Growing Pains

GAME 74; Rays 5, Astros 0

GAME 75: Astros 3, Rays 1

GAME 76: Rays 8, Astros 0

GAME 77: Rays 5, Astros 2

Well, it was fun while it lasted. But the recent hot streak of wins has wound down, with 3 consecutive series losses. Most painfully, 2 of the 3 came against the team that has taken over the Astros' position as the Worst Team in the AL. That's right, we lost to the biggest losers in the league. And even worse (could it BE worse?), the formerly free swinging Astros hitters were outscored 19 to 5. That hurts.

The one win in this series, on Friday night, featured 8 shutout innings by Cosart, on 6 hits and 1 walk. Keuchel threw a complete game, but for his second consecutive loss, on Sunday. McHugh had a less than stellar start Friday nigh, with a dreadful inning in relief from Clemens. And Saturday's 8-0 pounding came at the expense of rookie Jake Buchanan, who was up for his debut filling in for Peacock. His line for the game -- 4 1/3 innings, 5 runs on 8 hits, 3 walks, and no strikeouts -- leaves him some room for improvement in his next try. But he didn't het much help from the rest of the team -- the Astros got only one hit in the game, and of course it was Altuve's.

Altuve's batting was one of the few bright spots in this series. Over the 4 games he went 7 for 15 with a pair of stolen bases. He now leads the league in batting average (.336), hits (105), and stolen bases (26). And for all that, he's only in fourth place among second basemen in the All Star voting. That's what happens when you play for the team that's been in the cellar for years. No respect. If he were playing in NY, our diminutive infielder would be an iconic hero. They'd call him the reincarnation of Peewee Reese. They'd nickname him Mighty Mouse. They'd sell millions of his jerseys. Well, I put the league batting title for Altuve on my wish list of 2014 Astros goals. Wouldn't that be something?!

So at the moment we are back to eking out a game per series, if that. That doesn't help much with either our Dust Eaters count or our comparisons to the 2005 Astros, who are about to make an Astro-nomical leap from league goat to winning the pennant. We always knew we'd be left eating that team's dust. But it's still fun to compare.

DUST EATERS COUNT: 3

The Astros record is now 33-44 (.429). There is only ONE team worse than the Astros in the AL -- the same Rays (.397) that just beat us in two series. There are only 2 teams worse than the Astros in the NL, and one tied with us: Cubs (.419), Dbacks (.405), and Padres (.429).

2005-2014 ASTROS COMPS

2005 Game 77 W/L record: 36-41 (.468) (tied for 5th worst in the NL); 13 games behind in NL Central

2014 Game 77 W/L record: 33-44 (.429) (2nd worst in the AL); 14 1/2 games behind in AL West