We're Getting BETTER All the Time!

GAME 48: Mariners 3, Astros 1
GAME 49: Mariners 6, Astros 1
GAME 50: Astros 9, Mariners 4
GAME 51: Astros 4, Mariners 1

I'm starting to love watching Astros baseball this year!

While the Astros are by no means what you'd call a "winning" ball club, they are winning me over game by game. Yes, we're still in last place in the AL - but we're 5-5 in our last 10 games. Yes, there are still the occasional awful losses, but there seem to be more and more close ones, and we are better than on track to beat last year's record low win-loss results. But forget about wins and losses for a minute, and just look at our young players. They're getting better all the time!

The starting pitching isn't bad at all, and there have been some unexpected surprises (like McHugh) in our evolving rotation. Feldman, the veteran, has slowed down a bit after his awesome season start, but Keuchel has been scary good. Leading the league in groundout rate, Keuchel has pitched into the 9th inning in his last 3 starts, and 2 of these were CG wins with no ERs.  Cosart is showing some real promise too. Oberholzer, who was sent down in favor of McHugh, finally got his first W in Saturday night's nice start. And how about that Tony Sipp! In six Astros appearances, he's only allowed one hit, one walk, and struck out 11! With veterans like Qualls and Farnsworth in the bullpen to help season the youngsters, that area will hopefully continue to improve -- well, it would probably be hard to be worse than last year!

Altuve continues to be a true All Star caliber second baseman, leading the league in both hits and stolen bases, with daily replay-worthy fielding plays - and no errors in 85 consecutive games. If any teams consider discounting him because of his diminutive size, they'd better think again. Meanwhile, Springer has come around amazingly. He looks much more focused at the plate than he did just a couple of weeks ago on Mothers Day, when we saw him strike out 4 times in Baltimore. His 4 Springer Dingers in 3 games this weekend helped power the two wins in this series. Despite some fielding errors, Springer is starting to be the guy that's making catches and throws for the replay reel. The Astros broadcasters can't go two sentences about Springer without throwing in the word "tools." The guy's just loaded with them.

What I love the most, watching Astros games lately, is to see the smiles on the players' faces. The camera constantly finds Altuve in the infield with a big grin. Same with Carter. These guys are loving being out there on the field. After a Springer homer, the dugout is full of slapping and slamming and little dance routines. These Astros are not a bunch of old veterans, pulled together to eke out yet another losing year for a team that's not going anywhere in October. It's a bunch of kids who came up through the minors together, happy to be playing in the big leagues, and knowing they're going to be kicking some butt in the playoffs just a few years from now.

Meanwhile, off to Seattle! The Mariners pitchers had the Astros number Thursday and Friday, only allowing one Houston run each game. Cosart had a fair start in Game 1, lasting into the 7th inning, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits - but also 4 walks. But the Astros batters didn't do much to help him out. After Altuve's first-pitch-of-the-game home run, they were finished scoring for the night. Friday night was Rudy Owens' major league debut - and also his ticket back to Oklahoma. Owens, who has been pitching at the Triple-A level for more than 3 years already, was called up to fill in for an injured Peacock. He was very excited for the chance to play in the big leagues, and his whole family drove all the way from Phoenix to Seattle to watch. But in less than 6 innings of big-league action, he gave up 5 ER's on 9 hits, 2 walks, striking out only 1. After the game, Porter told him he was headed back to the minors.

After two nights of offensive shutdown, the Astros got off to a quick start Saturday night. Springer, who had been out for the first two games nursing a hip injury, was back! He knocked the first pitch he saw over the right field wall, scoring Altuve. The Astros gave up their instant lead in the bottom of the inning, on a throwing error by Krauss that scored two Mariners' runners. The Astros failed to score for the next few innings, and it looked like another bad news night for poor Oberholzer, who already had 6 losses this season. But the fifth inning was a BIG one: Carter doubled and Presley singled to put runners on the corners with no outs. Villar grounded out, scoring Carter. Then Villar scored on Altuve's single. Springer then hit his second homer of the game, this time to left field. A pair of walks, and then Krauss singled in the 5th run of the inning. In the next inning, Springer was at bat with the bases loaded and no outs. Could it be? A grand slam? A three homer game? Well, no. One runner scored on a wild pitch during his at-bat, then Springer got his 5th RBI of the game on a  ground out.  With all this offensive support, Oberholzer finally got his first win of the season, with 6 innings on the mound, allowing 3 runs (2 ER) on 6 hits, 1 walk, and 8 Ks.

Sartorial side note: Saturday night was throwback night, and the Astros appeared in their 1979 rainbow unis. While the broadcasters gushed about how much they loved them, I think that the players looked like they were dressed up as the original Southwest airlines planes. See the resemblance?

But wait! Maybe we should have had cheerleaders for the game. The original Southwest stewardess (NOT "flight attendants" back then) hot pants would be perfect!

Of course, after the big Saturday night win, the Astros broadcasters had already started a campaign to wear these dreadful uniforms for the rest of the season. However, I still remember the 2004 Independence Day game, when the Astros lost 18-3 to the Rangers, while wearing their ugly rainbow costumes.  Just saying'... 

Dallas Keuchel, the starter in Sunday's Game 4, has come to be synonymous with Bullpen's Night Off. In his past 3 starts, Porter's only had to go to the relievers once -- for 1/3 inning. In the other two complete games, he hasn't given up any ERs. The single unearned run in Sunday's game was scored after a throwing error in the second inning -- by Keuchel, so he only has himself to blame. The rest of the game he was a pitching machine - allowing just 4 hits, no walks, and striking out 6.

At first, it didn't look like Keuchel's excellent start would amount to much. The Astros loaded up the bases with one out in the second inning, and then failed to score a run. By the sixth inning the Astros were still scoreless. But then, a Springer Dinger to the rescue! Another two-run homer to put the Astros ahead 2-1. Krauss hit another two-run long ball to give Keuchel a little breathing room, but he really didn't need it. He finished the nine innings with just 106 pitches for his sixth win of the season. Keuchel is looking more like our ace than Feldman at this point.

So a series split in Seattle, and on to KC -- where, happily, the games will start at something closer to to evening, not after 10 PM!