ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — There aren't many things we all agree on in this country these days, but it's fair to say that outside of metro Houston, most Americans are sick and tired of the Houston Astros clogging our airwaves every October.
We thought we were going to get a respite in 2024, but now here we are in mid-August, and it has to be said.
Right now, the Houston Astros — the franchise that's been to seven straight American League Championship Series and has won two world titles — is fast-tracking their way to the ALCS again. Given up for dead in late April and trying to survive with their junior varsity pitching rotation, the Astros are suddenly the scariest team in the American League.
And America can't stand that.
The Astros won again on Wednesday night, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 in 10 innings at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. It was Houston's eighth-straight win — all on the road — and it's their longest winning streak of the season. They swept the Rays thanks to great pitching, allowing just four runs in three games. Prior to that, they swept the Red Sox in Boston, scoring 23 runs in three days, and won the last two in Texas to start the trip.
They are 65-55, and now 2.5 games ahead of the Seattle Mariners in the American League West. Even though the Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians all have better records, it's the Astros who are striking fear throughout the league right now.
And for good reason. Lots of them actually.
“A heck of a road trip,” Houston manager Joe Espada said of the 8-1 jaunt. “We took care of business. We beat some really good teams on the road and we played really well. This was a close game, another one-run ballgame. It was well-pitched, and we made the plays when we needed to and we got some big hits when we had to. That's a big win.''
They've had a lot of them lately, getting to 10 games over .500 for the first time all year. That's saying something considering they couldn't get out of their own way in April and early May. They were 12-24 on May 8, but since then they've gone a league-best 53-31, a .631 winning percentage over what's now more than half of the season.
That's good. Really, really good.
And scary good for everyone out there who despises the Astros.
They couldn't do anything right to start the season, but that seems like a long time ago now. They basically make you play six-inning games these days because the back of their bullpen is lights out. Bryan Abreu, Ryan Pressly and Josh Hader have a combined 214 strikeouts in 162 innings and they lock down the seventh, eighth and ninth. Hader did one better Wednesday night, pitching the 10th as well and retiring six straight Rays hitters.
There are no bullpen issues anymore, not like April and May.
There are nights where the Astros still don't hit enough — they only had two hits in Wednesday's win — but we're starting to see a lot of life in the top of that order now.
Third baseman Alex Bregman had his eight-game hitting streak snapped Wednesday, but he's been on fire lately. During that streak, he had 16 hits, with four doubles and five homers, including a dinger in four straight games.
Yordan Alvarez is continuing to play of the role of feared hitter, He's got a team-leading 25 homers and a total of 55 extra base hits. No one wants to see him at the plate in a pressure-packed situation. And the nice surprise to this season has been catcher Yanier Diaz, who leads the team with 67 RBIs. He's definitely lengthened the lineup.
Others have their moments, too. Jeremy Pena homered Wednesday and Mauricio Dubon had the game-winning hit in the 10th inning, snapping an 0-for-14 run with the game-winner.
It's just what the Astros are doing these days, getting that timely hit when they need it.
“That’s who we are, just coming out here to try and take it a game at a time and try to win,” Dubón said. “If we lose, it happens. If not, get on the next one.”
Ronel Blanco pitched six scoreless innings for Houston, allowing just two hits and lowering his ERA to 2.89. He's been a big part of this resurgence, purely out of necessity. Consider this: The Astros' projected starting rotation has been all but gone all year, outside of Framber Valdez. Justin Verlander has made only 10 starts, Christian Javier only seven and Jose Urguidy hasn't pitched at all.
But Hunter Brown has been great lately — allowing two runs or fewer in 10 of his last 12 starts — and even Spencer Arrighetti has looked better lately, allowing just three runs total in his last two starts over 13 innings. Getting Yusei Kukucki from Toronto at the deadline has helped too. They've won all three of his starts, and he's yet to give up more than two runs in an Astros uniform.
So yeah, be prepared to see the Astros again in October. The Mariners have great pitching, but they just don''t hit enough for long stretches to hang with them in the AL West. Heck, they've already seen their 10-game lead over Houston disappear, so I can't see that changing. They do have one series left — in Houston Sept. 23-25 in the final week of the regular season — but the AL West race could be long over by then.
I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they catch the Guardians for that No. 2 spot in the AL bracket, and the bye that comes with it. Cleveland has shown some flaws lately, losing seven straight before realing off five in a row against Minnesota and the Chicago Cubs. Their bats go quiet a little too often, and their bullpen was a mess during that losing streak.
And let's face it, Baltimore and the Yankees have flaws of their own. Sure, they can hit, but both teams have major bullpen issues, and that's going to be a real problem come October.
The Astros don't have that problem. And you know what that means.
Be prepared to see a whole lot of them in October.
Again
