Swept Away

GAME 14: Royals 4, Astros 2
GAME 15: Royals 6, Astros 4 (11 innings)
GAME 16: Royals 6, Astros 1

Okay, this time we were blown away. Swept in Kansas City. Let's not talk about it...

To me, the most notable thing in these games was the insertion of one of our new talents, George Springer. up from the minor league this week. Batting second in the lineup, he got a teensy weensy little infield single in his first game Wednesday night, and scored on Jason Castro's subsequent homer. Welcome to the Bigs, where even little hits can have big results. Unfortunately, the Astros lost the game in the 11th inning, so the results weren't quite big enough. However,  this is one of the moves towards the Astros of the Future, with the great talent that we've got waiting and playing down on the farm teams. Is Jon Singleton close behind?

In other roster moves, the Astros have gotten rid of a couple of pitchers, including the unfortunate Lucas Harrell (fans were tweeting their desire to ditch him by his first loss) and reliever Kevin Chapman, whose walks were starting to really mount up. In exchange, the Astros brought up starter Brad Peacock and reliever Raul Valdes.

After 16 games, the Astros have returned to their former glory - last place in the American League with a 5 and 11 (.313) record. In the National League, at least, the Diamondbacks and Cubs are doing even worse.

Next stop: Out to the West Coast to play a series against Oakland, who has the best record in the AL. Then off to Seattle take on my parents' and brother's (current) home team, the Mariners, who are not doing much better than the Astros.