McCullers and Bullpen put on a display in 4-1 victory

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Everyone talks about how great of a franchise the New York Yankees are. Of course they’ve won more World Series than any other team. No other team has won even half as many World Series as the Yankees have.

I want to talk about Yankee losses. The Yankees have lost over 7,618 games. The Astros have only lost 4,459 games. The Astros would have to lose 3,159 games in a row and the Yankees would have to win 3,159 games in a row before the Astros could be as big of losers as the Yankees are. My friends, that ain’t happening. I think it is safe to say the Yankees will always be bigger losers than the Astros.

Monday and Tuesday the Yankees attempted to make a dent in the deficit by winning the first two games of the series. Wednesday, the Astros Lance McCullers said he’d seen enough and with Wotan’s blessing, he went out and pitched a gem. McCullers worked 6 innings, striking out 10 while surrendering 5 hits and two base on balls, giving up only one run on a solo homer by Brian McCann. Ken Giles, Luke Gregerson, and Will Harris were all outstanding, each working an unblemished inning with Harris picking up his 11th save.

The Astros scored all four of their runs off Yankee starter Masahiro Tanaka who lasted 5 innings. Colby Rasmus broke out of his 0 for 30 slump with a 2 run dinger, Carlos Correa drove in his 65th RBI. Carlos Gomez knocked in his 29 RBI before leaving the game with a hammy injury. Jose Altuve picked up 2 more hits and his average is at .357, his OPS is .988.

The Rangers lost on Wednesday, the lead over the Astros is now 2.5. No game on Thursday. Astros travel to Detriot and face the Tigers in a game that starts at 6:10 pm CST. Colin McHugh starts for the Good Guys and Matt Boyd for the Tigers.

Doug Fister and Chris Devenski combine to shutout the A’s 7-0

WP: Fister (10-6)

LP: Mendgen (1-5)

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Jake Marisnick and the Astros pounded the Daniel Mendgen and the A’s Wednesday to avoid sweep. After dropping this year’s first three Wednesday games, the Astros have now won 12 Wednesdays in a row.

Fast working Doug Fister limited the A’s to 4 hits and gave away 2 free passes while striking out 5 in 7 solid innings to become the first Astro pitcher to reach double figures in wins. The Astros are 13 and 6 in Fister’s 19 starts. Chris Devenski followed Fister with a perfect 2 innings of relief, striking out 3.

The Astros opened an early lead with one run in the first and 2 runs in the second inning. Jake Marisnick led the hit parade with 2 hits, Jose Altuve and George Springer also added 2 hits apiece. Carlos Correa drove in three runs and in the post game interview mentioned Altuve getting on base so often as the reason he is leading the team in RBI.

Altuve is something like 12 for last 17. He went 8 for 12 with 2 walks for the three games in Oakland and extended his road hitting streak to 19 games. He is amazing, he is hitting like you used to see Rod Carew or Tony Gwynn hit, but with more power than they ever displayed.

The Astros are 20-14 in day games this season.

The Astros are off on Thursday, this is good, they are horrible on Thursdays with a 1-8 record. On Friday, the Astros will  host the Angels. Lance McCullers (4-4) takes the mound against the Angels’ Matt Shoemaker (5-9).

July 19, 2016

A’s 4, Astros 3 (10 innings)

W: Rzepczynski (1-0) L: Neshek (2-2)

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Win Probability – boy, that escalated quickly

Well, things started out well.  Valbuena got himself the rarely seen “bat flip on a single in the third inning” to take a 1-0 lead, driving in Altuve.  Springer managed to homer to dead center.  Correa brought in Altuve after a triple.  Keuchel was cruising.  Through 6, it was 3-0.

Damn, things fell apart faster than the GZ thread.

Manager Jake Marisnick left Keuchel in for over 110 pitches, which put runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out.  He then decided to call on key offseason acquisition Jake Marisnick, who immediately allowed a double to make it 3-2.  Some chump in CF cut off a liner to get the second out, allowing him to escape the inning without further damage.

In the 9th, the Astros turned to All-Star closer Jake Marisnick, who promptly allowed back-to-back doubles with one out, tying the game.

In the 10th, the Astros loaded the bases with 2 outs, but Other Jake Marisnick (at DH instead of CF last night) grounded out to end the inning – at least he didn’t hurt himself swinging.

In the bottom of the 10th, two out and a man on first, the Astros turned to their only lefty in the pen, Jake Marisnick.  His season-long troubles continued as he issued a walk, then an infield grounder between Jake Marisnick and Jake Marisnick.  Shortstop Jake Marisnick fielded it, double clutched, then threw wide of the plate, allowing the winning run.

Hopefully, Jake Marisnick will have been removed from the roster by the afternoon conclusion of this series so that the Astros can salvage their season.

July 15, 2016

Astros 7, Mariners 3

W – Fister (9-6)
L – Paxton (2-4)

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GameZone thread

I’d like to think that most of the bad puns we come up with around here are not nearly as bad as the title of this recap, which was originally the link to MLB’s official recap from the Astros.com front page.  Some flunky in a cubicle somewhere at MLB Advanced Media was really reaching on this one.  I mean, there are logistical concerns here.  If the Mariners were CC’ed, who was the e-mail sent to?  The AL West?  The AL at large?  If this pun were an airplane I wouldn’t get on it.

Springer led off the game with an opposite field bomb to give Doug Fister an early lead, and from there they pretty much just played pile-on.  Sure, the Mariners got three runs off Fister in the 5th inning, but the Astros were already up 6-0 (thanks to a five-run top of the 5th) at that point.  It also wasn’t a particularly good day for the guys behind the plate, with three runners (two of them Astros) scoring on wild pitches.  One of them, a Paxton offering to Gomez in the 5th, caromed off Chris Iannetta and dribbed about 75 feet away at the dugout, allowing Correa to score from second without a throw.  Correa had plated two runs on a double to left center that narrowly missed leaving the yard.

Fister worked five innings for the win, and Feliz, Giles, Gregerson, and Devenski all contributed scoreless innings in relief.  Can’t ask for a much better start to the second half, especially with the Rangers getting blanked in Chitown.

Astros outlast the Mariners to sweep the series

WP: Giles (1-3)

LP: Diaz (0-2)

Save: Gregerson (14)

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Facing Mariners starter and forgotten Astro Wade LeBlanc, the Astros scored three runs in the first, and one run in both the second and third innings. Carlos Gomez contributed a double and a triple, Carlos Correra added a double, and Evan Gattis swatted a homerun. Leading 5 to 0 going in to the fourth inning, it looked like the Astros were cruising. Then Mike Fiers started throwing meat and couldn’t make it out of the inning before surrendering 4 runs, making the score 5-4.

Chris Devenski took over for Fiers and stemmed the tide shutting down the Mariners over the next 2.2 innings. In the bottom of the 6th inning the Astros pounced on Nathan Karns, Gomez scored from third on a fielders choice by Gattis when Kyle Seager fielded the ball and subsequently threw to the visitors on-deck circle instead of the home plate. J.R Reed scored the second run of the inning on a single by George Springer. The Astros ended the 6th inning leading 7 to 4, once again things were looking comfortable for the Good Guys.

Enter Michael Feliz for the 7th inning, the good news–he struck out three, the bad news–he surrendered three runs and the lead after Seth Smith homered driving in Ketel Marte and Leonys Martin and tying the game at 7-7. Ken Giles took over in the 8th inning and made it out unscathed, he got Pulgasari to ground out to short, and then struck out both Adam Lind and Chris Iannetta.

Facing Edwin Diaz in the bottom of the 8th, Jason Castro led off with his second double of the night and was promptly replaced at second by pinch runner Jake Marisnick. After Springer K’d on a foul tip, Luis Valbuena gave the Astros a 2 run lead when he smashed a homer to the upper deck in RF to make the score 9-7 in favor of the Astros. It was close to a carbon copy of Valbuena’s previous night’s HR.

A.J. Reed decided Will Harris needed the night off and gave the ball in the 9th to former closer Luke Gregerson for a chance at his 14th save of the year. After getting Ketel to ground out, he walked the next two batters and the gave up a run scoring double to Robinson Cano. With the score now 9-8, Gregerson got Nelson Cruz out on strikes for the second out. Kyle Seager owns Gregerson, so Hinch ordered him walked to load the bases for Pulgasari. The big Korean was unable to do any damaged and Gregerson got him out on strikes to end the game and preserve the dramatic win.

With the win coupled with the Rangers loss the Astros are now 6.5 games back from first place in the AL West. Thursday the Astros welcome the Oakland A’s to town for a four game series. Doug Fister will start for the Astros and Rich Hill will be the A’s starter. The game will start at 7:10

July 5, 2016

Astros 5, Mariners 2

W: Keuchel (6-9) L: Walker (4-7) S: ALL-STAR Harris (9)

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I didn’t have to endure the Ashby Show tonight, because I was at Minute Maid Park.  We went as a family, to celebrate our son’s 7th birthday.  There was much to celebrate.

We walked hand in hand from the parking lot, into the stadium, up the stairs, and to our seats.  This boy – who needed months and months of intensive physical therapy just to learn to walk – walked, skipped, and ran his way in without complaint.

We searched the stadium in the 3rd inning for a snow cone.  (They’re on the concourse, most of the way up the first base line.)  This boy – who was classified as “failure to thrive” because of his many digestive issues – got to seek out one of his favorite treats at the ballgame.

We celebrated the fireworks and scoreboard show with each of the Astros’ three home runs.  This boy – who we were warned would likely have sensory problems his entire life – relished the noise and couldn’t wait to see the train go.

We talked about whether Dallas Keuchel was a good pitcher, whether Altuve or Correa could hit better, and when they would throw out the t-shirts.  This boy – who we had wondered if he would ever be able to talk – couldn’t stop talking the entire game.

We came home, and I tucked him into bed.

This boy, who we were told might never make eye contact, might never be able to connect with people around him, might never have a normal life… this boy kissed me good night, looked at me, and told me he loved me.

Yeah, it was a pretty good win.