Holy Shit. They’re still playing baseball? I thought the Astros had lost all 162 games and the season had ended already until I got a telegram from strosrays reminding me about this preview. Come to think of it, I didn’t know that telegrams still existed either. Crazy.
Minute Maid Park
Friday, Septemeber 13th, 7:10pm. CSN, mlb.tv
Saturday, Septemeber 14th, 6:10pm. CSN, mlb.tv
Sunday, September 15th, 1:10pm CSN. mlb.tv
Friday
Jason Vargas (8-6, 3.76 ERA) v. Dallas Keuchel (5-9, 4.99 ERA)
The Astros as a group hit .283 in 53 at bats against Vargas, with Altuve (3-6), Domingez (4-5, 4 RBI), and Hoes (2-3, HR) doing most of the damage. Carter (1-13, 7K) is dismal against him, but he’s walked 5 times too. So he’s got that going for him, which is nice.
The Angels hit .333 in 48 at bats aginst Dallas, with Erick Aybar (3-6), Collin Cowgill (2-2, WHO?), and Mark Trumbo (3-5, 2B, 3B, HR, 3RBI) doing the heavy lifting. Peter Bourjos (0-3), Grant Green (0-4), and former Astro J.B. Shuck (0-3) all lead the 0-fer charge in limited at bats.
When was the last time two starting pitchers both wore the number 60 in a non Spring Training game? Tonight, apparently!
Saturday
Jered Weaver (9-8, 3.38 ERA) v. Brett Oberholtzer (4-2, 2.65 ERA)
The Astros are batting a putrid .000 against Jered Weaver. Thank God we don’t have a lineup of 9 Chris Carters (0-4, 3K), or we’d REALLY be in trouble tonight.
The Angels are hitting .304 in 23 at bats against the Astros rookie, with Hamilton (2-3, 3B, HR) and Trout (2-3) leading the way.
I really like Oberholtzer, and not just because he’s got an Old West last name.
Sunday
Jerome Williams (7-10, 4.81 ERA) v. Paul Clemens (4-4, 5.91 ERA)
Current Astros are “batting” .208 in 53 at bats against Jerome. I won’t even go in to details here. It’s ugly. Just chew on this, J.D. Martinez (3-6) is the best Astro hitter against Williams. Villar (1-1) and Robbie Grossman (2-3) provide small glimmers of hope, but don’t hold you breath on an offensive explosion tonight.
The Angels are hitting .308 in 13 at bats against Clemens. Nothing really noteworthy, other than Erick Aybar taking him deep for his only hit.
I have nothing interesting to say about this game. At all.
Injury Report From Astros.com
Angels:
Peter Bourjos is out for the season after having surgery on his right wrist.
Sean Burnett is out for the season with a torn flexor tendon. Good, fuck that guy.
Coello, Robert is out for the season with right shoulder inflammation. Really dude? That’s a season ender?
Kevin Jespen is out for the season due to a rogue appendix.
Luis Jimenez is on the 15 day DL with a sore shoulder and thumb. That sounds like an injury I don’t have any interest in hearing about.
Chris Nelson is on the 15 day DL with a sore right hamstring.
Andrew Taylor is on the 60 day DL with a tear in his labrum.
And lastly, Albert Pujols is done for the year with “Partial tear of left plantar fascia”. Every time I see an injury report about Albert Pujols, I can’t help but snicker when I see a reference to “the 33 year old Pujols…”. It’s almost like a big wink and nudge joke that writers just keep on bringing back up. I don’t care that he doesn’t play for the Cardinals any more. I don’t care that he’s supposedly a great guy that does a lot for the community. I don’t give a shit at all. I cannot stand that smug cocksucker. And a little part of me is sad that he isn’t playing currently so I can’t boo the shit out of him if I was able to watch the game somehow.
Astros:
Jason Castro is day to day with a sore knee.
Paul Clemens is day to day with a blister on his throwing hand.
Robbie Grossman is day to day with a straight oblique.
J.D. Martinez is on the 15 day DL with a strained wrist.
Max Stassi is on the 15 day DL with a concussion.
Alex White is done for the year after Tommy John surgery.
Our Interesting Things To Watch
There’s not a lot to add here for me. Without a Pujols to boo, I’m left to hate Josh Hamilton and Mike Trout, both of which I don’t really hate at all.
Neither of these teams is playing for anything at all. The Angels are 15 games out of the Divison race, which is a pretty huge surprise when looking at all the money they spent last off-season.
This makes for some pretty un-interesting baseball. I’m a lot more excited about next season already than the end of this one. Bring in another class of good prospects, and keep on rebuilding. Go Astros!
My prediction for this series: The Astros win Oberholtzer’s game, and the other two come down to the bullpens. Angels Series Win, 2-1.
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