Adrift Astros Avoid a Seattle Safeco Sweeping

Posted on April 28, 2016 by Sphinx Drummond in Game Recaps, Uncategorized

Astros win 7- 4 Bats came to life and the pitching wasn’t too bad.

WP: McHugh (2-3)

LP: Iwakuma (0-3)

For the third time this year Jose Altuve lead off the game with a home run, to set up the Astros with an early lead. Altuve has 6 homers on the year. the lead wouldn’t last long. Robinson Cano hit a solo shot in the first, his 8th home this year, to tie the game at 1 run each after 1 inning.

In the third inning the Astros scored two more runs after back to back doubles by Jason Castro and Jose Altuve, and a single apiece from George Springer and Carlos Correa. The Mariners couldn’t match, only putting up 1 run in the frame.

The Astros scored 2 more in the 5th and 2 more again in the 7th. The Mariners did manage to score a couple of more runs, one in the 6th and one in the 9th.

McHugh threw 101 pitches through 5 innings and was good enough to limit Seattle to two runs. Sipp, Harris, Giles, and Gregerson finished the game in succession, with Sipp and Gregerson allowing a run each.

Altuve leads the AL with 17 extra base hits on the year. He’s hitting .330 now. He is so awesome. In spite of all the terrible play and losing, the Astros are still only 5 games out of first place. There are plenty of reasons to remain optimistic for now.

Thursday is an off day. Friday they’ll be in Oakland and Mike Fiers will face Sean Manaea at 9:05pm CST.

The Mariners could only put 14,173 fans in the seats last night. West coast games…

I’m not wasting a clever headline on these clowns.

Posted on April 27, 2016 by MusicMan in Game Recaps

April 26, 2016

Mariners 11, Astros 1

W: Karns (2-1) L: Keuchel (2-3)

Box score

Game Zone

Win (im)probability

There was a Major League Baseball game in Seattle last night.

It involved only one professional baseball team.

fin

Astros @ Mariners – Let’s Poe, Astros

Posted on April 25, 2016 by Waldo in Series Previews

Alternate title: “The Cave-In”

SERIES PREVIEW

Team from a Rainy City @ Team from a Rainy City

April 25-27, 2016

Once upon a cloudy morn I awoke, awash with scorn
At the extra-inning game my team had lost the night before.
Colby tied the game post-haste, only to watch it go to waste
When Billy Wagner 2.0 could not even prevent a score.
After five hours and twelve frames the Red Sox made the winning score.
The Astros scored nevermore.

I rose from bed, feeling foolish that this baseball team so ghoulish
Could see a reversal in its fortunes and not be a bore.
I checked the schedule. Up next: Sea Hags. Could this bunch of scalawags
Be just what the Astros need to boost them to their play of yore?
And another thing that just might get them back to times of yore:
No King Felix to account for.

But then I saw: they’re on the road! A new burden on me bestowed.
I banged my keyboard on my desk and cried to Orbit as I swore:
“In twenty-fifteen they were shitty away from the Bayou City!
“West coast road trips cannot help. They’ll just keep being an eyesore!”
Orbit shrugged at me and said, “Away or home, they’re an eyesore.”
This team’s problems could grow more.

“It’s not fair to make them travel just to watch them more unravel!
“Has MLB not seen the massive flooding that’s been such a chore?
“The team will need a boat and paddle to get them up to Seattle!”
But my complaints could do no good; Orbit had heard this all before.
“Don’t be so negative,” he said. “You’ve seen them turn around before.”
Perhaps he’s right. Good days in store?

Then I realized: west coast games mean late start times. My ears shot flames!
These contests just might be played while I’m in bed catching a snore.
I cried again, “My will is pure! How many more must I endure?
“Staying up ‘til twelve or one makes me the coming day abhor.”
There was nothing to these games that I did not fully abhor.
Lamented Orbit, “Fifteen more.”

Monday, April 25 – 9:10pm CDT
Doug Fister (1-2, 5.94) vs. Taijuan Walker (1-0, 1.50)

Following two outings that were firmly mediocre at best, Fister turned in a solid effort against the Rangers last Wednesday, only allowing two runs on a home run through six innings. Fister also deserved better than to be matched up with Cole Hamels, against whom the Astro bats could do almost nothing. Fister has at least had good success against the Mariners during his career, going 2-0 with a 2.49 ERA in three career starts, and none of their hitters can claim gaudy stats against him.

Walker comes into the series with some early success in his second full big league season. He’s thrown three straight quality starts, picking up no-decisions in a loss to the A’s and a win against the Rangers and, most recently, getting the W against Cleveland. He’s also being stingy with allowing baserunners, currently owning a sub-1 WHIP. The silver lining is that the Astros had good success against him last year; he faced them four times in 2015, going 1-1 with a 5.91 ERA against the good guys and getting lit up for 7 ER in three innings in Houston in April. The Houston lineup also has seven homers off this guy, and Rasmus is 5×10 with a crank off him.

Tuesday, April 26 – 9:10pm CDT
Dallas Keuchel (2-2, 3.71) vs. Nathan Karns (1-1, 5.28)

I’m not sure what it is about the Rangers that gives them the ability to bring out the worst in Keuchel. They blew him up for nine runs in 4+ innings last September (by far his worst outing of the year), and got to him again for six runs and 13 hits in his last outing. That he lasted six innings is something of a minor miracle. I’m personally looking for him to get his groove back on Tuesday since he’s had good historical success against the M’s and at Safeco.

Karns, like Walker, is also in his second full season in the bigs, but he off to a bit of a rockier start. In three starts he has yet to finish a 6th inning and has already allowed nine walks, so if the Astros can stay at least a little patient at the plate they can find themselves some scoring opportunities. Karns did not have the same struggles with walks in 2015 so Houston needs to get while the gettin’ is good. He did face the Astros once in 2015, allowing just 1 ER over six innings while striking out eight.

Wednesday, April 27 – 9:10pm CDT
Collin McHugh (1-3, 7.56) vs. Hisashi Iwakuma (0-2, 3.81)

Man, I just don’t know. It’s tiring to watch the hit parade that always seems to ensue when McHugh is on the mound (he’s sporting a smooth 2.10 WHIP right now), and his start in the home opener against KC remains the lone bright spot in what has been a crappy season so far. The Mariners also went monster mash on him last year, tagging him for six home runs in three games and being responsible for McHugh’s worst outing of the year (3 IP, 8 ER) in June. Forgive me if I’m not brimming with confidence on this one, and I’m just hoping Fister and Keuchel can eat some innings ahead of this game.

Iwakuma has been a steady arm for the M’s for several years, and his record belies his performance so far. His losses against the Rangers and at the Yankees came with little run support behind him, and he did not get a decision in his best two starts in Arlington and Anaheim. He has also progressively worked deeper into games, turning in eight innings in his most recent start against the Angels. On the plus side, non-100-loss Astros teams have hit him pretty well: in six starts against Houston since 2014, he is 2-3 with a 5.61 ERA.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ken Giles

Posted on April 25, 2016 by Waldo in Game Recaps

April 24, 2016

Red Sox 7, Astros 5 (12 innings)

W – Hembree (1-0)
L – Giles (0-2)

Box Score

GameZone thread

THE GOOD:

Colby Rasmus – He did it again. With two outs in the 9th, following a Correa double to right field, “Raymus” (as ESPN announcer Jessica Mendoza called him) blasted off to nearly the same spot his Saturday grand slam landed, tying the game – off Craig Kimbrel, no less – and forcing extras.
The defense – Bitches be makin’ plays all over the field. Springer had two assists, one at home and another when Big Papi foolishly tried to stretch a single into a double. Why anyone still tests Springer’s arm is a mystery; at least the Rangers showed him some respect earlier in the week. Gomez contributed a couple of nice plays in center. Marwin flashed some serious leather at third base, including a very impressive stab to his right and throw to first in the 10th.
Situational hitting – It could’ve been better, but it could’ve been a lot worse. They loaded the bases with no outs in the 3rd and plated two runs, one on a White sac fly and another on a Gattis RBI single. As mentioned earlier, Correa and Rasmus came through in the clutch in the 9th.
Bullpen pitchers not named Ken Giles – Once again the bullpen turned in a hell of a night through the 11th inning. Devenski, Neshek, Sipp, and Gregerson combined for 6.2 innings of shutout ball, keeping the Sox at bay and giving the bats a non-zero chance to climb back into it. Devenski in particular threw 3.1 innings and worked out of Feldman’s 2-on 1-out jam in the 5th; Neshek got out of Devenski’s jam with runners at the corners in the 8th; Gregerson made quick work of the 10th and 11th innings.

THE BAD:

Scott Feldman – Feldman dug a 3-0 hole early in the 1st, gave up another 2-spot in the 3rd, and didn’t make it out of the 5th. The Sox had constant traffic on him. The trend of short outings by the starters needs to stop pretty damn soon or the Astros may not have anything to play for when the bullpen runs out of gas again in August/September.
Altuve’s defense – In Feldman’s defense, he didn’t get much help from Altuve, who booted a couple of plays in both the 1st and 3rd innings and contributed to the Sox rallies in those innings.
Carlos Gomez at the plate – Dude is in a serious rut right now; was 0x5 with three K’s before finally reaching base with a single in the 12th.
Situational hitting, 12th inning – Gattis and Marwin would probably like to have their ABs back. With two runners on, Gattis struck out on three pitches; Marwin worked a full count while fouling off pitches in the other batter’s box, then watched strike three at the knees to end the game.

THE KEN GILES:

Ugly – I don’t know if he’s hurt, pressing, stuff-distrusting, or what, but he’s a bonafide gas can right now and instant rally material for any opposing team. He missed his spots early on and the Sox scalded the ball off him to start the inning, and it was painful to watch him walk Ryan Hanigan on a 13-pitch at-bat to load the bases. An RBI single and a forceout later, the bases were still loaded when Giles let fly with a pitch that would have been headed for the Diamond Club if not for the net behind home plate. Ugly.

The One Where Deli Meat Is Used as a Euphemism

Posted on April 23, 2016 by Waldo in Game Recaps

April 23, 2016

Astros 8, Red Sox 3

W – Fiers (2-1)
L – Buchholz (0-2)

Box Score

GameZone thread

Losing streak: over.

Colby:

Jacked.

Saturday’s game could have had a very different feel to it if the team’s struggles had continued, but the bats came through in the clutch and the pitching held up for the most part. The Astros pulled out of their four-game skid and topped the Red Sox 8-3.

Mike Fiers pitched a pretty effective game through his first five innings. After some trouble in the 1st (including his own error on a pickoff attempt, which ultimately helped the Sox push a run across), he settled down nicely and had retired 15 of 16 batters going into the 6th. This is where he seemingly ran into a wall, unable to get hitters to bit on pitches out of the zone. When the Sox loaded the bases with one out, Fiers got the thumb. Will Harris came in and limited the damage to just a sac fly.

Prior to that, the Astros had tied the game in the 2nd when Jason Castro provided an RBI groundout with runners at 2nd and 3rd. The real fireworks came in the bottom of the 5th inning when a Valbuena walk, Springer single, and Correa HBP loaded the bases with two outs. After working a 2-0 count, Rasmus whiffed on the first two breaking pitches he saw and was sitting fastball. Just so happened that a 2-2 fastball was exactly what Buchholz had dialed up. A few seconds later the ball was in the seats behind the Astros dugout in right-center and Houston had a commanding lead in the game. The slam was Rasmus’s 6th dinger on the year which leads the club and ties him for the AL lead.

The Red Sox were able to scratch out a run on Ken Giles in the 8th, but the Astros added three just-because runs on three RBI doubles (one by Rasmus) in the bottom of the same inning.

The continuing wear and tear on the bullpen is still cause for concern, and at some point the starters are going to have to start going deeper into games. Tonight, we’ll just be happy with a win.

Connect Four

Posted on April 22, 2016 by Waldo in Game Recaps

April 22, 2016

Red Sox 6, Astros 2

W – Wright (1-2)
L – McHugh (1-3)
S – Kimbrel (5)

Box Score

GameZone thread

The Astros have lost four in a row.

Let’s get right down to it: it’s Friday night, I don’t really want to write this recap, and you don’t really want to read it. I’m going to boil the game down to just a handful of bullet points:

McHugh sucked again: 4 IP, 5 ER, 10 hits
Astro bats lifeless: Stephen Wright had a 2-hit shutout through six
Sox catcher Ryan Hanigan’s Hank Conger impersonation had as much to do with the Astros’ first run as the Astros did
Other details could be expanded upon, but they don’t really matter unless you like snuff films

Let’s hope for better fortune in tomorrow’s matinee.

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