May 24, 2015

Astros 10, Tigers 8

W – Thatcher (1-1)
L – Wilson (1-1)
S – Gregerson (12)

Box Score | GameZone thread

Coming from behind to win is a big deal.  While they accomplished the first part of that on Thursday (and ultimately lost in extra innings), they closed the deal on Sunday, roaring back from a 7-3 deficit to win 10-8, split the series in Detroit, and improve their division lead to 6.5 games.

Houston jumped out to a quick lead with three runs in the opening frame, highlighted by a two-run triple by Evan Gattis.  However, the Tiger bats gave Roberto Hernandez fits in the bottom of the 1st, scoring five runs on four hits and three walks.  It also didn’t help that Hernandez forgot to cover first on a grounder to Chris Carter, the second such brain fart in as many days.  This was followed by a three-run double by Brian Holaday.

The Tigers added a run in each of the 4th and 5th innings while Anibal Sanchez was mowing down Astro hitters left and right (he would end the day with 11 K’s).  Everything fell apart for him in the 6th though, starting with an Evan Gattis solo bomb and a two-out, three-run, pinch hit blast by Preston Tucker to tie the game.  Tucker has been providing huge hits since his call-up earlier this month and has almost certainly solidified his place on the club.

Jason Castro provided a two-run knock in the 7th to take the lead, and Marwin Gonzalez provided an insurance run with an RBI single in the 8th.  Luke Gregerson gave up the requisite solo home run to Miguel Cabrera in the 9th but otherwise closed out the game for his 12th save.

Gattis was a double short of the cycle, and his 3×4 game finally nudged him above the Mendoza line.  Valbuena’s 0x5 game caused him to trade spots with Gattis, though.

The Astros are off to Baltimore for a three-game series against the Orioles.  The Memorial Day matchup features Dallas Keuchel (6-0, 1.67) and Wei-Yin Chen (1-3, 2.90) at 12:35pm CDT.

May 23, 2015

Astros 3, Tigers 2

W – McCullers (1-0)
L – Lobstein (3-5)
S – Gregerson (11)

Box Score | GameZone thread

Is Lance McCullers here to stay?  That’s starting to look like a distinct possibility at this point.  After two straight games of letting the Tigers score six runs, McCullers held one of the best hitting teams in baseball to two runs over six innings and fanned six.

Oddly enough, the defensive highlights and lowlights came in the same inning – the bottom of the 5th.  With a runner at second, no outs, and the score tied at 1-1, Jose Iglesias hit a sharp grounder to Chris Carter.  What should have been an easy out turned into an infield single due to McCullers forgetting to cover first base.  Then, with runners at the corners, Anthony Gose hit a grounder to Jose Altuve, who tried to start the double play but his throw missed Marwin Gonzalez at 2nd.

Now down 2-1 and still in a two-on, no-out jam, McCullers managed to weasel his way out of the jam and gain a small amount of baseball immortality at the same time.  Ian Kinsler hit a hard grounder to Jonathan Villar at third, who started an around-the-horn 5-4-3 triple play that beat Kinsler at first by a couple of eyelashes.  It was the Astros’ first triple play since 2004.

Carter, Gonzalez, and Villar all had multi-hit games.  Preston Tucker continues to rake, starting a 2-out rally in the top of the 6th with the first of four consecutive Astro hits.  This rally scored two runs and put McCullers in position for his first big league win.  A combination of Harris, Thatcher, Neshek, and Gregerson locked down the late innings with no baserunners and 4 Ks.

Win tomorrow and the Astros can get out of Detroit with a series tie.  Roberto Hernandez (2-3, 3.99) faces off against Anibal Sanchez (3-5, 5.60) at 12:08pm CDT.

May 16, 2015

Astros 6, Blue Jays 5

W – Feldman (3-4)
L – Francis (1-2)
S – Gregerson (9)

Box Score | GameZone thread

Taking my six-year-old son Scott to an Astros game is a risky proposition due to his naturally fragile state of fandom at his age. In college, amidst five straight losses to OU and the Astros losing the 2004 NLCS and 2005 World Series, I figured out how to enjoy the good things in sports without allowing the bad things to get me down or angry. I’m trying to pass that on to my kids since I want them to be sports fans but don’t want them to be overly pessimistic or, worse, remote-control-throwing hotheads.

It hasn’t quite sunk in yet, though. Saturday night’s game against the Blue Jays was a rollercoaster of emotion, showcasing the highest peaks and lowest valleys of the psyche of a young sports fan (this is the kid that wept face down into the couch when Texas was bounced from the College World Series last year). The kinds of things he was saying during the game also proved to be a good barometer of the game’s events.

Before the game: “The Astros have 23 wins. They’ll definitely be the champions.” (I have tried desperately to temper these expectations.)

Scott Feldman strikes out Devon Travis to open the game: “A strikeout ALREADY?! Now I KNOW they’ll be the champions!”

The Blue Jays score three runs with their next four hitters: “Oh no! Now they can’t be the champions…”

The Astros strand two runners in the bottom of the 1st: “Everything is ruined!!!”

The Astros strand another in the 2nd: “Daddy!!! When is the 0 next to ‘HOU’ going to change to a 4?? The Astros won’t win unless it changes to a 4!”

Evan Gattis hits a two-run homer in the bottom of the third: “It changed to a 2!!  That’s not enough to win but everything isn’t ruined anymore!!”

Chris Carter goes yard in the bottom of the 6th to take a 5-3 lead: “They’re going to be the champions again!!”

Marwin Gonzalez goes yard two hitters later: “What if the 6 next to ‘HOU’ changed to a 25? Then they would just stop playing because they’d be the champions forever.”

Heading into the top of the 9th: “They need to open the roof so that everybody downtown can hear how happy we are.”

With a runner on, Luke Gregerson has the Jays down to their last strike: “The Astros are going to win, no matter what.” (I tried desperately to temper these expectations as well.”

Edwin Encarnacion launches a massive train track two-run homer that splits the lighting supports in left center: “Don’t worry, Daddy. The Astros will still win. NO. MATTER. WHAT.”

Hey, maybe the kid is learning after all.

Collin McHugh (4-1, 3.50) goes for the four-game sweep against Mark Buehrle (5-2, 5.54) on Sunday at 1:10pm CDT.

May 3, 2015

Astros 7, Mariners 6

W – Neshek (2-0)
L – Smith (0-1)
S – Gregerson (6)

Box Score | GameZone thread

INTRALEAGUE MEMORANDUM

To: American League General Managers
Cc: MLB Headquarters
Bcc: [email protected]

Re: The Integrity of the Game

To Whom It May Concern,

In an effort to preserve and protect the integrity of the game of baseball, we must lobby for the following rule changes to be put into effect immediately:

1. Winning streaks of longer than nine games should no longer be recognized by Major League Baseball.  Consecutive wins achieved beyond nine straight should henceforth be called “extra wins”.

2. Power hitters should be subjected to even more stringent testing for the presence of performance-enhancing drugs.  These rules will be applied to all players whose last names rhyme with the words “lattice” (this is of utmost importance) or “farter”.

3. Challenges on plays at the plate, on principle, should always go against any team whose home stadium is located in the area bordered by I-45, I-20, I-65, and the Gulf of Mexico.

4. Should any American League team overcome a large deficit and tie a game against another American League team whose colors are navy and orange, the game should immediately be called and the former team should be declared the victors.

5. Mercy rule – If any American League team who has not won a World Series championship should take a five-run lead, that team’s score should be multiplied by the number of that team’s World Series championships.  If neither team has won a World Series championship, the longer-tenured American League team should be declared the victors.

6. Games in stadiums with a retractable roof must be played with the roof open.

7. If a game is being played with a retractable roof open and the wind is blowing out to the short side of the field, the roof must be closed.

8. If a conflict exists between rules 6 and 7, the visiting team should be declared the victors.

Due to recent events we must take drastic measures to restore the Major League Baseball food chain to its intended order.  Thank you for not torching my house because I said moving the Astros to the AL was a good idea your support.

<3,

Allan H. “Bud” Selig
Former Commissioner

May 2, 2015

Astros 11, Mariners 4

W – McHugh (4-0)
L – Walker (1-3)

Box Score | GameZone thread

Let’s be honest.  With the way the Astros have been playing this season, was anyone really concerned when the Mariners got out to an early 3-0 lead in bombastic fashion?  If you answered yes, you haven’t been watching enough games this year.  This was a fun one to watch, too, as the ‘Stros and Mariners combined for nine home runs, setting a new record for Minute Maid Park.  Oh, and they ran away with this one in the same bludgeoning, stomp-on-their-opponent’s-throat style that we saw in San Diego.

Collin McHugh didn’t have his best stuff and was getting hit hard early; even his 1-2-3 1st inning featured some hard-hit outs.  The M’s capitalized in the 2nd inning by mashing three solo homers off McHugh, including the second towering blast by Nelson Cruz in as many nights.  Cruz added another massive train track homer in the 6th – he’s probably still pissed at how his batting average was 26 points lower after the Astros left Seattle last week – but McHugh hung in there and went seven innings, ending his night with an altogether decent stat line despite the four earned runs.  Mark Thatcher and Will Harris faced the minimum in the 8th and 9th.

The Astros roared back from the 3-0 deficit almost immediately.  Evan Gattis reached base on a wild throw from short, and Colby Rasmus moved him over to third on a double.  Gattis scored on a Marwin Gonzalez grounder to the right side of the infield, and Jake Marisnick singled to score Rasmus.  Taijuan Walker got out of the inning with a GIDP, but the Astros brought out the blunt objects in the bottom of the third.  After George Springer drew a two-out walk, Gattis and Rasmus went back to back to give the Astros a 5-3 lead.

It didn’t stop there, either.  Hank Conger and Jonathan Villar reached base to start the 4th, prompting Lloyd McClendon to visit the mound before Jose Altuve entered the batter’s box.  Altuve promptly cranked a 3-run homer to left.  McClendon is now 0-for-2 on visits to the mound ahead of an Altuve at-bat in this series, and should strongly consider keeping his ass in the dugout on Sunday should a similar situation present itself.  Luis Valbuena went back-to-back with Altuve after the pitching change, Gonzalez doubled home a run in the 6th, and Conger went deep in the 7th just for good measure.

Other than the prolific hitting, the defense was a pretty big story in this game.  The Mariners committed three errors, making piss-poor throws and even misplaying a routine fly ball in the outfield.  Jake Marisnick provided a new entry into the archive of dramatic Tal’s Hill catches in MMP history, making an inning-ending diving grab up the hill that provoked this stunned reaction from McHugh:

All in all, just another day at the office.  The Astros’ win streak sits at nine games, their AL West lead is up to six games, and they have won their last five series.  Altuve’s homer extended his hitting streak to eleven games but his multi-hit game streak was snapped, leaving him fit to be tied with Jesus Alou and Billy Hatcher for the club record.

Roberto Hernandez (1-2, 3.80) takes the mound for Houston Sunday while J.A. Happ (2-1, 2.30) hopes to avoid the sweep.  First pitch is 1:10pm CDT.