2015 Astros Regular Season Thread

[Big T]

Most pitchers go through a dead arm phase in Spring Training or the early part of the year. I am not saying for sure that is why he is being hit right now, but the way he is leaving the balls up in the zone makes me think that is what it is. Hopefully not throwing llast night gave him some needed rest.

[KABrother88]

Another day another win. 10 in a row for the first time since the 2004 team that was 1 game away from the WS. Not only is the 18-7 record good for #1 in the AL, #2 in all of MLB and a 7 game cushion in the AL West...but it is also a franchise record for the best 25 game start to a season. I know it's still May and this team is on fire but there just seems to be something special long term with this club to me. Hopefully all summer is as enjoyable as the first month has been.

[Big T]

Bring on the Rangers! Astros already hold a 2-1 lead in the chase for the Silver Boot after one series that was played in Arlington. Lets see if the Astros can extend that lead and extend the winning streak.

[eagle eye]

Bring on the Rangers! Astros already hold a 2-1 lead in the chase for the Silver Boot after one series that was played in Arlington. Lets see if the Astros can extend that lead and extend the winning streak.

 

Bottom of 2nd with Houston already leading 1-0 on a sac fly by Gattis that scored Altuve, who led off with a walk. Springer walked too and then they pulled off another double steal to set up Gattis. Small ball at it's best.

[eagle eye]

Why, or why, does the offense always seem to go to sleep on Dallas Keuchel? I'm not sweating the Astros losing last night. I'm not. But why is it that either the offense takes the night off or the bullpen decided to suck every stinking time Keuchel pitches? (You hear that Chad Qualls?) Listen, you pitch 8 innings and give up one lousy run you should have the reasonable expectation your team is going to win. At least Keuchel didn't have the indignity of having to pitch that well AND eat a loss. Chad Qualls is entering the "Lights Out Lidge" territory the way he's surrendering runs in close games. Sheesh, he had 1st and 3rd with no outs before he teased us with a K. Now, Houston has hope that a ground ball can be turned into an inning ending double play but no. He gives up a fly ball for God's sake but it's not all Qualls fault. Jake Marisnick had a real chance to gun down Delino DeShields at the plate but his throw to home plate was horrible. On the other side of the coin the offense just plain took the night off. Rangers starter Ross Detwiler came into the game with an 0-3 record and a 6.57 ERA vs Keuchel's 3-0, 0.73 ERA and you say, "this game is a slam dunk for Houston." (Bad analogy considering how bad the Rockets were down the street at the Toyota Center.) But, noooooo! Houston hitters make Detwiler look like the second coming of Cy Young. The Astros just could figure out Det's change up and considering some of the awkward swings the Astros took I suppose we should feel lucky nobody was injured. The winning streak was fun while it lasted but why is it you always seem to lose to break a streak to the team you'd least want to lose to? That's baseball.

[eagle eye]

The Astros lost to the Rangers again. Fans of Wandy Rodriguez should be happy Houston had no answer for Wandy last night. Everybody else the Rangers have faced seems to have had an answer but not the Stros. Lost 2 in row. Hopefully, we can salvage one game in the series tonight. Scott Feldman looked as bad as Collin McHugh did Sunday against the Mariners but he got some run support. Feldman wasn't that lucky. What did Feldman in was a horrible 1st inning when the Rangers hung four runs on Houston. Just about the time you thought the Astros might get out of the inning allowing only two runs after Prince Fielder was thrown out at home trying to score on a single by Kyle Banks Carlos Peguero hits a two run HR making the score 4-0. Luis Valbuena jacked a HR for Houston in the bottom of the 1st but that was it for Houston's offense. I knew it was going to be a long night when Jose Altuve went to the plate in the bottom of the 2nd with two out and the bases loaded and all he could manage was a weak ground ball to Wandy to end the threat.

 

In the top of the seventh George Springer made, what is becoming almost a daily thing, a highlight catch of a fly ball to right field in which he crashed into the wall about the same time he made the catch. Springer came off the field under his own power but A J Hinch pulled him from the game as a precaution. Initially, I believe Hinch thought he might have injured himself because the vision in one of his eyes was not right but it turned out to be his contact lens shifted when he hit the wall. Springer will likely be out of tonight's lineup while he undergoes testing for concussion. Hinch said that is normal precautionary action when a play has a collision involving his head. It was a catch worth seeing again though.....

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/hou/video/topic/11493214/v103159383/must-c-catch-springer-crashes-into-wall-secures-out

[KABrother88]

Another loss to the Rangers as they get the sweep. Tough to watch.

 

George Springer is headed to the 7 Day Concussion DL after crashing in to the wall Tuesday night. Preston Tucker is being called up from AAA Fresno to fill the roster spot. I am very excited to see what he can do. Was hitting .320 (32-100) with 10 HRs and 32 RBI in 25 games with "only" 18 Ks.

[eagle eye]

Since nobody has mentioned it Dallas Keuchel has won AL Pitcher of the Month of April and Jose Altuve has won Co-Player of the Week of April 27th. Altuve shares the honor with the A's Josh Reddick.

 

Here's a look at Keuchel's month. BTW, when you see 3-0 in 5 starts in April know it should have been 5-0 if not for blown saves by Chad Qualls and Luke Gregerson. It was more of the same crap as Keuchel pitched 8 innings giving up only one lousy run in a loss to the Rangers on Monday night. Houston bats went to sleep on the night and only managed a single run in a 2-1 loss. Keuchel has pitched more than well enough to be 6-0.

 

http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2015/5/4/8548251/dallas-keuchel-named-a-l-pitcher-of-the-month

 

 

http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2015/05/04/jose-altuve-wins-al-player-of-week-award/#27055101=0

 

As for Reddick he had a good week too as we got to see part of it when Houston played the A's last week.

 

http://www.athleticsnation.com/2015/5/4/8546787/josh-reddick-athletics-american-league-player-of-the-week-jose-altuve

Edited May 8, 2015 by eagle eye

[eagle eye]

Astros closer Luke Gregerson has been placed on the Family Medical Emergency List as of today for an undisclosed reason. Presumably, there is a family medical emergency. He can be on the list from three to seven days. Hopefully, whatever is wrong turns out okay. To fill Gregerson's roster spot Asher Wojociewski has been called up and will be in uniform tonight. I am assuming Wojo will come in as needed out of the bullpen.

 

Maybe Houston blasted their way out of their offensive funk with a 9th inning come from behind win over the Angels. In his first game in the majors Preston Tucker picked a perfect time to get his first big league hit. Top of the 9th with men on base he laced a ground ball into right field driving in a run for not only his first MLB hit but his first MLB RBI. Bam-bam went 1-3 on the night with the RBI, a walk and NO K's! Nice start for the kid.

[eagle eye]

The Astros split their series with the Los Angeles Angels which, for a normal road trip, isn't bad but we had gotten a little spoiled by the red hot April the Astros had particularly on the road. This past week they came down to earth by getting swept at home by the last place Texas Rangers. In 3 games the Astros scored a whopping 5 runs for the 3 game set with Texas. Even with the great starting pitching the Stros got it wasn't enough to overcome such dismal run production. To top it all off George Springer crashed head first into the right field wall tracking down and catching a fly ball in the seventh inning of the Wednesday game. Springer has been out of the lineup since as Houston goes through their concussion protocol with Springer. To fill his spot in the lineup the Astros brought up Preston Tucker, nicknamed Bam-Bam in the minors because of his hitting prowess coming up through the Astros farm system. He made his first start on Thursday in LA and got his first MLB base hit and his first MLB RBI as the Astros rallied in the 9th inning to beat the Angels and snap the 3 game losing skid they were on. Tucker didn't get another hit over the weekend as he got his initiation to big league pitching and then some. The Angels shut down the Astros offense for the most part all weekend as Houston toughed out a split by scoring 6 runs for Saturday starter Dallas Keuchel. For Keuchel is was his worst outing of the season as he allowed 4 earned runs in the game, 3 coming in the 1st inning as it looked like it could be a long day for the Astros. But, they rallied and had their only real offensive output of the series in support of Keuchel. It was almost for naught as Chad Qualls came on in the 9th to close the game and it looked like he was really sent in to facilitate an Angels rally. Leading 6-4 when the inning began and when it was finally over it was 6-5 with men on 1st and 2nd with Albert Pujols at the plate. A J Hinch decided to stick with Qualls who got Pujols to ground into an inning ending out. Collin McHugh got a no-decision on Thursday and Keuchel won on Saturday to move his record to 4-0 while Roberto Hernandez was a hard luck loser on Friday as Houston was shut out 2-0 and Scott Feldman ate his 4th loss of the season as Houston fell 3-1. Houston had opportunities but score runs and steal the win but they continued to be quite anemic at the plate. Hopefully, it was just a bad week and they will snap out of it as they return to the Juice Box tomorrow to begin a short 2-game series with San Francisco.

 

The Astros have made one minor league move today as they promoted their #1 prospect SS Carlos Correa from AA Corpus Christi to AAA Fresno. Currently in AA Correa is hitting a blistering .385 and leads the league in many offensive categories. With SS Jed Lowrie out until the All Star break and little production since Lowrie went on the DL if Correa continues his hot hitting in AAA it could very well be we see him in Houston sooner rather than later.

 

Need KABrother88 to update the best of the minors again with this move by the Astros. (hint-hint)

[KABrother88]

Haha...work and life has been a little hectic the last few weeks but I've got the day off Friday so I'll try to put a little something together for ya EE. I'm pretty giddy about Correa getting promoted to AAA though...I still don't want them to rush him but it was obvious AA was not challenging him

[eagle eye]

For the series finale tonight against the SF Giants you will see a couple of roster changes. First, the Astros were happy with George Springer's progress and he has been cleared by the concussion protocols and will be back in the lineup for the first time since crashing into the right field wall head first last Wednesday night against the Rangers. Hopefully, the time off will change his fortunes at the plate as he is only sporting a .192 BA. He has drawn enough walks so that he is among the AL leaders in stolen bases. Now, it's high time his bat caught fire.

 

To make room for Springer the Astros have sent OF Robbie Grossman to AAA Fresno. Okay, you say, Grossman wasn't doing anything to make me sad he going down to the minors but then you think, "Hey, that means Preston Tucker, who Houston brought up last week to fill Springer's spot, is still on the big league roster!". In all fairness Tucker hasn't been hitting all that well but he faced an Angels pitching staff that made the playoffs last season. He got one hit in 10 official ABs but he did work a couple of walks (3) and HE DIDN'T STRIKE OUT BUT 2 TIMES. For a Houston player to work more walks than he has K's, that is something to crow about. Honestly if you are going to put up with a sub .200 BA it may as well be a new kid who was producing in the minors enough so that his nickname is Bam-Bam than a veteran guy who can't hit his ass with both hands. May as well give the kid a shot, am I wrong? Tucker wasn't in the lineup last night against the Giants and Grossman went oh-fer on the night. To be fair the whole Houston roster only managed 2 hits on the night but it was obviously the impetus for sending Grossman down was, in part, his lack of success last night.

 

Finally, after dealing with a bad blister on his pitching hand that popped up in spring training, Brett Oberholtzer is making his first start of the season tonight against the defending World Champion Giants. No pressure. In his most recent start at Corpus Christi was successful as he went 5.1 innings giving up no runs was deemed ready early in the week. I like Obie and he was a guy I was counting in spring training assessments of the pitching staff as a strength. With Obie on the DL Asher Wojociewski and Samuel Deduno tried to take up the slack but were ultimately unsuccessful as they combined for an 0-2 record in 5 starts. Houston needs Oberholtzer to lock down that No 4 spot in the rotation. It's a crying shame his first game is against the 2014 World Series Champs. The same team that put an 8-1 beat down on Houston last night. Maybe Obie, Springer and Bam-Bam can spark an upset tonight.

 

One thing to keep in mind. Despite going 4-6 in their last 10 games Houston is still 4 games up in the division over second place LA who they split 4 games with last week and after tonight's game with San Fran they have a four game series with Toronto who have a .500 record (17-17) and are 8-10 on the road so far this season. The last week and a half hasn't been pretty for the Astros but it's about time the bats caught fire again. Also, against the Toronto the Astros will send Dallas Keuchel, Collin McHugh and Scott Feldman to the mound looking to make up for sub par outings in their last starts.

[eagle eye]

Bam-Bam does it for Houston! Going 3-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Of course Bam-Bam refers to MLB rookie Preston Tucker who had his first multi-hit game as a big leaguer last night. After speculation that Carlos Correa needs to be promoted to the big club ASAP Jonathan Villar responds with a good night at the plate to go with is good play in the field. Villar went 1-3 with a walk, no K's with 2 RBI's and a run scored. It was Villar's 2 run double that gave the Astros the lead as part of a 7th inning rally from a 4-2 deficit to a 5-4 lead. Villar's head's up base running in that 7th inning rally extended the Astros lead to 6-4 which was the final score of the game. After Villar's double Jake Marisnick flew out to center field advancing Villar to 3rd. After a pitching change Jose Altuve was intentionally walked. With Luis Valbuena at the plate Altuve stole 2nd base and when the ball wasn't fielded cleanly Villar took off and scored without a throw to the plate.

Unlike the previous night when Houston depended on the long balls by Valbuena and Springer to beat the Giants against the Blue Jays Houston depended on timely hitting and good base running to win. It's also getting pretty clear, teams better not let down their guard late in games because Houston will make you pay. There have already been more than a handful of games when the Astros put up crooked numbers in 7th inning or later to either come from behind and win or extend leads to salt away games. This is exciting to see this team performing like this and so far it appears they are actually performing in a way that is 2 or 3 years ahead of the schedule the experts predicted for this team's emergence as a real contender. I know, it's only mid-May but with a 4.5 game lead in the AL West it's hard to see Houston just collapsing. It really looks like they will be a team of interest in this year's playoff picture. Nice!

 

While Carlos Correa is getting all the pub on the heels of his promotion to Jon Singleton is trying to show the Astros front office he needs to be in the big league lineup. On Wednesday night Singleton went 4-5 with 10 RBI's in a AAA Fresno win in Pacific Coast League play. This included a 2 run home run and 3 run homer. I'll tell you, with Chris Carter hitting a dismal .150 and piling up K's like it was 2013 he has to know a guy like Singleton could easily come up and take his place if he can't find the stroke that made him the best hitter in baseball the second half of last season. In the "what have you done for me lately" world of pro sports the answer by Chris Carter would have to be, "Not much.". And Chris, you know that how you lose your job, right? I don't care how well you've been playing in the field, no hit-no play, dude.

 

As for call ups, the Astros moved another player up from Corpus Christi to Fresno this week. P Lance McCullers, who as drafted in the same draft as Carlos Correa was promoted from AA to AAA. He has been pitching his behind off so far this season and deserved the move easily out-pacing former 1st round pick Mark Appel. Appel is 3-0 in 6 starts with a 3.71 ERA in 26.2 innings pitched. McCullers is 3-1 in 4 starts and 6 appearances with a save and a microscopic 0.62 ERA in 29 innings pitched. McCullers has half as many hits allowed (15 to 30), 1/4th as many runs allowed (3 to 13) and over twice as many K's (43 to 19). Appel has walked fewer batters (9 to 11) but the difference is negligible compared to the innings pitched and the K's and runs allowed. It's worth noting that the numbers Appel has are not chicken feed. They are not terrible by any means and when you figure the injury and health issues that have held Appel back and given that McCullers has an extra year in the pros it's not time to call Appel a bust. I'm not saying that at all. I think Appel will reach Fresno sometime this summer for sure. Excuse me while I look for my shades because the future is looking pretty bright to me. (Catch that reference to Timbuk 3's, "The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades?" What? Never heard it? Check it out on youtube.)

 

 

Feeling a little funky today. Here's a video of a guilty pleasure of mine. From the mid 80's the song Heart and Soul by a group known as T'Pau. Sorry, but it's Friday and I don't want to be at work.

 

[KABrother88]

Been tied up all day and not able to compile a minor league report like I had planned buto one quick note. As EE stated Lance McCullers was promoted from AA to AAA...well that has changed slightly...instead McCullers will make his MLB debut Monday in a spot start in the place of Brett Oberholtzer.

[Big T]

I am back! Sorry guys, it has been a terrible couple of weeks, but all of my assignments have been turned in and now I am just waiting on final grades t make sure that I will be graduating! Anyways, Looks like the Astros are back to their wining ways. I am very excited to see the debut of Lance McCullers this afternoon. I saw where they brought him up two days ago. What happened to Oberholtzer? Didn't he just make his first start and look pretty decent?

[Mike]

I am back! Sorry guys, it has been a terrible couple of weeks, but all of my assignments have been turned in and now I am just waiting on final grades t make sure that I will be graduating! Anyways, Looks like the Astros are back to their wining ways. I am very excited to see the debut of Lance McCullers this afternoon. I saw where they brought him up two days ago. What happened to Oberholtzer? Didn't he just make his first start and look pretty decent?

 

 

15-day DL due to blisters on his hand.

[eagle eye]

Not just a blister on his pitching hand, the same blister that had kept him out for the first 6 weeks of the season. And Big T is right, Obie looked good for the 3 innings he pitched until the top layer off the blister partially tore off. 15 day DL is only the start. Obie has been dealing with this blister for 2 months and they thought he was okay because it appeared to callas over. Maybe Obie needs to soak his hand in brine to toughen his hand up. (Old Nolan Ryan trick.)

 

> Astros have won 5 straight since their last loss to San Francisco last week. Angels lost toT Baltimore today so the Astros lead in the division is now 5.5 games.

> The Astros record of 25-13 is the best in Astros history after 38 games.

> The Astros swept their second 4 game series in a row with their win today over Toronto.

> The Astros lead MLB in home runs with 57, 2nd in stolen bases, and the relief pitchers are #1 in ERA in the MLB. Not to mention top ten in many other categories. All this with being ranked 28th in total hits and 2nd worst in MLB in K's.

> In the last week The Astros are 5-1 losing last Tuesday to San Fran in the 1st of a 2 game set and 5 straight with a win over San Fran and 4 in a row over Toronto.

> Looks like Preston Tucker is starting to feel at home at the Juice Box. He's hitting .333 with 4 doubles among his 7 hits with 3 runs scored and 3 RBI's. I was surprised as can be when the Astros kept Tucker when George Springer returned from his concussion DL and sent Robbie Grossman by to Fresno.

> The Astros big 3 in their starting rotation Keuchel, McHugh and Feldman all won their last start after sub-par efforts last time out. Keuchel is 5-0, McHugh is 5-1 and Feldman is 3-4. Roberto Hernandez is the hard luck guy so far because having quality starts in all but one start he can't buy any run support. His 1-3 record is not really indicative of the way he's pitched so far. Shoot there's 4 relievers with more wins on the staff.

> As mentioned by Big T and KABrother88 Lance McCullers will make his MLB debut against Oakland tomorrow night. Originally called up to AAA late last week he never made a start there when he was tagged as a spot starter after Obie reinjured his blister. We'll see how he does but I don't expect a lot, not because he's not good enough but because he's making his first MLB start. I would imagine he'll be more nervous and excited than we will ever know. It's a big jump from AA to the bigs you certainly can't blame him if he stumbles a bit. Hopefully, the bats will provide him with some run support to help calm him down a little.

> Houston has been called by members of the media as being two years ahead of schedule as far as their playoff relevance. That ain't a bad thing and with guys like Preston Tucker and Lance McCullers coming up to the big club and Carlos Correa on track with his promotion to AAA it's beginning to look like the future is now.

[eagle eye]

I'm watching the Astros right now and I'm impressed so far with McCullers. With 2 out in the 2nd inning he's already got 3 K's. It really doesn't look like he has any semblance of nerves. He certainly has good stuff. Big T may finally be getting his dominating power pitcher. I know, I know it's waaaaaay early but you can't help but hope. The problem is with those 2 out in the 2nd he's already thrown 39 pitches. He will be fortunate to last 5 innings. An oh-by-the-way double with one out followed by a K and a walk to put men on 1st and 2nd. Houston gave McCullers a 1-0 lead after 1 but he's struggling here a bit. The ump is squeezing him IMO on the outside corner. Gotta love McCullers Batman shoes. Up to 45 pitches. Single for Sogard 1-1 but I swear this stupid ump is not giving McCullers squat. He missed strike 3 on a 2-2 pitch and the graphic for the strike zone clearly showed it was a strike. Runners on 1st and 3rd with a 1-2 count. He needs to get this guy. Dammit, 3-2 count with 53 pitches. Lost him on an overthrown pitch. Bases loaded and the pitching coach made a trip to the mound to try to settle McCullers down. This ump is screwing McCullers. 1st pitch was a strike and Alan Ashby made a comment about the ump. Pitch 2 in the count and a ground ball up the middle but the put out is made by Altuve. Inning is over but nearly 60 pitches after 2 innings ain't good. Houston needs to string together some hits to give the kid a rest. Lucky only 1 run scored.

[eagle eye]

McCullers had a nice 10 pitch 1-2-3 inning in the 3rd.

 

Bottom of inning the Astros loaded the bases with one out and Evan Gattis did the only thing to kill an inning---hit into a 6-4-3 double play.

 

Samuel Deduno put on the 15 day DL with a lower back strain. It just happens to coincide with the official call up of McCullers. Broadcast team said McCullers will make at least 2 starts.

 

Top of 4 - two fly ball outs (8 total pitches so far) What's happened to this ump? 2 borderline pitches called strikes? Wow. Nice play by Chris Carter on a ground ball. Completed the play tossing to McCullers. 14 pitches in the inning. Only 79 pitches but with 55 after 2 that ain't bad.

 

Btm of 4 - men on 2nd and 3rd with one out and Houston doesn't get squat. Jason Castro having a terrible night at the plate. Two weak AB's and Marisnick can't pick him up with a weak flyout for the 3rd out.

Edited May 19, 2015 by eagle eye

[eagle eye]

McCullers night is over. Hinch pulled him after giving up a 2 out double. He threw 93 pitches and what really did him in was a 36 pitch 2nd inning. Depending on if the runner scores he will have either given up one or two runs in his MLB debut. He ended up with 5 K's and 3 walks. Joe Thatcher in for McCullers. Thatcher gives Houston 2 side arm throwers. One lefty (Thatcher) and a righty (Pat Neshak).

 

Houston has squandered some primo scoring opportunities and they are oh-fer with runners in scoring position tonight. The run they scored in the 1st was done without a single official at bat. Altuve HBP, (stolen base), Villar sac bunt-Altuve to 3rd, George Springer walked, Evan Gattis sac fly.

 

Thatcher struggling with 1st batter (Reddick). 11th pitch in the count strike 3, side retired. McCullers on the hook for only one run. McCullers can't get the win but he did a really nice job for his first big league start. You can see he's got really good stuff. Mid-90's fast ball, good curve and good change up. I can't wait for his next start this weekend.

[eagle eye]

I mentioned in a previous thread about Lance McCullers "Batman" cleats. They are the most unusual pair of shoes I've seen on a pro baseball field.

 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2469344-houston-astros-pitcher-lance-mccullers-wears-sick-batman-cleats-in-mlb-debut

[Big T]

Astros take another today 6-1 as Dallas went seven innings giving up one earned run. Gattis hit a 2 run bomb to left in the win. The Astros are now 27-14 which blows my mind. At this point I am just hoping that they are going to be able to sustain this level of play throughout the season without having to go out and acquire a big name at the deadline. Lets see if we can't keep this momentum going and if needed bring in players from within the system to help out such as McCullers, Appel, and Correa. Why go out to eat when you have all of this food in the oven at home? To sell off half of the system for Johnny Cueto would be counter productive. BTW, Houston is on Cole Hammel's no trade list so no Hammel's for the Astros.

[eagle eye]

Heartbreaking loss yesterday in extra innings. Scott Feldman was hammered for 5 runs in 6 innings but Houston came back with 5 of their own. They scored 3 in the 7th, 1 in the 8th and Preston Tucker hit his first MLB home run to tie the game in the 9th. Unfortunately, the Tiger's Clayton McCann hit a walk off home run to end the game in the bottom of the 11th off Tony Sipp. The Tiger's David Price mowed down 12 Astros hitters in his 6 2/3 innings looking like the Cy Young candidate that he is. That is until the 7th when Houston finally got to him and tagged him with 3 runs on singles by George Springer, Hank Conger and Jonathan Villar and a triple by Evan Gattis. Before that Price was unhittable and Houston looked to be in the midst of a long disappointing day. It was ultimately disappointing when Clayton McCann ended the game with his 2nd career home run and his first out of the park HR as his first round tripper was an inside the park HR.

 

Samuel Deduno was put on the 15 day DL because of low back strain. The doctors have prescribed rest for his aching back that has been giving him trouble since spring training. Deduno being put on the DL coincided with the activation of P Lance McCullers who made his first MLB start on Monday and will make another start against Detroit on Saturday.

 

As for Wednesday's win over the A's, I was at that game and Dallas Keuchel seemed to regain his form by pitching 7 innings allowing only one unearned run. He did struggle a couple of innings including getting out of a bases loaded one out jam in the 4th and he got in a little trouble in the 6th when the A's scored with men on 1st and 2nd and Chris Carter committed a fielding error to allow the runner on 2nd to score. Keuchel's ERA dropped from 1.82 to a, now league leading, 1.67 ERA. I was worried that the Astros were going to waste another great outing by Kuechel but Evan Gattis' 2 run monster shot in the 7th gave Houston a lead they would not relinquish. Houston put up 3 insurance runs in the 8th to give Houston a comfortable 6-1 win.

 

There was one play that blew me away and that was a broken bat looper over 1st base hit by George Springer in bottom of the 8th. Springer was hustling right out of the batter's box and he showed some speed stretching out a bloop single into a double that was easily accomplished by Springer's speed. Springer's hit followed a lead off single by Luis Valbuena and ignited the 3 run inning the Astros had in the 8th. That play blew me away and put an exclamation point on all the ways Springer makes Houston a much better team when he's on the field. You have to say he's a true 5-tool player despite his rather anemic .205 BA. I really look for his average to improve dramatically over the next few weeks and the rest of the season. It's hard to remember he's only got 4 months of experience in the majors. The kid needs some time to settle in to be the player he will ultimately become.

 

Weird stat of the week. Houston leads the majors with 62 home runs and they also lead the AL and 2nd in the majors in strike outs with 385. The Cubs lead the majors with 395 K's.

[eagle eye]

Lance McCullers nailed the 1st win in the 4th spot in the starting rotation all season. He went six complete innings throwing 100 pitches allowing 2 runs on 6 hits with a walk and 6 K's. Not bad for a rookie's 2nd ever start in the bigs. On top of that it was against one of the best hitting teams in baseball in a Detroit team who is currently on a roll, that is until yesterday. The only jam he was in was in the 5th inning with runners on 1st and 2nd and a run had already scored when Ian Kinsler grounded into a 5-unassisted-4-3 triple play that seemed to ignite the offense in the top of the 6th. With 2 outs in the inning Preston Tucker, Chris Carter and Jason Castro had back-to-back-to-back singles that scored Tucker and tied the game at 2. After a pitching change Marwin Gonzalez singled for the Astros 4th straight hit of the inning scoring Chris Carter to give the Astros a 3-2 lead which held up until Luke Gregerson recorded the final out of the game giving Houston a victory and broke a two game skid to the Tigers. The Astros, the leading home run hitting team in baseball got it done yesterday playing small ball. The Astros getting their first run of the day on a Jose Altuve sac fly that scored Marwin Gonzalez from 3rd which gave Houston the early 1-0 lead. That lead didn't last long as Detroit came right back to score a run to tie the game in the bottom of the inning on a double by Anthony Gose which scored Jose Iglesias who singled right before Gose's at-bat.

 

Man, are Jose Altuve and Jake Marisnick in some epic slumps or what? Marisnick's BA has fallen in the past month from .386 to .278. His troubles seemed to begin when AJ Hinch moved him out of the 9th spot to 7 in the batting order. Marisnick was not hitting squat and the going off the success Marisnick had hitting in front of Jose Altuve Hinch tried him at lead off which Altuve hitting 2nd. That didn't work either and it seemed to spark a decline in Altuve's success at the plate. Marisnick is currently back in the 9 hole but it hasn't helped much as he has gone from .299 to .278 in the past week. When Marisnick was moved to lead off Altuve's BA was in the .360 range, in fact his season high BA was .368 but, for the last 2 and half weeks Altuve has been unable to buy a hit. His BA has tumbled down to .294. Altuve is still making contributions with his hustle and defense and as in yesterday's game a sac fly for an RBI but we all hope Altuve and the rest of the Astros figure out what the hell is going on and start hitting the damn ball.

 

Speaking of hitting the damn ball, Roberto Hernandez will take the hill for Houston today at 12 o'clock-ish for the series finale in Detroit. Hernandez has pitched well enough to get wins here lately but he can't seem to get any offensive support from his teammates. Hernandez (3.99 ERA) will face Anibel Sanchez (5.60 ERA) and going by stats Houston should win the game. Will yesterday's win help Houston break out of a collective team hitting slump? Who knows but of all the good things Houston has been doing hitting consistently hasn't been one of them. Houston has been making some pretty average pitchers look pretty darn good (David Price excluded).

 

What do you want to bet Lance McCullers gets to hang around for another start? I think he deserves it. BTW did McCullers wear his Batman cleats yesterday? I couldn't tell. He did have an embarrassing moment in the 5th inning. His first pitch of an intentional walk to Miguel Cabrerra sailed over Jason Castro's head allow a runner on 2nd advance to 3rd. It was shocking and funny to see a big league player do that.

 

Here's an article from Astros.com which includes a video of wild pitch I mentioned above.

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/126233184/astros-prospect-lance-mccullers-earns-first-win

[eagle eye]

I usually recap the past week on Monday but I've got a little family get together tomorrow for my son, Chris, who will be leaving for boot camp next weekend. He has joined the US Army and has volunteered for Special Forces training. He's a Lamar grad in 2010 and he's finally acting on a desire he's had to serve our country. That's tomorrow.

 

This past week the Astros had what would be called an up and down week as they took 2 of 3 from the A's at home highlighted (for me) with a win on Wednesday afternoon that Chris and I were at the Juice Box for as Dallas Keuchel ran his season record up to 6-0 and ran his ERA down from 1.82 to a now AL leading 1.67. They completed their week in the Motor City taking on the Tigers in a 4-game series which the split with Detroit winning Games 1 and 2 and Houston taking the final two.

After starting the week hitting .316 Jose Altuve continued his struggles at the plate finishing the week on Saturday with a .294 BA. AJ Hinch gave Altuve a day off today in hopes that a little rest will help get his bat going again. To be honest, he could probably use the day off tomorrow as well but I seriously don't think he'll sit two games in a row.

 

The Astros continue to be able to score late in games to either salt away games they are leading or stealing games when they are behind. Their record now stands at 29-16 and they are now 6.5 games up on the second place Angels who lost today to the Red Sox. Did anyone on this thread believe Houston would be in this position nearly 2 months into the season? Yeah, even the optimist, me, didn't think things would be this good.

 

The Astros begin the final week of May in Baltimore who currently stand at 19-22 in fourth place but only 3 games back of AL East division leader Tampa. Dallas Keuchel takes the hill in a special Memorial Day game time of 12:35 CDT and he'll face off against Wei-Yin Chen (1-3 2.90 ERA). I probably won't be on line tomorrow so Happy Memorial Day--a day that means so much more to me now that my son will begin serving his country one week from tomorrow.

 

Cudos to the Astros who's big 6th inning lead by an Evan Gattis home run to lead off the inning and a huge 3 run pinch hit 3-run home run by Preston Tucker with 2 outs in the inning. This enabled the Astros to turn a 7-3 deficit into a tie game. Also, a tip of the cap to Jason Castro who had a huge 2-run base hit to give the Astros with two outs and the bases loaded to give the Astros a 9-7 lead in the 7th inning. The Astros added an insurance run in the 8th on a Marwin Gonzalez single scoring Preston Tucker who doubled earlier in the inning. Luke Gregerson gives up way too many runs for a closer to suit me but he's getting the job done. He got his 12th save in 14 attempts but it wasn't without some drama. A one out HR by Miguel Cabrera tightened the score to 10-8 and during the course of the inning Gregerson ended up with 2 out and men on 1st and 3rd when he got Nick Castillanos to ground out to Valbuena to end the game. Gattis got triples in yesterday and today's games to give him his 2nd and 3rd trips of his career. He had a good week at the plate finally pushing his BA above the Mendoza line at .201. Chris Carter continues to struggle and the way Jon Singleton is tearing it up at AAA Fresno the two could swap places in the near future. Another guy worth mentioning is Lance McCullers. The guy showed some moxie in his first start early in the week and actually held the Tigers to 2 runs yesterday. With the lack of consistency shown by Roberto Hernandez and Brett Oberholtzer coming off the 15 day DL this week could we see a major change --- like McCullers staying up and Hernandez going down? Could be as Houston seems to be continuing to filter up young players from the minors. With Carlos Correa continuing his good hitting could he be next? Marwin Gonzalez seems to be worried as his production at the plate has been picking up this past week. Getting mighty interesting in H-town.