May 26, 2016
Astros 4, Orioles 2
W: McCullers (1-1) L: Gausman (0-2) S: Giles (1)
How to sweep a series:
Astros win 5th Wednesday game in a row.
WP: Pat Neshek (2-0)
LP: Tyler Wilson (2-3)
Save: Luke Gregerson (12)
Before last year, when the Astros were generally acknowledged as the worst team in baseball, the Astros had such a knack for winning on Wednesdays that it was determined that The Norse God Wotan must be one of the Baseball Gods and he that liked to shine his light upon the woeful Astros. Last year, the team was good, and Wotan became bored and disinterested, and the Astros Wednesday record was on par with the won-loss record of every other day of the week.
This years rocky start seems to have piqued the interest of our old friend Wotan. After losing the first 3 Wednesday games this year, the Astros have now won 5 Wednesday games in a row. Is it the dollar dogs? But wait there’s more, another interesting fact, that I’m sure is being overlooked by the ABT (Astros Brain Trust); in May, the Astros are 8 wins and 2 losses in games played on Mondays. Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. By contrast the team has only 4 wins against 9 losses in games not played on Wednesdays, Mondays, or Tuesdays. That’s just ridiculous. Maybe it’s time for these advance metrics guys to start factoring in days of the week in their equation.
Starter Collin McHugh struck out a season-high 10 over 5 1/3 innings, allowing eight hits and a walk, while surrendering 3 runs in a no-decision. His second strong start in a row without a victory to show for it. Pat Neshek earned the win with two-thirds of an inning in relief of McHugh in the sixth, and Luke Gregerson closed out the game with a scoreless ninth for his 10th save. Ken Giles in the 7th and Will Harris in the 8th were sharp as nails with holds in each of their respective innings.
After falling behind 1-0 after the first inning, Marwin Gonzales led off the third with a single, advanced to second on Tony Kemp’s sacrifice bunt, then scored on George Spinger’s RBI single. Evan Gattis, who started the night behind the plate, continued his power surge. His 2 run homer to left in the 4th put the Astros up, 3-1.
The Orioles tied it up with 2 runs in the 6th inning, and the Astros struck back in the bottom of the inning with a solo homer by Luis Valbuena to put the Astros back on top for good at 4-3. It was Valbuena’s 4th homer and 13th RBI on the season, it seems like most of that production has been in the past week.
Since Gattis’ refresher course in minor leagues, he’s hit four homers and recorded a hit in seven of eight games. Thursday Lance McCullers faces Kevin Gausman in a 7:10pm CST start.
| Attendance – 25618 |
| Game Time – 2:58 |
| Temperature – 73 |
| Umpires – Home – Jordan Baker, First Base – Greg Gibson, Second Base – Ed Hickox, Third Base – Dana DeMuth |
May 24, 2016
Astros 3, Orioles 2 (13 innings)
W: Feliz (2-1) L: Bundy (0-1)
Once again, the Astros got a good-not-great starting pitching performance. Once again, the Astros got a largely shutdown performance from the bullpen. Once again, the Astros allowed only 2 runs.
But this time, they eked out a win.
How?
Well, by producing 2 runs in regulation instead of 1. No, the flip-flop of Springer and Altuve was not responsible for this. Rather, there was actually a runner on when Valbuena(?!?!) homered, despite Moran’s best efforts to remove this via double play.
Foster allowed solo homers to Alvarez and Machado; no shame there – Machado may be ahead of Altuve this year by a nose for the MVP. Hitch decided to lift him in the 6th with 2 out, so he fell just short of a “quality start”, but it was quality nonetheless. The bullpen then locked things down, with a brief hiccup for Gregerson to make things verrrrrrry interesting in the 9th.
Flipping Altuve and Springer seemed to wake up Springer, as he reached 5 of 6 times, but did nothing to shake Altuve from his brief “funk”, as he went hitless.
By the 13th, the typical feeling of “we will never score again” had set in, but Little Tony Kemp knocked one over the head of Adam Jones for a triple. (Note: the look on Kemp’s face as he raced around second was great. Little League excitement there.)
Orioles fans will probably second guess how things proceeded from there; walking Springer AND Altuve to face Correa makes sense on one level (you need the force at home), but with Springer’s free-swinging ways, it may have made more sense to go for the K against Springer, then walk Altuve to set up a DP without loading the bases. But they made their choice, and Correa FINALLY woke up to smack a single up the middle for the win.
Bottom line – a win the Astros absolutely had to have.
PS: Colby, the HPU was absolutely horrible. But you cannot get thrown out of the game. It leaves us with a cleanup hitter whose 2016 performance has shown him as likely to get a hit as an average fan.
Baltimore Colts @ Houston Oilers
May 24-26, 2016
It’s time for a history lesson.
On June 1, 2005, the Houston Chronicle declared the Astros’ season dead, complete with a tombstone pic that, to its credit, is still fairly memorable in Astrodom. The team was 19-32 entering the day’s game and had the same record through 51 games as the 90-loss 2000 team. We all know how the story goes: the Astros won that day, caught fire, climbed above .500 by the All-Star break, and went on to win the NL Wild Card and the NL Pennant. Many credited the Chron’s article with playing some part in turning the Astros’ season around.
I am here to call bullshit.
You see, someone had already beaten the Chron to the punch. That person was none other than Kevin, co-founder of OWA’s progenitor, Kev & Scott’s AstrosConnection. Eleven years ago today, on May 24, 2005, El Jefe pointed to the outfield fence and called the granddaddy of all shots: “It ends here.” The Astros did lose that night to drop to 15-30 through 45 games and extend their losing streak to seven games. However, the next day they won to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Fuck The Cubs at Wrigley, went to Milwaukee and took two of three from the Brewers, and then took two of three from the Reds in Cincinnati. In commenting on the team’s incredible turnaround, many in the media cited May 24 as the date after which things got better.
The 2016 Astros have played 45 games. At 17-28 they are not quite as bad as the 2005 team, but they’re close. Both teams’ records through 45 games represent the nadir of their respective seasons. Their four-game losing streak is not as bad as the 2005 team’s was, but it’s close. We know, just like we knew with the 2005 team, that despite whatever they’ve done to this point they are capable of winning more games.
Kevin, if you’re out there and reading this: we need your help. The Astros need your help. Even if it’s just some false hope to hang onto to get us through a series or two, we could use it. It doesn’t even have to be a prognostication of good fortune for the Astros; it could be something much less risky in nature, like “Fuck the Rangers”, or even a shot at Chip Caray for old time’s sake. This date and the circumstances surrounding this team are ordained to receive a word from you.
Help us, El Jefe. You are our only hope.
Tuesday, May 24 – 7:10pm CDT
Chris Tillman (6-1, 2.61) vs. Doug Fister (4-3, 4.22)
To the extent there is a good way to face the AL’s best team, Tillman is certainly not the opening draw you want. After a 6 ER day at the office in Arlington earlier this year, he’s tossed six straight quality starts and the Orioles have won all six. He’s also been stingy on homers (only two allowed all year), but he has been allowing a lot of walks. In his only appearance against the Astros in 2015 he gave up two runs over seven innings but took a loss.
Fister has only continued to build his case as the Astros’ best starter (dammit, Keuchel), picking up a solid win over the ChiSox last week. He did not see significant time against the Orioles last year, but in 2014 he held them to two runs over seven innings. Look out for a fair amount of hits, though, since several hitters on the Baltimore roster have decent histories against him.
Wednesday, May 25 – 7:10pm CDT
Tyler Wilson (2-2, 3.68) vs. Collin McHugh (4-4, 5.13)
Wilson started the year in long relief before shifting into the rotation, where he has seen moderate success: he has a 4.40 ERA in five starts. That number would be lower were it not for getting touched up by the Mariners for five runs last Thursday. Wilson was up and down from the minors in 2015 and has never faced the Astros. Based on scouting reports he is a finesse pitcher with a low-90s fastball, so at least we’re not likely to see a repeat of Sale-style dominance.
Speaking of Sale, McHugh was the unlucky one to share the mound with Sale in Chicago last Thursday, earning a loss despite throwing a very good game. The Orioles didn’t have a lot of trouble scoring runs off him last season, allowing eight runs over 13 innings. None of the Baltimore hitters have huge tracts of land sample sizes against him but the numbers are decent.
Thursday, May 26 – 7:10pm CDT
Kevin Gausman (0-1, 2.70) vs. Lance McCullers (0-1, 5.91)
Gausman battled injuries last year and again this spring, cutting into his workload in the month of April. Since making his season debut on April 25 his worst start involved giving up four runs to the Tigers over six innings. Gausman has never faced the Astros so his experience against any Astro hitters is largely irrelevant. He has a mid/upper 90s fastball with an excellent changeup.
McCullers was another victim of not enough run support, contributing six innings of two-run ball against the opening game against the Rangers last weekend. He got his first big-league complete game against the Orioles in just his fourth start last season, allowing just one run on only four hits.
May 22, 2016
Rangers 9, Astros 2
W – Hamels (5-0)
L – Keuchel (2-6)
Not going to lie, today’s game had a bit of an ominous feeling after the Astros dropped the first two games in the series. It only took 2.5 innings for that feeling to be validated.
If you really want to shove a hot poker in your eye shove a hot poker up your ass read about today’s game there are plenty of places online where you can do so. This site will not be one of them. Suffice it to say, this is not the first time the team has been 11 games under .500 this season, but getting swept by the fucking Rangers… again… in a blowout… at home… certainly moves the needle as the emotional low point of the season so far.
May 21, 2016
Rangers 2, Astros 1
W – Ramos (1-2)
L – Fiers (3-2)
S – Dyson (4)
