anybody's feeling pressure. We understand that this is going to go down to the last game of the season. And talking to some of the guys, tomorrow we're going to have to flip that switch and activate playoff mode.
Not a fan of waiting until Game 154, when you just lost the division lead because you can't beat the worst teams in baseball, to "activate playoff mode."
*Martin Maldonado: 0x3, 2K:0BB, passed ball. It was his league-leading 12th passed ball of the season, his 21 passed balls since the beginning of the 2022 season lead the league, as well!
Martin Maldonado offensive ranks, MLB, min. 350 PAs (232 players):
BA: .189 (231st) - he's tied with Giancarlo Stanton, which kind of blew my mind.
OBP: .258 (230th)
SLG: .343 (221st)
wRC+: 65 (227th)
K%: 34.3% (229th)
fWAR: -1.3 (230th)
So he's one of the worst hitters in the league, but also has the most passed balls in the last two seasons. Tell me exactly why he's playing five days a week?
*The Astros are 14-15 against the AL Central this year, which is almost impossible to fathom, as only one other AL East/AL West team is under .500 against the garbage-ass AL Central (Oakland). Houston vs...
Minnesota: 2-4
Kansas City: 1-3
Chicago: 4-3
Detroit: 3-3
Cleveland: 4-2
*Houston is 2-5 against the only 100-loss teams in MLB in September. They have no one to blame but themselves. And here's the most inane thing about these seven games:
Scoring 5 or fewer runs vs Oakland/Kansas City: 0-4
Scoring 6 or more runs vs Oakland/Kansas City: 2-1
Obviously, it's frustrating losing to teams that you say, 'Come on, we're the Astros, we shouldn't be losing to them. But that's baseball. It's part of the game. It happens....Just because...they've won a couple games against us, doesn't mean that we're going to stop being the Houston Astros. We're still the Houston Astros, we're still the champs, and we're going to continue battling.
*Kyle Tucker hit a triple. Tucker, September: .209/.299/.463.
Kyle Tucker's first 537 Major-League games: 11 triples.
Kyle Tucker's last ten games: four triples.
*Michael Brantley was out with shoulder soreness for the 4th straight game.
*Ryne Stanek is back, and Joel "The Human White Flag" Kuhnel is back in Sugar Land.
*Going to the Arizona Fall League are Zach Dezenzo, Kenedy Corona, Miguel Palma, AJ Blubaugh (lol), Ray Gaither, Tyler Guilfoil, Jaime Melendez, Miguel Ullola
