Astros 1, Mariners 4
W:Farquhar (3-1)L:Foltynewicz (0-1)SV:Rodney (44)
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I have to admit, this game was hard to watch. I was able to watch until Downs got his first out and the rest I do not remember. Comes to find out the Astros lost in the bottom of the eighth inning. Two walks and a triple, gives the Mariners the lead and they ultimately win the game. At least Michael Foltynewicz tried, but he needs to figure it out. He had a bit of a rough outing when I saw him pitch in Houston. He’s got some stuff and seems to need to locate it better.

Altuve took the night easy going 0-3 (he did have a walk), but Singleton got two walks while Grossman got 3 hits on the night. Go figure.

Well, the Astros won’t win them all, but they’ve won more than the last couple seasons so that is a good thing, right?

On a personal note, I went to Dallas to watch the Cowboys on Sunday. As a Cowboys fan, it was embarrassing that the AT&T Stadium looked more like Candlestick Park (or wherever that other team plays). But, I could have handled that. I could handle my team playing the way it did (after all the defensive wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be). But, I could not handle some 49er fans, who didn’t stand for the National Anthem, offer me his Kaepernick Jersey. He’s lucky I was so pissed I wasn’t really thinking straight. They were worse than Cubs and Rangers fans together. I should have taken the jersey with a polite thank you. There are any number of things I could have done with it. After all, the douche did offer it to me. I also realize that every team has these fans, but those just topped it off. I get it, your team is winning, kudos to them but a big FU to that fan and his buddies.

On another personal note, it seems lately that I have friends passing away from cancer. That truly sucks and puts things like the above into the right prospective. I would like my team to win, but I’ll forget Sunday’s game a lot sooner than I’ll ever forget my friend Gosia. RIP my friend.

A’s 8, Astros 2
W:Samardzija (6-10)L:Feldman (7-10)
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Holy Moses this game wasn’t bad until the top of the ninth. Granted Samardzija had his way with most of the Astros hitters on the night but Feldman was able to keep them in it. Even Fields didn’t let things get out of hand. But, then came Sipp. Now, Sipp has pitched pretty well this season but he did not have anything good last night. NOTHING. I can’t stress that enough. And who doesn’t have a bad day every now and then? So, yeah, he was responsible for 4 of the runners getting on base that scored in the top of the 9th. My question is why didn’t Porter pull him. Why do you wait until the fourth straight walk to go get your pitcher? Why let things get out of hand on a night where your starter kept your team in the game barely? I’m not a big fan of Veras, I’m not even sure why, I just don’t get a good feeling when he comes out to pitch. Last night, Veras made me wish I had gone to bed early. Seriously, he couldn’t help Sipp out. He let all the runners on base score and added one of his own before getting three outs.

Now I realize that very few teams will win when they only score two runs, but I don’t know that this team has enough mental fortitude to come back from their pitchers giving up 5 runs in the 9th to pretty much put the game out of reach. The Astros had 7 hits on the night and 10 STRIKEOUTS. I would really prefer to see a game where the Astros hitters have more hits than strikeouts.

Bill Brown was feeling bad and wasn’t in the booth last night for the game (lucky him) and Dierker was there in his place. I really enjoyed Dierker. I don’t remember watching him from his previous gig but I did enjoy him there last night. Ashby is the weak link in the booth. I wish it could have been Dierker and Brown or Blum (I’d almost say Stanton but he doesn’t impress me much). Dierker shared some great stories and he even made Ashby sound not as bad as usual. Maybe it was the pitcher/catcher combo that worked.

On a personal note, I’m taking classes again this semester, I’ll finish one day in the far off future. I’m studying French and The Crusades. Surprisingly, the French class isn’t scaring me, but that history one is. 15 page paper that I’m going to have to present to my class. Woah!

Tuesday I’ll be at the ballpark and I’m hoping/praying/wishing the team does better because I deserve better after watching that whole game last night. Toodles.

Twins 4, Astros 2
.Astros Recap

There’s nothing more satisfying than waking up on Tuesday to read the recap after a great Astros win on Monday! What? Oh–Neil T

So, I must admit, I fell asleep watching this game. Seriously, how long does it take to play nine innings? Last night it took 3 hours and 20 minutes. One of my favorite games EVER was the Brewers v. Astros. Sheets v. Oswalt. That game lasted 2 hours and 14 minutes. And it was some of the absolutely best baseball I’ve ever seen.

Apparently, Domingo Santana panicked with a single by Mauer to LF. Please note, that video is of the Twins broadcast so it is biased, yet accurate. And yes, you do hear someone yelling, “throw it.”

Hopefully the defensive woes end today and never come back again.

A’s 3, Astros more than 3
W: Oberholtzer, L: Chavez
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I must say Oberholtzer did not look happy pitching last night. I have no idea if that was just his game face or he was sad because he pitches for the AStros. I rather think most of the pitchers have the expectation that their teammates are not going to score more runs than the opposing team. But, luck was on Oberholtzer’s side last night. He pitched 6.2 (I think he should not have been pulled) innings of 8 hit, 3 run baseball. He only gave up 1 BB on the night. I thought he did a great job and deserved the chance to finish the 7th, but Porter thought differently.

The bats came out to play, with all runs scoring on 4 HRs. The boys scored 7 runs on the night. I really wish they could score more runs than by a HR. Altuve did his usual of getting a hit and scoring a run. I’m also really like Kike. Just something about that kid makes me think he could make it. I don’t necessarily put a lot of stock in my opinion, I liked Brett Wallace after all.

I’ve been thinking a lot about Luhnow and the Front Office. I decided to be a follower. I really have no choice. I want my team to succeed in the future and I have to believe the FO is doing all it can to make that happen. I think a kid set a line in the sad and was too proud to cross it. I think some players get moved up and down for reasons we don’t necessarily know. I think some players think they know the players in the minors better than the FO since they may be friends/colleagues. Regardless, I have to believe that Luhnow and the FO are making the right moves toward a winning team. Otherwise, I might as well follow another team.

On a personal note, I went to the beach on Sunday and while reading a book did not realize I should have reapplied the sunscreen more than I did. I have a pretty good sunburn on the back of my legs, the back of the knees and the hiney area. It freaking hurts to sit, lay, or walk. I know better and pretend I will do better next time. I usually get a good sunburn once a year, but man this one hurts to move.

Another funny thing going on in my little part of the big world is my home owners association. Goodness gracious, people are crazy. We have a faction of people trying to make changes without having any suggestions of what to do differently, they just want change. One way they tried to get change is to cause someone in our management office to commit a postal violation. (Accusation was she tried to prevent postal worker from delivering mail.) What a trip when her personal attorney handed out a cease and desist letter at the board meeting. I’m just going to stay on the Social Committee and plan parties and pass out donuts periodically.