GAME 107: Athletics 7, Astros 4
GAME 108: Astros 8, Athletics 1
Before I get into how the cellar-headed Astros came within one out of sweeping the Major League best Athletics, let's stop for a moment and look at what might be a much bigger deal, longer term -- the last minute trade between the Astros and the Marlins. I'm sure that many fans are sad to see Jarred Cosart leave the team, along with the very impressive newbie, Kike Hernandez, and one of our minor league prospects. But you can't get the goods without giving up something, and Houston did get some interesting goods in the trade, as well as a compensatory draft pick. The three players coming to the Astros are Marlins outfielder Jake Marisnick, and two minor league players, Francis Martes (RHP) and Colin Moran (3B). Marisnick is a young player who spent most of the season in Triple A; he will immediately fill in at center field for Fowler, who is still on the DL. Moran, who was the 6th overall pick in the 2013 draft, was one of the players the Astros considered for their first pick. He's been hitting well in the minors and will go to Corpus Christi. He may be ready to compete with MattyD for the Astro's third base spot next spring. Martes is just 18, and has a high 90's fastball in rookie ball - he's described as a "lottery ticket" thrown into the deal. Bleacher Report gave the Astros an A- on the deal. Only time will tell...
In my last blog post, I didn't show much enthusiasms for the Astros chances against the league leading Oakland A's, but this team never ceases to surprise and amaze. Surprised that they could nearly sweep, let alone win the series, against such a formidable team. Amazed that they managed to let the one game they lost get away, with Qualls on the mound and a 3-run lead in the ninth. Let's get the bad news over with first. In Tuesday night's game, the Astros went into the ninth inning leading 4-1. Feldman had a really nice start, going 7 innings and giving up 1 run on 5 hits. Fields kept up his good recent pitching with a 1-2-3 eighth. Then came the ninth inning. Qualls has been pitching very well as our closer, and struck out the first batter he faced. So it came as a big bad shock when he gave up a single, double, RBI single, ground out, wild pitch, walk and then another single, allowing the A's to tie it up 4-4. Finally, Qualls got yanked (one batter too late in my opinion - should have taken him out after the walk) and Sipp came in. Sipp's been Mr Reliable at getting outs, but he gave up the go-ahead run on a single. Veras took the mound next and gave up 2 more runs before ending the inning. But that was all gravy -- the A's 6 runs were 2 more than they needed to win the game. The Astros went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth.
On to happier outcomes... Monday night's 7-3 win featured 4 home runs, accounting for all of the Astros' runs. Carter hit a three-run homer in the 3rd, his 21st of the season. Then Castro, Krauss, and Dominguez all hit long balls in the 6th inning, scoring the other 4 runs of the game. Oberholtzer pitched into the 7th for the win, giving up 3 runs on 8 hits.
After Tuesday night's ninth-inning letdown, the Astros came back with a vengeance Wednesday afternoon. They scored 6 runs in the first inning, 5 of them coming with "just" 2 outs. (Surprisingly, Altuve didn't figure in any of the runs - he led off with a flyable out, and closed the inning with a K.) But one homer (Grossman), one walk, and five singles added up to plenty of run support to the Astros' pitcher who barely needed any: Dallas Keuchel. I still haven't given up on my "goal" to see Keuchel throw a no-no this season. This game was his fourth complete game win of the season. He gave up only one run on a solo homer, with 3 other singles sprinkled in. After the previous day's sorry conclusion, just as well not to trust his nice lead to the bullpen! Nice start (and middle and end!) for Keuchel.
Last minute news: Folty's coming! More to say about that in the next blog!
Before I get into how the cellar-headed Astros came within one out of sweeping the Major League best Athletics, let's stop for a moment and look at what might be a much bigger deal, longer term -- the last minute trade between the Astros and the Marlins. I'm sure that many fans are sad to see Jarred Cosart leave the team, along with the very impressive newbie, Kike Hernandez, and one of our minor league prospects. But you can't get the goods without giving up something, and Houston did get some interesting goods in the trade, as well as a compensatory draft pick. The three players coming to the Astros are Marlins outfielder Jake Marisnick, and two minor league players, Francis Martes (RHP) and Colin Moran (3B). Marisnick is a young player who spent most of the season in Triple A; he will immediately fill in at center field for Fowler, who is still on the DL. Moran, who was the 6th overall pick in the 2013 draft, was one of the players the Astros considered for their first pick. He's been hitting well in the minors and will go to Corpus Christi. He may be ready to compete with MattyD for the Astro's third base spot next spring. Martes is just 18, and has a high 90's fastball in rookie ball - he's described as a "lottery ticket" thrown into the deal. Bleacher Report gave the Astros an A- on the deal. Only time will tell...
In my last blog post, I didn't show much enthusiasms for the Astros chances against the league leading Oakland A's, but this team never ceases to surprise and amaze. Surprised that they could nearly sweep, let alone win the series, against such a formidable team. Amazed that they managed to let the one game they lost get away, with Qualls on the mound and a 3-run lead in the ninth. Let's get the bad news over with first. In Tuesday night's game, the Astros went into the ninth inning leading 4-1. Feldman had a really nice start, going 7 innings and giving up 1 run on 5 hits. Fields kept up his good recent pitching with a 1-2-3 eighth. Then came the ninth inning. Qualls has been pitching very well as our closer, and struck out the first batter he faced. So it came as a big bad shock when he gave up a single, double, RBI single, ground out, wild pitch, walk and then another single, allowing the A's to tie it up 4-4. Finally, Qualls got yanked (one batter too late in my opinion - should have taken him out after the walk) and Sipp came in. Sipp's been Mr Reliable at getting outs, but he gave up the go-ahead run on a single. Veras took the mound next and gave up 2 more runs before ending the inning. But that was all gravy -- the A's 6 runs were 2 more than they needed to win the game. The Astros went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth.
On to happier outcomes... Monday night's 7-3 win featured 4 home runs, accounting for all of the Astros' runs. Carter hit a three-run homer in the 3rd, his 21st of the season. Then Castro, Krauss, and Dominguez all hit long balls in the 6th inning, scoring the other 4 runs of the game. Oberholtzer pitched into the 7th for the win, giving up 3 runs on 8 hits.
After Tuesday night's ninth-inning letdown, the Astros came back with a vengeance Wednesday afternoon. They scored 6 runs in the first inning, 5 of them coming with "just" 2 outs. (Surprisingly, Altuve didn't figure in any of the runs - he led off with a flyable out, and closed the inning with a K.) But one homer (Grossman), one walk, and five singles added up to plenty of run support to the Astros' pitcher who barely needed any: Dallas Keuchel. I still haven't given up on my "goal" to see Keuchel throw a no-no this season. This game was his fourth complete game win of the season. He gave up only one run on a solo homer, with 3 other singles sprinkled in. After the previous day's sorry conclusion, just as well not to trust his nice lead to the bullpen! Nice start (and middle and end!) for Keuchel.
Last minute news: Folty's coming! More to say about that in the next blog!
DUST EATER'S COUNT
The Astros are still duking it out with the Rangers to be the worst team in the Major Leagues. But, based on this series, they're not afraid of the big guys and they're still having some fun. 
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