2015 Astros Regular Season Thread

[eagle eye]

Damn if the Angels didn't finally lose! The Twins took the series finale yesterday afternoon so going into last night's Astros series finale with Boston the Stros knew they had an opportunity to make up some ground in the division race. Now, it didn't seem destiny was smiling on the home town boys as Lance McCullers struggle his whole 5 inning of work. He was in trouble every single inning but he managed to pitch well enough to limit the Bosox damage to 2 runs. Boston starter Wade Miley wasn't much better. He struggled a lot in his 6 innings of work allowing only 1 Houston run. Part of that was Houston's fault because of pretty shabby base running that led to 3 base runners being thrown out on the base paths. The most embarrassing was probably Evan Gattis who singled in the 1st with 2 out. While Preston Tucker was at bat Miley picked off Gattis who obviously went to sleep on the play. Houston did come alive once Miley was out of the game. Beginning in the 7th Houston got to every reliever Boston sent to the hill scoring 3 runs to take a 4-2 lead into the 8th. The Houston crowd was really into the game, especially after Colby Rasmus pinch hitting for Jake Marisnick tied the game with a solo homer over the right field wall. The inning could have been bigger than 3 runs but Marwin Gonzalez, who hit a double scoring Jose Altuve who had singled right before him, was thrown out trying to stretch the double into a triple. Bad mistake because Carlos Correa doubled which would have scored Gonzalez and had one less out on the board. Everyone got real quiet after Big Poppy jacked a home run out on reliever Will Harris to lead off the 8th. 3 batters and 2 outs later with Hanley Ramirez on 2B Luke Gregerson came in for Harris. Bad move because the first batter Gregerson faced, Mike Napoli, hit an RBI double to tie the game. Yeah, it got pretty quiet in the Juice Box. Gregerson managed to retire the next batter, Ryan Hannigan, but not before he uncorked a wild pitch that sent Napoli to 3B. The Astros did nothing in the bottom of the 8th. Josh Fields came on for Houston in the 9th and after a bit of a struggle he retired the Bosox with a scoreless inning. Now it's here that I have to admit that I was pretty mad at the Houston bullpen after they allowed the Sox to tie the game so I didn't see the end of the game. That was my loss. In the 9th after Colby Rasmus flew out to left to lead off the inning Jose Altuve, on a 3-1 against Boston reliever Craig Breslow, jacked a walkoff home run just barely clearing the left field wall into the Crawford Boxes. When I say barely I mean it had to be reviewed to make there was no fan interference before the HR was confirmed. Astros swept the Sox with a very unlikely 5-4 win. Houston is now just one game behind the Angels as Houston heads to Kansas City for a 3 game set beginning tonight and the Angels fly into Arlington for 3 against the Rangers. (Go Rangers!)

 

Jose Altuve had the best game he's had in a long time going 4-5 with an RBI and 2 runs scored with no walks and no K's. Marwin Gonzalez had a nice game going 2-3 with a walk and no K's. His only blemish was being thrown out a 3rd in the 7th. Carlos Correa who has been in a slump for a while is starting to break out of it. Last night he went 1-2 with 2 BB's and a K. He's making better contact and learning to lay off the breaking balls that have been confounding him lately. Evan Gattis had a good game going 2-4 but he was picked off base twice which is never a good thing. The bottom half of the lineup was just awful going a combined oh fer 16 until Rasmus came in for Marisnick and batted in the 9 spot. He went 1-2 with that game tying HR in the 7th that ignited the Houston rally to take the lead.

 

Was it rust or was Lance McCullers just off last night? Who knows but, he did battle and he didn't give into any hitters pitching out of trouble in every inning he pitched. The guy has grit, I'll tell you that. That's a trait that this pitching staff has in common and it's why it makes this starting rotation so tough to face. McCullers, IMO, will benefit from the addition of Scott Kazmir because between 2010 and 2012 he flat lost his mojo. He was an Angel during this time and he eventually was gone from the Angels roster in 2011. He didn't spend much time in the bigs then. He was sent down to the Angel minor leagues in 2012 when was released and the only job he could get was with an Independent League team, the Sugarland Skeeters, which wasn't far from his Houston home. He signed with Skeeters in July of 2012. After the season he signed on to pitch in the Puerto Rican winter league. It was during this rough patch that Kaz starting relearning how to pitch. In 2013 he signed with Cleveland and pitched well enough in spring training to earn the 5th spot in the Indians rotation. He pitched so well he was named Comeback Player of the Year for 2013 and he was signed by Oakland beginning in the 2014 season. Kazmir was back and his 190 innings and 15 wins and 3.55 ERA were career highs. When Houston got him he was 5-5 but with the 5th best ERA in the AL at 2.38. What all this means is he brings a lot experience to help mentor these young pitchers for Houston. Houston gets to see him in action tonight as he takes the hill for Houston in Kansas City.

[eagle eye]

Scott Kazmir gave us a great start to the weekend but the Astros offense went on vacation again on Saturday and Sunday. Scott Feldman deserved more than a no-decision Saturday with 7 innings of great pitching as he only allowed one run. Trouble was, Houston only managed one run for the game. Will Harris came in and gave up a walk off single to cost the Astros a loss in 10 innings. Sunday was no different as Houston again only managed one run. With Dallas Keuchel on the mound in a lot of instances that would be enough but not Sunday. He got into trouble in the 1st inning with the bases loaded and no outs when he got two ground balls that resulted in outs at home. So, no runs, bases loaded and 2 outs. If Keuchel gets out of that jam it may have demoralized the Royals enough to affect them the whole game. But it just didn't happen that way Keuchel ended up giving up 4 earned runs before the final out of the inning was recorded. In the bottom of the 2nd Keuchel gave up a rare home run to the Royals Lorenzo Cain and again there were 2 outs in the inning. Houston's only run was a lead off triple by Evan Gattis who scored on a sac fly by Colby Rasmus. It wasn't like Houston didn't have chances both Saturday and Sunday but they couldn't capitalize on opportunities as they were a combined 1-9 with RISP. Houston successfully made two guys with nearly a 5 ERA look like All Stars in Danny Duffy on Saturday and Yordano Ventura on Sunday. It was mentioned more than once that Ventura could be pitching for his spot in the Royals rotation since the Royals signed the Reds Johnny Cueto. It must have mattered enough for Ventura to shutdown the Astros offense.

 

The Astros won Friday and lost on the weekend. The Angels lost on Friday and Saturday and won on Sunday in their series vs the Rangers. What all that means is Houston blew and opportunity to at least pull into a tie with the Angels as they head into a really big series against those same Angels beginning tomorrow night in Houston. So, Houston is 1 game back of the Angels. A series sweep would give Houston a 2 game lead in the division but that's hoping against hope at this point. Houston's offense is more miss than hit lately and the Angels pitching is better than the Royals, at least on paper. If Houston can win 2 of 3 it will be about as good as we can ask for.

 

Craig Biggio's HOF induction ceremony was just what you'd expect. It was pretty succinct and he managed to thank his coaches from high school on. He gave special credit to former Astros assistant coach Matt Gallante because he helped him transition from catcher to 2B early in his career. Biggio remarked he wouldn't be standing on the podium accepting his entrance into the HOF without Gallante. He even recounted that the first Gold Glove he won he gave to Gallante. All in all, it was a great day for Biggio and his family and for the Houston Astros. During his speech of course he mentioned and thanked Jeff Bagwell and he acknowledged that in the years they played together they chanced the culture by making Houston a winning franchise and made Houston a baseball town. The only thing I wish he would have said was that he hoped he would be standing on the HOF podium very soon himself because Bagwell deserves it. It was a good speech by Biggio and regardless of what Colin Cowherd said about Biggio not being HOF worthy he certainly was and maybe it will open the door for Bagwell.

 

Tuesday night Houston will send Collin McHugh (11-5, 4.25 ERA) to the hill to face the Angels while the Halos counter with CJ Wilson (8-7, 3.59 ERA). Hopefully, Houston will find their offense by then.

[eagle eye]

Collin McHugh leads a charmed life. He gives up 5 runs in the first 2 innings and goes home with a 10-5 win. Dallas Keuchel gave up 5 runs in the first two innings to Kansas City in his last start and Houston lost 5-1. This has happened several times this season for McHugh. How else can you explain a guy with a 12-5 record and a nearly 5 ERA? C J Wilson must hate pitching to Houston batters. For a guy with a 8-7 record and a 3.40-ish ERA he seems to get punished by Houston hitters. It happened again last night when he gave up 6 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks and 3 K's. Two of the hits he gave up were home runs, one to Carlos Correa in the first was a solo shot in the 1st inning and the other was to Chris Carter with one on in the 2nd. After getting down 5-1 after the top of the second Houston began hammering the ball including Carter's HR and two hit batsmen and a Jose Altuve RBI single the score after 2 was 5-4. In the Astros fourth with 2 men on Altuve again singled easily scoring Hank Conger from second. The pitcher cut off the throw into the infield and caught Altuve too far off first base. While Altuve prolonged the rundown Jake Marisnick kept on running and he was able to score all the way from 1B on the play before Altuve was tagged out. BTW, despite having a career high 5 RBI's and going 3-5 at the plate Altuve was caught trying to extend base hits into doubles and was caught both times. If there was one thing Houston is bad about is dumb base running errors. That and some poor coaching at 3B by Gary Pettis. Jose Altuve had a really good night but so did Carlos Correa who went 3-4 on the night with a run and an RBI. Evan Gattis tripled in the sixth inning with 2 out scoring Jose Altuve that gave the Astros their 10th and final run of the night. Hank Conger, Colby Rasmus and Jake Marisnick all made big contributions to Houston's offensive outburst. Let's hope Houston didn't shoot their whole wad and go back to scoring 1 run a game because the Angels will beat their butts if they do.

Houston is in a tie with the Angels with LAA just small percentage points ahead because they have played two less games than the Astros. Up tonight Houston will have Lance McCullers (4-3, 2.60 ERA) while the Angels counter with Garrett Richards (10-7, 3.25 ERA). Richards has faced Houston twice with a 1-1 record with a combined 3.84 ERA with 6 hits, 6 runs and 8 BB's with 14 K's. He hasn't faced Houston since May 10 when he one-hit the Astros to lead the Angels to a win. Needless to say the offense has got to bring it again tonight. One good thing is the Angels are without their best player in Mike Trout who is out with a wrist injury. That eliminates a lot of pop in the Angels lineup as well as a .300+ hitter. Houston needs to take advantage while they can.

Jed Lowrie may be back in the lineup for Houston by the weekend. His rehab in Corpus has gone well and the Astros are thinking he will be back late in this six game home stand. Hopefully, Lowrie's bat will come back as hot as it was when he went out way back on April 27th. Lowrie's injury is directly responsible for Carlos Correa being called up to the big club. Ironically Correa has played so well it looks like Lowrie won't come back as a shortstop it will be as a third baseman.

 

Linked here is an update of the list of the top 30 prospects in the Astros farm system since guys like Correa and McCullers are big leaguers now. Interestingly enough Vince Velasquez in still listed as a prospect (#6) even though he's still with the big club. Another interesting note is the ranking of recent 1st round draft choice Alex Bregman as Houston's #1 prospect. Pretty heady stuff there. In fact 3 of the top 5 prospects are 2015 draft picks!

 

http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2015?list=hou

 

Still 2 more days after today for a pre-trade deadline deal to happen. Still some big names out there to be had. Too bad Colorado's Troy Tulowitzki decided to go to Toronto. Well, he didn't decide squat, in fact, he was shocked when notified of the deal. Houston probably didn't have much interest in him since he's a SS and Houston already has that position filled very nicely thank you. It would have been nice to get his bat into the lineup. Speculation about David Price being on the trading block in Detroit was squashed when Detroit said they aren't trading him, or anyone else as they are only a couple of games back in the wild card race. Houston is leading that race by a couple of games over Minnesota but Houston isn't concerned about a wild card berth when the division is still very much up for grabs right now.

[KABrother88]

You are still considered a prospect until you reach 1 of 3 thresholds. 130 ABs, 50 IP, or 45 days on the active roster. Once you cross one of those 3 numbers you then officially become a rookie. Velasquez will cross the time served barrier soon but until then he is still considered a prospect. But how bout my boy Brett Phillips jumping to the #2 prospect in our system...also moved up to #39 overall from around 80-90 and entered the top 10 OFs at #9

[Big T]

Astros are back in first place! Hey guys, been a while! Lol After graduating last May things kind of went mental and quite frankly haven't stopped yet. Haha But the end is in site and I am hoping to get back over here and posting more often.

[KABrother88]

Astros are back in first place! Hey guys, been a while! Lol After graduating last May things kind of went mental and quite frankly haven't stopped yet. Haha But the end is in site and I am hoping to get back over here and posting more often.

 

Holy crap he's alive...well with football season cranking up and Houston hopefully continuing to push for the playoffs things are about to get fun.

 

After tonight 6-3 win over Anaheim Houston announced Jed Lowrie would be actives from the DL and start at 3rd tomorrow night. Corresponding move will be to DFA RHP Roberto Hernandez.

[KABrother88]

Well...Houston just got a bat in Milwaukee OF Carlos Gomez but I'm honestly not a fan of the deal...along with Gomez we get RHP Mike Fiers...going back to Milwaukee is OF Domingo Santana, RHP Adrian Houser, and LHP Josh Hader.......along with #2 prospect OF Brett Phillips who I've already stated I felt like was an excellent prospect. I guess with Houston taking Tucker and Cameron in the draft they felt like an OFers were expendable but I loved what Phillips brought to the table. But anyway, Gomez will provide a decent bat but he is an exceptional CFer with good speed

[Big T]

CASTRO!!!! Walk off three run homer! Astros are now two up in the AL West and just swept the Angles!

 

As for Gomez, the Astros gave up too much. Marisnik was a great CF and what he gave up on offense he made up with base running and defense.

[KABrother88]

Well the deadline has come and gone with no additional moves although several reports had us linked to San Diego's Craig Kimbrell and Cincinnati's Aroldis Chatman (2 of the best closers in baseball). While Houston's bullpen has been really good this year, you always like a flame thrower coming out of your pen in October. Having said that I'm going to be curious to see if Houston goes this route I'm about to lay out. With the addition of Mike Fiers in the Milwaukee deal, someone has to leave the rotation. The front office has already said Lance McCullers will be on an inning limit, therefore making him potentially unavailable come playoff time if we make it (a la Stephen Strasburg in Washington a few years ago). My solution is potentially moving McCullers to the pen, therefore extending the amount of time he's available, while also potentially filling the flamethrower void in the bullpen. Currently McCullers has thrown 105.1 IP and the reported inning limit I've seen was 150. Coming into this year his career high was 104 IP in 2013. I think moving him to the pen now could potentially keep him available throughout the playoffs, and while you hate to lose a starter of his caliber what good will he do you if you burn him out before September?

[eagle eye]

Man, it's great to see you guys posting! Missed you Big T and congratulations on the graduation. Well done!

 

Yep we swept the Angels and now have a 2 game lead going into tonight's game. 90 something days in first place while the Angels enjoyed 21 days. I'll put the same question to the thread that I heard last night. What is to become of the rotation with the addition of Fiers? Is Feldman (who is pitching pretty good tonight and he did well in his last outing against KC) the most likely candidate to be bumped? Maybe Fiers will take Roberto Hernandez' spot as a long reliever. Interesting question. I have also heard that Houston likes Marisnick so much they will ask Gomez to play left. So, what's to become of Colby Rasmus or Preston Tucker when George Springer returns? Too much talent? Nice problem to have. BTW, Gomez is in center batting 2nd while Marisnick is enjoying (?) a day off.

 

I agree that the loss of Phillips is a big blow. If Kyle Tucker is all that maybe it's not as bad as it may have been. You can't say Jeff Luhnow didn't try to land big fish by the trading deadline today. The Astros made a bid for David Price, Cole Hamels (I don't like the guy after the way he stiffed the Rangers a couple of years ago) as well as last second pushes for San Diego closer Craig Kimbrell and Reds closer Aroldis Chapman but it's not like Gregerson has been chopped liver even though he can make you hold your breathe at times. Scott Kazmir has been awesome since coming to Houston. He is literally living a dream of playing for a team he has always wanted to play for. I'd say 14-2/3 scoreless innings ain't bad in his first two starts--both wins. Both against quality teams. Gomez is in the game tonight and so far in the4th he is 0-2 with the Astros losing 1-0.

 

Arizona has been hot lately, coming into Houston on a 5 game winning streak. Houston needs to stay hot too!

 

I have an alert that a fan has been taken to the hospital at tonight's game. A man lay motionless in the stands prior to the beginning of the game. Paramedics and first responders worked on him for 10 minutes before taking him out of the stands on a backboard with a machine continuing to do chest compressions. Hopefully this story has a happy ending. God speed.

Edited August 1, 2015 by eagle eye

[Big T]

So freaking frustrated. Carlos Gomez is 0-3 with an error in the outfield that lead to 2 runs scoring. Why the hell did the Astros trade for him when they have one of THE BEST defensive CF in the game in Jake who also is a great base runner. I do NOT understand this move in the slightest. Sure Jake was inconsistent with the bat, but he made up for that with defense and lets be honest, Carlos Gomez isn't that much more of a consistent hitter than Jake. Over here shaking my head. Luhnow, love ya man, but you screwed the pooch on this one. Edited August 1, 2015 by Big T

[Big T]

Should have been a 4-2 Astros win. Thanks Carlos Gomez.

[Big T]

Two homers each from Correa and Conger including a grand slam from Conger and the Astros bounce back nicely from the disappointment of last night to win 9-2 and give Dallas his 13 win of the year. It was a great crowd tonight and a fun game Go get 'em Astros! Rubber game coming up tomorrow afternoon as the Astros go for the series win.

[KABrother88]

Went to the game today...the buzz is definitely coming back into Minute Maid. Still not to '04-'05 levels but that was on another level...and it's just the beginning of August...really looking forward to the race down the stretch.

[Big T]

I wasn't following the Astros during 04-05, I was 13 to 14 at the time, so I don't remember what it was like. The first year I really followed the Astros was the year that they went out and got Preston Willson to replace Carlos Beltran in CF. I think that was 06. So it is nice to see this level of excitment starting to build in Houston. I still don't know if the Astros have enough in the pen to out last the Angles and win the ALW outright, but barring a complete catastrophe I do believe I will be seeing my Astros in the playoffs for the first time since I have been a fan.

[KABrother88]

Actually we only had Beltran for the 2004 run where we lost to St Louis in 7 games in the NLCS after being up 3-2 (friggin Jim Edmonds). Beltran then signed with the Mets and Willy T took over in CF in 2005 as we advanced to the World Series. Beltran was special for us in '04 though...in 90 regular season games he hit 23 HRs, and was 28 for 28 in steals while playing Gold Glove worthy CF...but his stay was exclamated by his post season run...in 5 games of the NLDS he hit .455 with 4 HRs and 9 RBI while going 2 for 2 in steals...then in the 7 game NLDS he hit .417 with 4 more HRs and 4 for 4 in steals...so all told in 102 games he hit 31 HRs and went 34 for 34 in steals...then he got paid lol

[eagle eye]

Actually we only had Beltran for the 2004 run where we lost to St Louis in 7 games in the NLCS after being up 3-2 (friggin Jim Edmonds). Beltran then signed with the Mets and Willy T took over in CF in 2005 as we advanced to the World Series. Beltran was special for us in '04 though...in 90 regular season games he hit 23 HRs, and was 28 for 28 in steals while playing Gold Glove worthy CF...but his stay was exclamated by his post season run...in 5 games of the NLDS he hit .455 with 4 HRs and 9 RBI while going 2 for 2 in steals...then in the 7 game NLDS he hit .417 with 4 more HRs and 4 for 4 in steals...so all told in 102 games he hit 31 HRs and went 34 for 34 in steals...then he got paid lol

 

The hell of it was the deal he signed with the Mets wasn't all that much more than he was offered by Houston. In the long run he would have made more money in Houston because of the tax rates, the state tax and the cost of living in NY state is so much higher than Texas. NY was where Beltran's career went to die. Not die actually but he never was on a team that enjoyed the success the Astros had in '04 and '05. Okay that's a lie. The Mets paid him through the nose and he was on really good teams in San Francisco and St Louis but his timing was a hair off as the Giants won the world series in 2010 when he was still with the Mets and he was traded to St Louis in the off season AFTER the Cards won the 2011 WS. To add insult to injury the Giants won the 2012 WS. In life timing is everything and Beltran's timing was lousy. If Beltran has stayed with Houston in 2005 he would have gone to the WS and, who knows, maybe Beltran's bat could have made a difference for Astros. There were guys who left like Darryl Kile who didn't get all that much more money than Houston was offering and that's not a lie. Houston was offering around $21MM a year while Kile got $24MM from the Rockies. Mike Hampton was dealt to the damn Mets and he ended up signing a huge contract with the Rockies but his success was with the Mets where he was NLCS MVP in 2000 and eventually lost to the Yankees in WS.

 

The Astros took care of business on Sunday winning the rubber game of the 3 game series with Arizona by a score of 4-1. Collin McHugh is the luckiest guy on the planet. Seems like every start he struggles and struggles. Sometimes it's like yesterday with him making pitches when the chips are down to get out of trouble without allowing many runs but, more often than not, he gives up hits and runs and still gets wins because he's the pitcher who gets run support. Carlos Gomez, after a poor showing on Friday where he didn't hit and he made a critical error that cost Houston the game. On Saturday and Sunday he was much better, both in the field and at the plate. The 3 runs he drove in yesterday was more than enough to give Houston the win. Carlos Correa has suddenly gotten hot as well. With the Angels being swept by the Dodgers Houston now enjoys a 4 game lead in the division and 8 games over Texas who they begin a series with tonight in Arlington.

 

July is in the books and all in all I'm sure Houston may want to forget a large part of the month. Houston began the month with a win over Kansas City completing a 3 game sweep which, at the time, gave Houston the best record in the AL. Things went downhill after that. They lost 2 of 3 to both Boston and Cleveland on the road and they were swept by Tampa in a 3 game series going into the All Star Break. The six game losing streak Houston suffered against Cleveland and Tampa was enough to lose their spot as AL West division leaders, a spot they had held since mid April, to the surging LA Angels. Dallas Keuchel was named the starting pitcher in the All Star game and Jose Altuve won the fan vote to be the starter at 2B so, for them, they had a good news. After the ASB Houston beat Texas in a 3 gamer and swept the Red Sox at home. Then came a road trip to Kansas City where Houston was melted in the mid western heat and lost 2 of 3. Then came the division showdown with the Angels and darned if Houston didn't sweep them to reclaim the division lead. The last game of the month was a loss to Arizona. It was the first game of recently signed CF Carlos Gomez and he didn't have a great debut going oh-fer at the plate and making a critical error to allow Arizona to tie the game in the seventh. Houston eventually lost in the 10th ending the month on a sour note.

Besides up and down play during the month the Astros front office made it clear that the Astros was in it to win it with free agent signing of Oakland pitcher Scott Kazmir, just a week before the non-waiver trade deadline, and the signing of Gomez and Milwaukee team mate P Mike Fiers on July 30th. Gomez poor start was turned around in the subsequent two game against Arizona where he was instrumental in both wins. Fiers, a starting pitcher has yet to pitch for Houston. He is scheduled to make his first start tomorrow night vs Texas. As for Kazmir, he is elated to be back in Houston. Kazmir is a Houston native from Cypress and he showed immediate dividends by going 1-0 with 14-2/3 scoreless innings in his 2 starts since coming to the Astros. Both games he started were wins with Jason Castro getting a walkoff home run to win the game in the 9th inning of a 0-0 game. After struggling most of the season the last few days of the month and the beginning of August Castro and Hank Conger hit 4 home runs in 3 games from July 30 to August 1. July also saw the return of Jed Lowrie for the first time since April 27 when he tore a ligament in his right thumb sliding into home. Lowrie has been pretty good as he is playing 3B now that Carlos Correa has taken over at short. Heading into August Houston has bolstered their lineup with a player missing for a long time (Lowrie) and incoming talent (Kazmir, Gomez and Fiers). Hopefully later in August George Springer will be back. Houston is getting stronger heading into the playoff race in August and September. In both months Houston will play a lot of division games and they will need to continue their excellence to hang on and win the AL West. From here on out they will need to avoid big losing streaks and maybe actually win 8 or 9 in a row. It all starts tonight in Arlington when Houston will face off against the Rangers. The last series a couple of weeks ago in Houston got a little testy when Rougned Odor sort of showed up Houston starter Scott Feldman earlier in the game after hitting a home run and in a later at bat he was making a big show of stepping into the batter's box when catcher Hank Conger told him to quit messing around and get in the box. Odor and Conger exchanged words and the benches cleared. That testy attitude continued the next day when Dallas Keuchel yelled at Odor to sit down after he disagreed with a called third strike. Maybe a little bad blood is brewing which will spice up this intrastate rivalry. For July Houston went 12-12 for the month and their overall record as of July 31st was 58-46 with a 2 game lead over the LA Angels that has since grown to 4 games. BTW with their 60th win came yesterday. In 2014 their 60th win came September 2nd. What a difference a year makes, huh?

[eagle eye]

Didja ever have one of those days at work when nothing, and I mean nothing goes right? Yeah, me too. Well, Lance McCullers and Mike Fiers have one of those days last night in Arlington. McCullers WAS the AL leader in ERA until last night when he allowed 6 runs on 7 hits and a walk in 1/3 of an inning of work. Shoot it was 4 zip before he recorded his first out. Easily the shortest outing of his short career. Mike Friars came in in the 2nd but in the 3rd his world came crashing down on his head as he allowed 5 runs in the frame and that was about it except for an oh-by-the-way run in the 5th off Fiers, a home run by Adrian Beltre that was the last leg he needed to hit for the cycle in the game. I guess in retrospect it wasn't an oh-by-the-way run it was more of an in-your-face run. Houston didn't let the early troubles stop them from trying to come back. The Astros had 3 home runs in the game including a grand slam by Jason Castro in the 4th which pulled the Astros up to a 11-7 deficit but McCullers and Fiers just dug too big a hole for their teammates to dig themselves out of. Carlos Correa and Luis Valbuena both homered in the game. Correa continuing his hot streak and Valbuena got his first homer in over a month. We'll see how Houston bounces back tonight behind the pitching of Dan Strailey who was called up to pitch because Houston was forced to use Fiers last night. To his credit Fiers lasted 5 innings getting the team through the 7th inning and thereby saving the bullpen it's just that Houston could have done without the 6 runs he allowed. To make room for Strailey Houston optioned McCullers to either AA Corpus or AAA Fresno. This is not punishment for a bad outing it is just to make room for a spot starter. McCullers was so incredibly off last night it may be that AJ Hinch saw something McCullers needed to work on. Either way Hinch reiterated last night that Houston would be counting on McCullers during the stretch run. Last night's disaster ran McCullers ERA up from 2.12 to 3.17. Hopefully, Strailey who is on only 3 days rest has a little better luck against a suddenly hot Rangers lineup. Fiers first actual start for Houston is now going to be Sunday against Oakland. OBTW, the Angels won yesterday so the division lead is now only 3 games.

[eagle eye]

I got nothing to say. Last night Dan Strailey did about as good as could be expected under the circumstances for Houston. The defense was pretty solid but the bats just were not there despite having the bases loaded in the sixth with one out and they didn't score a run. If they had scored they would have tied the game. A base hit would have given the Astros the lead but truly lousy AB's by Evan Gattis and Luis Valbuena and a bit of bad luck for Marwin Gonzalez and Houston didn't get squat from that situation and game remained 4-3 in favor of the Texans. Houston had men on 2nd and 3rd with one out in the 9th but back to back K's from Jason Castro and Jose Altuve ended the threat and the game. Houston screwed themselves and the only good thing was that the Angels lost to Cleveland in a 12 inning game that was scoreless until Cleveland got 2 runs in the 12th inning. Houston still leads LAA by 3 games. Tonight the Astros send Scott Kazmir to the mound and hopefully he can help stop the bleeding and get Houston back on a winning track. BTW as you probably already know Kazmir was named the AL Pitcher of the Month after posting an ERA lower than anyone in MLB history for the month. Kazmir was 2-0 in 5 starts in July with a microscopic ERA of 0.26. In his two starts for Houston he was 1-0 and pitched 14-2/3 scoreless innings. Kazmir follows Dallas Keuchel who was named POTM for April and May. Hopefully, he keeps it going in August beginning with the Rangers tonight.

[eagle eye]

Honestly, can there be anything more frustrating than watching a team who loads the bases with one out and can't score a run? Tuesday night's game was frustrating and last nights game was almost an instant replay of Tuesday's frustration. Both games saw Houston load the bases and the only difference between Tuesday and Wednesday games was Houston scored one run on a bases loaded walk. Both games Houston loaded the bases in the top of the sixth inning and both games saw two weak AB's derail the threat. One of the bad AB's was by Luis Valbuena who popped out on Tuesday night in what was a really weak at bat and last night after stretching the AB to 8 pitches but Valbuena swung at the 8th pitch which was high and likely ball 3. Jake Marisnick followed with a routine fly ball to right to end the inning. Like Tuesday night Houston got the tying run on 2B with one out but a K and ground out by Gomez and Correa ended any chance Houston had to win even one game in Arilington. Scott Kazmir gave up 4 runs but the Astros crap defense in the 1st resulted in 3 unearned runs to begin the game. Kazmir's ERA actually dropped last night as he gave up just one earned run in 5.2 innings. Like Tuesday night Houston lost to Texas 4-3 and looked bad doing it. It's only pure luck that Houston is still 2 games up in the AL West because the Angels won 2 of 3 against Cleveland. Houston was riding high with a 4 game lead heading into the Rangers series on Monday and now they are only 2 up. It's getting to where I'm am beginning to hate the stupid Rangers. Houston begins a 4 game series in Oakland tonight. The fact that the games don't start until 9 o'clock could be a good thing if the hitters are going to continue to sexually abuse the pooch the way they did against the Rangers. Earlier in the season Houston was actually better on the road than at home. That was then and this is now because Houston is nearly unbeatable at home and almost incapable of winning on the road. Not good when you are in a race for the playoffs.

[eagle eye]

The frustration didn't really subside last night it was just pushed to the background a little considering the Astros prevailed in 10 innings against the Oakland A's. Winning in extra innings was a little consolation for the fact they should have won outright in nine if not for a bad throw to second by 3B Jed Lowrie that helped the A's erase a 2 run lead in the ninth inning and tie the game at 4. It not all that frequent when you make such a costly mistake and get to make up for it but in the top of the 10th Lowrie came to bat with 2 outs and Jose Altuve on 3rd and the Astros got something they haven't gotten much lately and that's a 2 out hit that matters. Lowrie doubled to left scoring Altuve giving the Astros their margin of victory. The 5-4 win snapped a 3 game losing streak and increased their division lead over the Angels and Rangers by 1/2 game since both teams were off last night.

 

Altuve, Carlos Correa, Colby Rasmus, Lowrie and Carlos Gomez did all the damage for Houston last night with Altuve breaking out of big slump with a 3 for 5 night at the plate. He also stole two bases on the night giving him 30 to the season. Correa got his 14th home run of the season, a two run shot that gave the Astros their first lead of the game in the 8th inning. Except for the first game he played for Houston against Kansas City when he went 0-4 and committed an error that cost Houston the game he's been money. He made a spectacular over the shoulder catch to save extra bases and a run, possibly two, in the 5th. That was a big play at the time because Oakland was leading 2-1 at the time and another run or two may have put the nail in the Astros coffin in that game.

 

Evan Gattis has been in a slump for what seems like a month. I'd take bets on whether he can hit his ass with both hands much less a baseball with a bat right now. Another oh-fer night with a couple strikeouts with runners in scoring position. We really need the caveman to bust out of this funk that he's in.

 

It sure looks like AJ Hinch is tired of being patient with Chris Carter. Carter gets almost no playing time lately, not even as a DH. He's been platooning Luis Valbuena and Marwin Gonzalez at first giving Carter and Singleton a spot start here and there as a DH. Hinch is saying without words that going down the stretch he's going with guys who produce, the time for waiting for someone to catch fire is over. Honestly, I can see a distinct possibility that both men will not be with Houston next season. The shame is neither has a lot of trade value because both have been so anemic at the plate. Valbuena has been hitting a lot better lately and when Jed Lowrie came back was about the time Valbuena's batting average creeped above .200. I noticed the Astros starting lineup, sans either Carter or Singleton, featured every one of them was above .200 for the first time all season. Lowrie's return was big because he was hitting .296 when he got hurt and he's hitting .300 as of today. If Altuve and Correa both break out of their slumps they should both be back to .300 as well which gives the Astros a lot more punch that they've had. In the recent past, because of inconsistency from Gattis, Rasmus, Carter, Valbuena and Preston Tucker all of whom has hit cleanup there was not any threat to worry about after Carlos Correa's spot. Now, with Lowrie back and hitting pretty well pitchers have to respect his ability which means Correa has seen better pitches to hit which has made the top half of the lineup a lot more formidable. The addition of Gomez hasn't hurt one bit either.

 

One observation about Preston Tucker. He is strong and he's got power to all fields if the ball is belt high or lower but that kid can't touch a high strike. I know these opposing pitching staffs have seen it too. A ball up in the strike zone is like kryptonite to Tucker. If he's lucky he might get a piece of the ball and foul it off but most of the time when he swings at high pitch it's a pure D whiff. The kid is young and he will learn how to deal with pitches up but right now he's almost become a liability. But, he's not the liability Gattis and Rasmus are with their .242 and .237 BA's because Tucker has been able to maintain a solid .265 average.

 

Another guy who needs to get it going is Jake Marisnick. After hitting .360-ish is April he has steadily declined to the point where he is currently hitting .227. Marisnick is a terrific outfielder with a gun for an arm but he really needs to find out what is wrong with his approach at the plate. I've said it here before and I'll say it again, I don't think much of Houston's hitting coach. Since John Mallee departed with the firing of Bo Porter the Astros hitters have suffered. You see the decline of Jose Altuve, Chris Carter and a couple of the other players still around and you know Mallee could have helped them. I just don't believe in Dave Hudgens. The other thing is I like the Astros aggressive style but they have made stupid base running mistakes and Gary Pettis has no clue at 3B. He has waved runners on and gotten them thrown out without the play even being close at home on too many occasions to count. You may say, "Hey, WTF! The Astros are in first place!". I'd counter by telling you a 2-1/2 game lead ain't squat and when you get down to brass tacks you can't make those types of mistakes and win in the playoffs--IF--you make the playoffs. Nothing is settled yet. No chickens have hatched and no fat lady has sung yet. Houston needs to tighten up their game and play more consistently if they hope to go anywhere in October.

[eagle eye]

Dallas Keuchel wasn't bad but he wasn't as good a the A's ace Sonny Gray. Houston loses 3-1. The Angels come back to beat Baltimore 6-4 to close the gap with Houston to 1-1/2 games. Texas lost to Seattle so they couldn't close any ground on Houston and they remain 8-1/2 back of the Astros. Just looking at the matchups this weekend Houston should be able to beat the A's but not against the AL leader in ERA in Sonny Gray. Gray improves his W/L record to 12-4 and he improved his ERA to 2.06 after pitching a complete game 3 hit smackdown of the Astros. Keuchel was looking to become the first 14 game winner in the AL but instead his struggles on the road come back to haunt him as he falls to 3-6 on the road. If the 6 looks familiar it should. Keuchel's record overall is 13-6 meaning he is 10-0 at home and all six losses have come on the road this season. He went 7-2/3 innings and gave up the 3 runs, all earned as his ERA jumped from 2.35 to 2.40. Nothing to sneeze at to be sure but still it would be nice to see him be more successful on the road. Luis Valbuena continues to frustrate and confuse. In his last 7 games he is hitting .391 with an OBP of .440 and a slugging % of .652. Where has this guy been? He was the only one in the Astros lineup who made any noise last night going 2-3 with a solo home run that accounted for all the Astros scoring for the game. Evan Gattis also continues to suck. He went 0-3 last night and in his last 7 games he's hitting just .192. Since the All Star break he's hitting just .227 with way more K's than BB's and his spot in the batting order has become a black hole of nothing. The hitters need to ramp it up, I wonder if anyone told them that they need to keep their eye on the ball when they try to hit? It sure doesn't seem like it. Everyone seems to be swinging for the fences and it's really hard to keep your eye on the ball when you swing that hard. Base hits and double matter way more, IMO, than homers because you demoralize opponents with that kind of pressure. A home run, especially solo shots, seem more like an aberration and it's easy to move on. String together some hits, throw in a walk or two then you have the pitcher doubting his stuff and over throwing his pitches. Trouble is, here lately, Houston strings together hits but can't come up with the one that scores runs. I hope we are not looking at a late season fade. In an interview with Carlos Gomez on Astros Bases Loaded on Root Sports Network Gomez pointed out his experience in Milwaukee just last season. The Brewers were 7 up in their division and never made the playoffs. He said the Astros needed to keep playing hard and stringing together wins. Nice advice but in their first 5 games of this road trip they are 1-4. That, my friends, is not good.

 

Collin McHugh is looking to do what Dallas Keuchel could not last night and that is get his AL leading 14th win on the season. He and Keuchel had identical 13-5 records going into the series with the A's. Hopefully, he can help Houston get a much needed win over the AL West bottom feeder A's. The A's send Jesse Chavez (5-11, 3.88 ERA) to the hill. In his last 7 games Chavez is 1-5 with a 6.23 ERA. Let's hope Houston can take advantage of a pitcher in a slump.

 

Houston made yet another deal yesterday. They signed starting pitcher from Arizona Oliver Perez. Here's a brief article from Astros.com about the deal.

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/141902124

[eagle eye]

Even Collin McHugh, he of the unflagging luck couldn't overcome the sleeping bats of his teammates and his bid to be the first 14 game winner in the AL was swept under a rug of ineptitude. Houston had 11 base runners yesterday, 6 by hits and 5 BB's and the Astros still only managed 1 run on a solo home run by Preston Tucker. Jose Altuve went 2-5 and Carlos Correa was 0-2 but he worked 2 walks with hits by Valbuena, Rasmus and Chris Carter who went 1-4 and actually raised his BA to .182. Trouble was of all the hits with the walks Houston couldn't seem to get one of those hits when it meant something. Now after being swept by Texas in 3 games and losing 2 of 3 to Oakland they are 1-5 since they swept the Angels just prior to this disaster of a road trip. When it began Houston had a 4 game lead on LAA and 8 on Texas now that division lead is a mere 1-1/2 and 4-1/2 games respectively. Houston has one more game in Oakland and Houston will send newly acquired P Mike Fiers to the hill in his first start for Houston. He came into a game earlier in the week after Lance McCullers got bombed out of the game against the Rangers on Monday after just 1/3 of an inning. Fiers got bombed too. McCullers gave up 6 runs and Fiers gave up 5 in an 11-9 slugfest loss. Fiers will have a chance to redeem himself against the suddenly hot hitting A's.

[eagle eye]

It's all I can do to keep from running off a string of 4 letter words. I was already pissed at the Astros for just managing 1 run up to the ninth inning. I felt a little better when Colby Rasmus got his first hit of the game in the top of the 9th, a two run no out bomb to right. This gave Houston a 4-3 lead. Never mind that there were no outs and Houston couldn't get one base runner the rest of the inning, they had the lead with 3 outs to go. In walks Luke Gregerson who had 1st and 3rd before recording the first out. Next batter, Billy Butler, Gregerson uncorked a wild pitch. Jason Castro hustled to keep the runner at 3rd but the guy on 1st was able to advance to 2nd. It was then Houston decided to load the bases to set up a double play opportunity. Coco Crisp flew out to left and Jake Marisnick fired the ball in preventing the man on 3rd from scoring. Next batter Gregerson faced was Josh Reddick who grounded back to Gregerson but it was shot that caromed off Gregerson's ankle scoring Mark Canha from 3rd. All batters advanced so the bases were still loaded with Danny Valencia up and he singled to left easily scoring Billy Burns from 3rd giving the A's a walkout win over the Astros. OMG I am pissed! Mike Fiers pitched his ass off today going 6.2 innings of 5 hit, one run ball. Oliver Perez made his first appearance getting the last out of the 7th for Fiers then it all went to shit. Between Will Harris, Tony Sipp and Luke Gregerson they gave up 4 earned runs that ultimately cost them the game. Harris got charged with 2 runs in the 8th but make no mistake Sipp screwed the pooch giving up a walk and a hit that allowed the A's to score their 2nd run in the inning. For the week Houston lost 6 games out 7. 3 to the Rangers and 3 of 4 to bottom feeding Oakland A's. Lord, I'm pissed. To make matters worse the Angels came through with a walkoff run in the 11th inning to break a 4-4 tie. With two outs the Angels had a runner on 2nd with Mike Trout and Albert Pujols the next two hitters. The O's intentionally walked both Trout and Pujols to load the bases. The next batter was David Murphy who singled to left scoring Carlos Perez from 3rd. With the win the Angels have closed to a 1/2 game of the Astros. Houston started out the week 4 games up and coming off a nice home stand and promptly go on the road and screw the hell of the pooch. The only consulation is Texas lost keeping them 4.5 back. It was crap week that featured a total vacation by Houston's hitters. The one game they scored runs the lost because it was the one game Houston pitching sucked---bad.

 

Houston gets a day off tomorrow while LAA travel (they really do play road games--even though it hasn't seemed like it.) to Chicago to play the White Sox. After the CWS 3 gamer they go to KC for 4. I hope they suck as bad as Houston did this week. Houston finishes their 9 game road trip with 2 in San Francisco then they return home to a weekend series with Detroit. Houston has to run a gauntlet of 13 straight games without a day off beginning with the Tigers, continuing with the D-Rays, the Dodgers to complete a 10 game home stand then they go to NY to play 3 with the Yankees. I sure hope the Astros are as pissed as I am because there seems to be no excuse for this total collapse. We'll see if this is a deal breaker for the Astros and they fold up the tents and mail the rest of the season in or if it motivates them to do turn things around and hit better. I still hate the Astros hitting coach. Even in the sub .500 season last year Houston bats didn't go this silent all season. I am going to call for Houston to fire Dave Hudgens and rehire John Mallee. There are just horses for courses and Mallee seemed to have a connection to Astros hitters. Guys like Altuve, Gomez, Correa and even George Springer could benefit from Mallee's coaching. I'll bet he could do wonders with Rasmus and Gattis because both guys certainly have potential and they are still young players.

()*(*^(&%*&$C$(*(&)(*)^(*&^$&^$#^%@%W^^&%(*&Y_()U)(U_( *%*&$&^%#&$#E%# -- That was me cussing. I'm not done yet but I'm done here for today.

[eagle eye]

For a little calmer take on the Astros current road trip, here's an article from Astros.com that should help fans (like me) come in off the ledge and take a breath. The spin that Brian McTaggert puts on is a little comforting until you see the hitting numbers. It sure doesn't get any easier tonight as the Astros square off against the San Francisco Giants with World Series hero Madison Bumgarner. Houston sends their newest ace Scott Kazmir to the hill.

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/undefined

 

This is an excerpt from an article from Astros.com concerning Astros prospect JD Davis.

 

By Andrew Simon / MLB.com J.D. Davis, the Astros' No. 13 prospect, continued his power surge on Sunday for Class A Advanced Lancaster, homering for the sixth consecutive game in an 8-0 win over High Desert.

Davis connected on a two-run shot in the fifth inning off left-hander Felix Carvallo and finished 2-for-4 with four RBIs. The 22-year-old third baseman has gone deep once in each game during the streak, which began on Tuesday against Bakersfield, and he is 12-for-26 with 15 RBIs overall.

 

 

Even before the streak, Davis was on a tear. Over his last 15 games, he is batting .379 with six doubles, nine homers, 28 RBIs and a 1.000 slugging percentage.