Houston Astros 2014 Season Thread

[KABrother88]

I guess I'm spoiled now and not used to failure...but leading 4-3 in the 7th Houston loaded the bases with no out looking for insurance only to get a infield fly from Singleton the have Dominguez ground into a double play...then in the top of the 9th Chad Qualls gives up a HR on the first pitch to tie the game at 4...bottom of the 9th went ground out by Fowler, BB to Marwin Gonzales, Single by Springer, IBB to Singleton to load the bases with 1 out for Doninguez again...and what does he do?!?!...grounds into another friggin double play...AGH!

[KABrother88]

cHRis carter saves the day...walk off HR to the Crawford Boxes!

[Big T]

I had a blast, no pun intended, at the game tonight. My only complaint was loading the bases three time with one or less outs and only scoring one run in those three situations.

[eagle eye]

I had a blast, no pun intended, at the game tonight. My only complaint was loading the bases three time with one or less outs and only scoring one run in those three situations.

 

It was a good game to go to with a happy ending. I was listening to the game and I just couldn't go past the 8th inning. I was surprised Qualls blew the save but sh*t happens which is a shame because Feldman deserved the win. He's been too good the past month. That's what's special about this team, try as they might to lose they just wouldn't let it happen. Seems like they have pretty good chemistry. Six games under .500 now which is pretty awesome and only one behind Texas who won too. Seems to me that Texas let too many players get away and they don't have the team to be a force any more. I could be wrong, it's only June after all.

 

The Hooks lost last night and you can't help but wonder how much the loss of Preston Tucker hurt them. Watching the Hooks last night made me even more mad about the problems with the Astros TV deal. I'd love to see this team play more often. Some of you probably do because you know the bootleg sites to go to but I don't know any I trust as secure.

[eagle eye]

Six draftees sign their deals with Houston and are now headed for Tri-City. This makes a total of 14 players out of 41 draft picks that are signed.

 

7th Rd pick RHP Derek Velazquez

9th Rd pick LHP Bryan Radziewski

10th Rd pick RHP Jay Gause

13th Rd pick Catcher Jamie Ritchie

14th Rd pick IF Nick Tanielu

40th Rd pick IF Alex Hernandez

 

Last season Tri-City won the Penn League Championship after winning their second consecutive Division Title.

 

Jose Altuve left last night's game vs Arizona after he was hit in his right hand when a pitch he was squaring around to bunt came in high and tight. Altuve's hand was down on the barrel of his bat in bunting position. It did not appear that the pitch smashed his hand between the ball and the bat, it was just a straight hit. Astros fans will remember how much time Jeff Bagwell missed after being hit in the hand. Today the Altuve said he is feeling 100% better especially after his x-rays came back negative. Before tonight's game Altuve took some light infield work and he says he hopes to be back in the lineup tomorrow. Officially, he is listed as day to day.

 

The Astros have called up P Josh Zeid for the third time this season. This up and down thing isn't the ideal situation but Zeid has said he'd rather bounce between the bigs and AAA than be stuck in AAA all season or be sent to AA. He said he loves Houston, loves the fans and he loves the teammates he knows so well because he has come up through the ranks with a lot of them. Zeid said all he can do is try his best to stick this time. To make room for Zeid Houston optioned Rudy Owens back to OKC. Owens made only one appearance for Houston back on a start against Seattle on May 23rd in which he allowed 5 runs on 9 hits in 5-2/3 innings. The middle and set up relief pitchers have struggled all season and Houston is still looking for the right mix that they can count on. Despite the fact that Houston has won 14 of their past 19 games Houston hasn't been able to hide the fact that their relievers are vulnerable.

 

[eagle eye]

I would bet a dollar to a donut that Jerome Williams may be the next casualty of the Astros roster. I have said this before that Williams has been good for at least one run every single outing in recent memory. I would even bet this is without exception and I would venture a guess this goes back to the first part of May. The Astros have been covering this up by winning but I guarantee you that he hasn't been able to hold anyone scoreless in a long time. Why am I going on about this now? Because today Williams gave up two runs in a game Houston lost to Tampa Bay 4-3. Brad Peacock pitched but 4 innings giving up 2 runs on 3 hits and 4 BBs and 3Ks. Needless to say it wasn't his best outing of the year. Peacock threw 91 pitches in only four innings which should tell you something about his day. But he battled and one of the runs he allowed was a bases loaded walk. Darin Downs relieved Peacock for 1-1/3 scoreless innings then came Williams. In 2 innings of work he gave up 5 hits and two 2 runs with no walks and 1 K. He gave up a run in the 6th to allow TB to tie the game and he gave up the game winner in the 8th. Folty could come up and be a set up man for goodness sake. I've just about had my fill of Williams. I cringe every time he enters a game. He needs to go.

 

As much as you would have hoped Robbie Grossman would be the guy to play left field and lock down a spot in the Astros batting order he just hasn't. He's struggled for the most part since he was brought up a few weeks ago to replace an ineffective L J Hoes but he just hasn't got it. He did bring up his batting average from the anemic .125 that caused him to be sent to OKC the first time to just over .200 but now he's back in his funk sliding back to .178. I'm sorry but that's just not going to get it. There are guys in AAA who deserve their shot. Grossman has had two this season and didn't capitalize on either, it's time to let someone else try.

 

Another guy who maybe needs a trip back to OKC is Jonathan Villar. He's been inconsistent on defense but his batting has been bad. He's currently sporting a .200 BA but I venture to say he really hasn't been even that good. He may need to go back to AAA just to regain some confidence. He's a better player and a better hitter than what he's shown. I just think he's been pressing for so long now his confidence needs a little boost. Marwin Gonzalez has been playing well lately and his .273 BA is a lot more like it. Could Villar be looking at how Carlos Correa has been tearing up the pitching in High A Lancaster? Doesn't matter, the bottom half of the batting order needs a shot in the arm offensively and Villar is like having a pitcher batting. The reason the AL went to the DH was to infuse some offense into the game. Houston can't tolerate a position player hitting .200.

 

Jose Altuve was in the Astros lineup today. He didn't play his position but he did pinch hit in the ninth with a runner on base and it was a simply horrendous pitch hit. Altuve has missed the last three games with an injured hand and what does he do in his first plate appearance since he hurt his hand? He swings on an inside pitch on the first pitch he faced. He grounded out weakly to second base on a fielders choice for the 2nd out of the inning. First pitch. As Charlie Brown would say, "Good grief.". Jon Singleton struck out swinging to end the game. Singleton went 0-4 with 4 Ks today. I reckon it's feast or famine with that young man. Patience, EE, patience.

 

Former Astros closer, Jose Veras, has signed a minor league deal and will report to Kissimmee, Fla before eventually going to AAA OKC. Veras said that he never wanted to leave Houston in the first place when he was traded to Detroit last summer and he's happy to be coming back to H town. Veras signed a deal with the Cubs earlier this year but he struggled and lost his closer job and was eventually assigned to AAA and released. Veras is 33 and he may not be a closer any more but he could at least do what Jerome Williams has done.

 

[KABrother88]

I like the signing of Veras and hope he can recapture what he showed her last season...and with him being on a minor league deal he should be making league minimum when he is called up so if it doesn't work no harm no foul...glad I'm not the only one who had that same feeling when I saw Williams was coming in...reminded me of how I used to feel when Jay Powell would come in for Houston in the late 90s early 2000s...Villar has been struggling for a good while but ironically when he began to struggle is when Houston began to play well...that being said somethin needs to be done...Marwin has been very serviceable there but he has alot of value as a utility man to me and I'd hate for him to lose alot of that capability...our AAA options have actually preformed pretty well in OKC...the 2 guys listed at SS are 29 year old Gregorio Petit and 21 year old Ronald Torreyes...Petit is hitting .294 with 7 HR and 16BB:39K in 63 games (235 ABs)...Torreyes is hitting .295 with 2 HR with a 14BB:12K in 59 games (207 ABs)...again 12 Ks for a 21 year old in 207 AAA AB...that's crazy. Seen some idiots on Twitter calling for Correa to he called up to replace Villar...was a little in shock cause I think they were serious...he's a 19 year old kid not even to AA ball yet...let him develop or he'll flame out like every other prospect rushed to the big leagues.

[eagle eye]

I wholeheartedly agree. I think that Houston has shown a good amount of restraint in bringing their minor leaguers up through the system. Correa needs to take one step at a time coming up. So far, he torn up every level of the minor league system and they way he's playing a Lancaster he's going to be in Corpus Christi before the year is out. I do think they may have had a little premature promotion in terms of Jon Singleton. IMO the guy needed some more time to refine his approach at the plate. The awesome thing about it is if Singleton turns out to be another Chris Carter we have the depth in the minor league system to replace Singleton if he doesn't work out. Heck, we have the depth at AAA. Over the last few years the Astros have built and strong minor league system. This is not my opinion, it's fact, if you believe MLB.com's rankings. I'm certainly not saying give up on Villar but it looks like he needs to go back to AAA to refine his game and get some confidence back.

 

BTW, in case you haven't noticed Houston lost their first series in about a full month.and to the D-Rays of all people. If you check out the MLB standings Houston is not the worst team in baseball. They may have lost to the worst team this past weekend but David Price ain't no scrub. Houston is like the 5th worst team in baseball but going into the game yesterday they had the best winning % in ALL OF BASEBALL since May 11th. Not too shabby. Lets hope they get back on track against the Nats tonight. (I still can't get over that HORRIBLE pinch hit by Jose Altuve yesterday.....Yeeesh.)

[eagle eye]

The last few posts we discussed the need to give some of Houston's prospects a chance in the bigs mainly due to the struggles of players like Jonathan Villar, Jesus Guzman, Jerome Williams to name a few. Well, the Astros.com folks must have been checking out the web site because up pops an article on the Astros web site about who may to next to test the big league waters.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/astros-prospects-in-queue-for-next-call?ymd=20140616&content_id=80047304&vkey=news_hou

 

Astros No 16 prospect P Nick Tropeano had this third outing in a row of at least 7 innings of shutout ball. In his last 3 starts Tropeano is 3-0 with a 0.82 ERA and a 0.68 WHIP. Overall he's got a 5-4 record with a 2.09 ERA which ranks him 3rd in the Pacific Coast League. He is vastly better than last season's disappointment. He wasn't terrible but he wasn't dominating either. It's okay as long as he's getting better.

 

Tonight the Astros play the first of a two game series against the Washington Nationals in Washington. Dallas Kuechel and his 8-3 record and 2.32 ERA goes against the Nats Tanner Roark and his 5-4 record with 2.92 ERA. Tomorrow it's Scott Feldman and Gio Gonzalez.

[KABrother88]

@jimcallisMLB: 5th-rder Jacob Nix agrees w/@Astros on $1.5 mil (pick 136 value = $370,500). Calif HS RHP inconsistent as senior but also up to 96 @MLBDraft

 

Looks like we've used the 1.5 million dollar discount from Aiken to sign Nix...important signing for Houston

[eagle eye]

Dallas Keuchel didn't look like Cy Young last night. He did battle through his 5 innings of work. When you throw 105 pitches in only 5 innings you have battled. Keuchel only gave up six hits but three of the hits were doubles. Keuchel just wasn't getting the ground ball outs he has been. Add to that an uncharacteristic 4 walks all that just spells trouble. The problem with the Astros offense last night was not due to a lack of hits. Hell, they pounded out 14 of the damn things. Trouble was they were 5-14 with runners in scoring position. The top three hitters Fowler, Altuve and Springer when 2-5, 4-5 and 2-4 respectively but it didn't do anything but up their batting averages. Down 6-1 at one point Houston staged a rally in the 8th scoring 4 runs to close to 6-5 but that was all she wrote. If you play the "if" game then IF Kyle Farnsworth hadn't allowed two inherited runners to score in the 6th, and nothing else changed, Houston would have won the doggone game! But, as Dandy Don once said, "If 'ifs' and 'buts' were candy and nuts we'd all have a merry Christmas.". Keuchel took the loss, his first in over a month, the 5 innings were the fewest since his first start of the season way back in April. If you say a pitcher struggles and he only gives up four runs on 6 hits and 4 walks that really isn't that bad, is it? For all his shutout innings this year Keuchel was due some run support and he didn't get it. Consider all the Astros hitters duely kicked in the nether yeah-yah for letting their pitcher down.

 

Here's some news, notes and video from Astros.com including a Tony Gwynn tribute, the signing of fifth round pick Nix, and a couple of odds and ends.

 

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140617&content_id=80256894&notebook_id=80257126&vkey=notebook_hou&c_id=hou

[eagle eye]

I know that Jeff Luhnow and his player personnel people have tried hard to bolster the bullpen. The bullpen was one of the many weaknesses Houston had to tolerate in 2013. However, despite all their best efforts they haven't been completely successful. Yes they have Chad Qualls and Tony Sipp but they also have had to watch Jerome Williams, Josh Zeid and now Kyle Farnsworth fail on a consistent basis. Tonight's game is no exception. Scott Feldman pitched five innings. Like Dallas Keuchel last night he battled for five innings and 103 pitches. When he left the game the Astros had a 4-2 lead. Good job Scott, hit the showers and relax--you earned it. In the ensuing innings, it's currently the seventh the combination of Zeid, Darin Downs and Farnsworth has squandered what had been a 5-3 lead and by the time the bottom of the 7th was complete Houston was looking at a 6-5 deficit. If this game had been on TV I may have thrown something clear through the TV screen. Needless to say--I AM PISSED AT THIS BULLPEN. I'm not relieving the offense because for the second night in a row they are dismal with runners in scoring position. So far tonight they are 3-9. They have 5 runs on only 6 hits. They are scoring on sac flies, wild pitches and fielder's choices. pathetic. I know Houston can't win every game and I knew their hot streak was bound to come to an end but unless Houston hits home runs they just don't score. You live by the HR and you die by the HR, or lack thereof.

 

Okay, I may as well stick around for the top of the ninth. The eighth was scoreless for both teams so now Washington will bring in Raphael Soriano to shut the door on the Astros.

Tony Sipp is scheduled to hit but of course Houston pinch hits for him.

 

Chris Carter - Carter got ahead 2-0 then Soriano fired strikes in on the next six pitches. Carter struck out swinging on the last pitch. 1 out.

Dexter Fowler - Fowler started ahead in the count 2-0 just like Carter. Soriano went to work and got the count to 3-2 and on the 8th pitch Fowler grounded out to second. 2 outs.

Jose Altuve - On the second pitch Altuve singles into left-center.

George Springer - Soriano went after Springer and on the 5th pitch and a 1-2 count Springer struck out swinging.

3 outs--game over. ((^*&&^$^%$&(*(&)*)_()(_**&(**&^%*$^&%&## -- that's me cussing.

[eagle eye]

I'm not mad----yes I am. I can live with Houston losing to the Nationals even though both games were winnable. The Nats have a good ball club. What I can't stand is Houston losing 3 straight to a team that was 6 games BEHIND them in the win column. Houston hasn't really even been competitive vs the D-Rays. That is very disconcerting considering how well they had been playing. Hopefully, Houston can rebound and there is 3 more games against the Rays to get some redemption. Colin McHugh was the third pitcher in the last 3 games that had to battle himself as much as the opposing hitters. 6 innings giving up 2 runs on four hits and 3 walks throwing 104 pitches isn't a bad outing. It's actually considered a quality start. The bullpen is another matter. Tonight it was Paul Clemens who screwed the pooch. One inning he gave up the same 4 hits McHugh did but he one-upped McHugh by allowing 3 runs. Oh, by the way, 2 of the 4 hits were homers. Chad Qualls pitched a perfect 8th. I guess Bo Porter didn't want too much rust growing on Qualls before the Astros have another save opportunity. The offense sucked. They got a base runner is just about every inning but couldn't do any more than that. I really thought that Houston's extreme hot streak would end but I didn't think they would go completely the other way. The starting pitching is still good we just need some help from the bullpen and clutch hit or three. Houston may not have been as good as they appeared to be between May 11th and June 11th but I really didn't think they would go back to being as bad as they were in April. Shoot, it's a long season, I refuse to fall into despair with so much season left. Bo Porter sat Robbie Grossman and his .168 BA and for the first time in a long, long time Houston's starting batting order did not have one single player with a batting average below .200. That, my friends is positive I can hang my hat on.

[eagle eye]

The Astros snapped the 4 game losing streak last night beating the D-Rays 3-1. The whole story can be summed up in three sentences. Cosart dominant in 8. Altuve has become a hitting machine. Springer homers off David Price. That's it. Jarred Cosart threw 109 pitches in his 8 innings of work tossing a shutout of the Rays. He allowed only 6 hits with a walk and 2 Ks so that lets you know he had good defense behind him.

Altuve went 3-5 last night continuing the red hot streak he began after missing several games after being hit in the hand. He's gone 11-19 (.579) since his return. He got his MLB leading 100th hit in the 3rd inning setting the table for the George Springer show. Springer came to the plate following Altuve's single and he launched a monster shot that hit the catwalk by the roof of the stadium in left field well above the stands. It was an epic shot. It was the only mistake that Rays pitcher David Price made and it cost the Rays the ballgame. The homer was Springer's 13th on the season tying him for the team lead with Chris Carter. Each team got an oh-by-the-way run in the ninth but the game was decided in the 3rd because David Price was very good for 8 innings but Jarred Cosart was even better.

That brings me back to Jose Altuve. Over the past week Bo Porter has been touting Altuve as a shoe-in for the All Star game and it's not hard to agree with him. He's among, or leading, the bigs in hits, batting average, stolen bases and you add his rock solid defense and he's got All Star written all over him. Altuve is on pace to record 200+ hits and 50 stolen bases which would be only the 2nd player in Astros history to do so. Craig Biggio set a team record of 210 hits and 50 stolen bases in 1998 and the way he's playing so far this season there's no reason Altuve can't equal or better Biggio's marks. So far Altuve has 26 stolen bases. He has been so good at base stealing that just the threat of it rattles opposing pitchers.

Is there any reason you can think of why Altuve and Springer shouldn't be All Stars? I can't think of any reason why not.

 

[KABrother88]

Talk about a tough day...earlier today it was reported AA SS Nolan Fontana would need surgery to repair a broken pinky and would be out 8 weeks...leading to the assumption that top prosper Carlos Correa would be called up...the Correa has to be carried off the field after sliding into 3rd after legging out a triple...early report are possibly a fractured fibula...not good

[eagle eye]

Sucks about Fontana and Correa. Hope Correa's leg isn't as bad as they think.

 

Houston loses 3 of 4 to the FREAKING D-Rays! Keuchel didn't pitch badly but I think Bo Porter left him in too long. Looks like he threw Keuchel to the wolves to save the bullpen. Either way, Houston just lost the last two series with Tampa Bay who, coming into the series had a bullpen among the worst in baseball. They were leakier than a homemade boat. Houston made their bullpen and their starting pitching look like a group of Cy Young candidates. The offense has been awful since the first series with TB. Just awful. I am seriously tired of Robbie Grossman and his pathetic .164 BA. I really think Jon Singleton needs to go back to OKC for a while. He can't hit his ass with both hands right now and if they leave him in Houston I'm afraid he'll lose all confidence. He needs a shot of confidence now and he needs to get out of Houston and the white hot spotlight to get his head together. I don't know what the hell happened to Jason Castro. He's not nearly the player he was last year and between him, Jesus Guzman and Chris Carter none of them can get the job done consistently. I was fooled by their play in May. It was obviously an anomaly. Houston is more the dismal team they were in April than the world beaters they were in May. The month of June is up in the air meaning I think it can be salvaged somewhat over the next 8 days. I think Bo Porter needs to chew some ass in that locker room. They have not pitched well, their offense is atrocious somebody needs to stand up and say so. If nothing else shame the team into some self reflection. Am I pissed, you bet.

[KABrother88]

I'm not sure how this works since a player signing a contract like Singleton did when they are still under team control is rare but is Houston even able to send him down without placing him on waivers first? But Grossman is done IMO

[eagle eye]

If they can send LJ Hoes or Grossman or any of the pitchers down to AAA then I don't see why they can't send Singleton down. MLB has film on this guy now and the damage he was able to do early isn't happening any more. Springer is still learning but he looks like he belongs. His defense is good and he's learned to take his walks. Singleton not so much. I think we all agree Grossman is gone. That young man is worse than a pitcher at the plate. They've given him enough chances and he probably needs a change in scenery like Lucas Harrell did. Alex Pressley is a definite upgrade over Grossman.

It's just a team wide slump except the for Altuve. Fowler's BA has dropped 13 points in the last two weeks which hasn't helped. Villar looked like he was sort of righting the ship but last night he blew RBI opportunities twice with runners in scoring position.

I feel like such a sucker for thinking this team had turned a corner and was actually a .500 ball club. The bottom half of their lineup is so bad and that's another reason Jon Singleton could be struggling is because he's not seeing good pitches because nobody behind him scares anyone (except for Bo Porter when he fills out the lineup card). Singleton is a free swinger anyway so why come in with anything he can jack if you don't have to. I said last year and this spring that Singleton's plate discipline was lacking and it would be to his detriment. Sometimes I hate being right. When you've got starting pitchers who are only giving up 2 or 3 runs a game you can't ask more than that. Every once in a while the offense needs to score more than 1 or 2 runs. That's what the team did in May. They had good pitching and the offense was scoring runs consistantly, enough so that deficiencies in the bullpen could be excused. All I know is Houston was a mere 6 games under .500 before their current slide and now they are back to 12 games under .500. They are 2-8 in their last 10 games and they totally blew and opportunity to get out of the AL West cellar because the Rangers have lost 6 games in a row. Geez, this team is frustrating.

 

Another bit of great news, the Astros are reporting that Carlos Correa will miss significant time after injuring his ankle sliding into a base last week. Correa has been seeing a specialist in Houston and details of the injury are supposed to be known today. According to GM Jeff Luhnow they don't know what "significant time missed" means just yet. Depending on the final evaluation of the doctor it's not clear if it will be a few days, a few weeks or the rest of the minor league season. Luhnow did say that they are confident that the injury will only be impactful in the short term and they don't expect any long term ill effects. Now, I don't know how confident they can be when they don't have a diagnosis from the doctor but they are there and I am here so I'll drink the Kool-Aid for now.

 

One good bit of news is the Astros have a minor league team with the top rotation. That would be the A Lancaster JetHawks. It's a pretty good article that comes from MLB.com's Pipeline Perspectives about the JetHawks rotation which includes last year's number one pick, Mark Appel. If the big club has you in a funk (like me) a little good news doesn't hurt.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/pipeline-perspectives-astros-lancaster-team-boasts-best-rotation-in-minor-leagues?ymd=20140625&content_id=81533930&vkey=news_hou

[KABrother88]

 

If they can send LJ Hoes or Grossman or any of the pitchers down to AAA then I don't see why they can't send Singleton down.

 

But by signing that extension I'm not sure if it voided his options...that is my question really. Grossman, Hoes, and the pitchers you mentioned don't have a contract like Singleton. But at this point you might just have to keep running him out there...sending him down might destroy what confidence he has left.

 

Also of note 2B Tony Kemp has been promoted from A+ to AA. He was hitting .336 and stole 28 bases in 35 attempts with a 45BB:35K ratio

[KABrother88]

Well I got my answer and he is still eligible to be reassigned to the minors...only way to lose options without using then is to have 5 years of MLB service

[KABrother88]

Apparently all we have to do is complain a little bit and get out way...Robbie Grossman ha been sent down and L.J. Hoes called up...while I would have rather seen Wates or Santana, the .209 average Hoes put up early this year in Houston is still an improvement over Grossman's .158.

[eagle eye]

Hoes---Grossman---I don't feel like we came out any better than even. I agree players like Wates and Santana would, at least, not be recycling trash. I hate to be so hateful but the past week has really upset me. I shouldn't be this way. I generally have better perspective than this but I would much rather see some young guys get a shot over players who have proven they basically suck.

 

The news came out today, Carlos Correa will miss the rest of the 2014 season after he had arthroscopic surgery on a broken fibula right above his ankle. This sucks for everyone but especially Correa who was tearing up High A ball and was on pace to move up to AA Corpus Christi sometime this summer. Fortunately, the reports are that he should recover completely with no lingering effects. That is a great big "WHEW" when you consider this kid's potential.

 

 

[KABrother88]

Jose Veras has been added to the 25 man roster and Kyle Farnsworth has been released...hopefully Veras can pitch like he did for Houston last season and not how he started off this year with an 8+ ERA for Detroit

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[eagle eye]

The Astros at least took the series finale against the Braves. You can't bitch about Houston losing a series to Atlanta since they do have a pretty good team. Jarred Cosart was exceptional going 7 innings scattering 6 hits and allowing only one run. Cosart now has the second best W/L record on the team, 8-5, to Dallas Keuchel's 8-4 record. You likely can't consider this a slump buster game since Detroit is coming to town and the Astros will face Justin Verlander in the series opener. Houston counters with Brad Peacock. What???? This is a matchup made in the twilight zone for Houston but if Peacock has a good game and the Astros can get to Verlander----oh excuse me, I just woke up from a nap. I must have been sleeping right? It was nice to see Jon Singleton get a hit last night. It was even nicer to see Matt Dominguez get a 3 run jack. Even Jason Castro got a hit! I don't mean to be sarcastic but this team, from the 4 spot down, has been pretty lousy lately but with 3 of the 8 hits Houston has were hit by the middle three in the lineup. Not only that but 4 of the 6 RBIs came from the 4 and 5 hitters, Singleton and Dominguez. It about freaking time the middle three did something at the plate! Oh well, Detroit's in for the weekend. We can only hope last night was something the team can hang their hats on going forward and the end of June approaches.

[KABrother88]

Cosart has quietly gotten much better through the first half of the season. Since that nightmare start against Oakland where he gave up 7 ER while only recording one out, he has recorded a quality start in 10 of his 12 starts with with the other 2 starts being 5 IP 3 ER & 5 IP 1 ER. Currently his ERA on the season is a respectable 3.60...take out that one start in Oakland (I'm sure he wishes he could) and he would be sitting at 2.94. He has also lowered his walks as of late. The month of April he walked 15 batters (6 GS/31 IP). In May he walked 15 batters as well (5 GS/29.1 IP). However in June he only issued 7 free passes (5 GS/34.2 IP).

 

By the way I'm going to blow a gasket if Altuve gets snubbed from the All-Star game...I think it is ridiculous as it is to let the fans decide who starts the game that decides home field advantage for the World Series and it's just a friggin popularity contest. I'm fine if they let the fans vote in one player at each position but don't make that person be the starter. Looking at the numbers you would think Altuve is a lock to make it (leads MLB in hits and multi-hit games and leads the AL in average and steals) but he's not going to catch Cano to start (June 22nd update had Cano at 2,007,055 to Atluve's 932,978) then between Cano and Altuve is Ian Kinsler and Dustin Pedroia with Brian Dozier following Altuve. Why I feel like he might be snubbed is this...AL manager is Boston manager John Ferrell...guess who he would pick between Pedroia and Altuve...then Dozier is one of the few Twins players who has played well enough to be considered as an All-Star (15 HR & 15 SB)...game being in Minnesota I wouldn't be surprised to see multiple Twins players in the game and us only get Keuchel in just to watch him sit in the bullpen or come in for one batter