May 7, 2016

Mariners 3, Astros 2 (10 innings)

W – Cishek (2-1)
L – Sipp (0-2)

Box Score

GameZone thread

No matter your elevation above mean sea level when you read this, be advised: if someone throws a baseball your way, MLB umpire Ben May is probably going to call it a strike.  Hitters for both teams jawed about the strike zone – particularly its generous upper and lower borders – all night long, and this came to play a pretty large role as the game wore on.

First of all, let’s calm everyone down about one thing: Keuchel looked much, much better than his recent starts.  Despite allowing a solo shot in each of the 2nd and 3rd innings, he settled in well and lasted seven innings while striking out eight.  I’m not going to spend a lot of time on Keuchel here, though.

Given that, it figures that Houston wouldn’t have much going offensively for much of the early game: Nathan Karns had a two-hit shutout through five innings.  It didn’t help that Jose Altuve didn’t start the game, sitting due to a sore finger (he would later pinch-run, stay in defensively, and take one at-bat).  The Astros finally broke through in the 6th, though – Marwin Gonzalez and Carlos Correa notched back-to-back 1-out singles, and Colby Rasmus drove in Marwin with a double down the first base line.  With runners at 2nd and 3rd with only one out, Karns predictably got out of the jam with back-to-back strikeouts of Preston Tucker and Carlos Gomez.  Houston again stranded runners at second and third in the 7th inning, and stranded another at second in the 8th.

It was during the 8th that things had gotten interesting, though.  Leading off the inning with a 3-2 count, Correa took a pitch that was easily at least 3-4 inches below his knees; Ben May, umpiring behind the dish, rung him up.  While Correa incredulously returned to the dugout, A.J. Hinch came out to argue and got tossed, probably as much in an effort to light a fire under his team as it was to argue the call itself.  That low strike continued to be called repeatedly for the remainder of the game, prompting several hitters to turn around and likely question May’s parents’ marital status at the time of his birth.

Anyway, Josh Fields and Tony Sipp combined to hold the Mariners scoreless in the 8th and 9th innings and the stage was set for the Astros to go out with a whimper.  Leading off the bottom of the 9th, Luis Valbuena hit his first homer into the second deck in right field, tying the game and giving M’s closer Steve Cishek his first blown save of the season.

There was also a bizarre moment between the 9th and 10th innings where Carlos Gomez, as he was taking the field in the top of the 10th, made a beeline for first base umpire Jeff Nelson and started arguing about something.  Maybe it was about the strike zone, maybe it was about his 0x4 night, maybe Gomez is having buyer’s remorse about his shaved head – who knows, but Gomez got himself tossed.  Kind of a dumb thing to do, especially since that left only one player – the indomitable Eric Kratz – on the bench.  Had the game gone longer than 10 innings it could have played a big factor.

Well, it didn’t go 10 innings.  Sipp stayed on the mound for the 10th and gave up a 1-out solo blast to Robinson Cano, his second of the night.  And after that is when the Astros went quietly; Cishek pitched a perfect 10th, nailing down quite possibly the ultimate “look at all the fucks I give” stat combo of a blown save and a win.

May 6, 2016

Astros 6, Mariners 3

W – Fister (3-3)
L – Walker (2-2)
S – Gregerson (7)

Box Score

GameZone thread

Yay, offense!  The Astros had built up a 5-0 lead at one point and looked like they might cruise through this one, but some oopsies in the 7th made it a little more interesting.  Not complaining overall.

Carlos Correa went deep in the 1st to stake an early lead against Taijuan Walker.  Marwin Gonzalez hit a two-run blast in the 2nd, which was the 26th homer of his career and the first non-solo homer of his career, ending a MLB record streak that he had locked up 15 homers ago.  Touch ‘em all, Marwin – we’re glad that you finally had someone to high-five at home plate.

Walker looked uncomfortable on the mound and left the game after the 2nd inning with what were later revealed as neck spasms.  His immediate relief, Mayckol Guaipe (my spell-check just caught fire), pitched two scoreless innings before giving up a 2-spot in the 5th.  After singles from Castro and Springer, Correa notched an RBI single and was followed by a sac fly from Rasmus.

Doug Fister had things on lockdown through six innings, facing just one batter above the minimum.  He ran into a buzzsaw in the 7th, though.  With one out and nobody on, Fister plunked Nelson Cruz, gave up a double to Kyle Seager, and walked Adam Lind to load the bases.  This was enough for Hinch to give him the hook, bringing in Pat Neshek to get out of the jam.  It looked like that just might happen after Correa made an outstanding play to his right, reining in a line drive by Chris Iannetta that very nearly found daylight.  But Ketel Marte lined a Neshek sinking fastball down the first base line, clearing the bases and making the Astros’ lead a lot less comfortable.

The team got a run back in the bottom half of the inning with a bases-loaded Rasmus groundout.  Will Harris pitched a scoreless 8th; I think one of my favorite things about watching Harris pitch is how he gets batters to offer at pitches that bounce in front of the plate.  Tonight it was Robinson Cano checking his swing and fouling off such a pitch.  Luke Gregerson atoned for his poor outing on Thursday with a scoreless 9th to close it out.

May 5, 2016

Mariners 6, Astros 3

W: Vincent (2-1) L: Gregerson (0-1) S: Cishek (9)

HR: Altuve (9!!!)

Game Zone

Box score

Win probability

We’re not yet 30 games in, and we’re running out of ways to say that the Astros lost via a combination of poor pitching and poor base running.

Let’s start with the good news:

• After another leadoff homer, Jose Altuve is now 14-27 plus 2 walks leading off the game, for a split line of .519/.552/1.296
• Gates came up with an actual 2 out RBI.
• Devenski continues to show that he is a viable starter.

That’s it.  That’s the list.

Devenski cruised through six innings, his lone run coming on allowing 3 straight singles with two out in the 3rd.  He left the game with a 2-1 lead thanks to Altuve’s HR and a Gattis RBI single in the 6th (after Correa’s GIDP seemingly snuffed a rally).

Then the bullpen happened.

Bringing Giles in to face the 7-8-9 hitters would seem a logical next step in the “let’s get his confidence back” plan.  Unfortunately, he walked the first hitter, and gave up a dribbler that he and White conspired to turn into a single.  Getting the force at third on a bunt seemed to tamp down the threat, and Sipp then entered to face the lefties at the top of the lineup.  Unfortunately, Sipp was all over the place, walking another man to load the bases and then surrendering a 2-run single.  Fortunately he got a GIDP from Cano to limit further damage.

White actually started things off in the bottom of the 7th with a double, his first extra base hit since the earth cooled.  After a Tucker strikeout and a Castro walk, Altuve (who is trying to single-handedly carry this team) doubled onto Tal’s Hill.  Unfortunately, Pettis decided to send Castro, despite there being one out and Springer and Correa waiting to hit.  Castro was gunned down, the game remained tied, and Springer’s fly ball ended the inning instead of plating Castro.

In the 9th, Gregerson loaded the bases via single-walk-single with one out, and then Cano crushed one over Gomez’s head to clear the bases.  Ballgame.

Astros beat up on the Twins 16 – 4

WP: Feldman (1-2)

LP: Hughes (1-5)

Box Score

Game Zone Thread

Wednesday night the Astros accomplished something they hadn’t done all year. They won two in a row. That is important because you can not have a winning record without winning at least two games in a row at least once during a season. Since the Astros have dug an early season hole, it will take a few more two wins in a row and a few less two losses in a row to turn the season around. But you got to start somewhere and last night was it.

After the Twins were shutdown in their half of the first inning, Jose Altuve led off the bottom of the first with another solo home run. His fifth lead off dinger and 8th homer of the year. No one closed the gate after Altuve scored and the Astros took advantage. They grabbed their good bats and swung their asses off to the tune of 16 runs.

The luxury of a lead was more than Mike Fiers could handle. He cruised through the first, struggled in the second, gave up three runs in the third, one run in the fourth, and was gone before he could finish the fifth. Josh Fields came in to get the last out of the fifth. Scott Feldman came on in the sixth inning, pitched two perfect innings and was given credit for the win. Feldman has been nothing short of brilliant in his last two relief appearances. Michael Feliz pitched well for the last two innings to close out the game.

Altuve was joined by Jason Castro (2nd) and Carlos Correa (4th) on the home run podium. Every starter but Marwin Gonzales got a hit, he did walk twice, and the team ended up with 14 hits, and 7 free passes via the base on balls. Both Altuve and Correa were a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. Fun game.

The Astros will send rookie Chris Devenski to the mound opposite Seattle’s Wade Miley in Thursday’s 7:10 p.m. CT series opener against the division leading Mariners at Minute Maid Park