Anatomy of a Houston Astros’ streak

Between May 24 and June 26, the Astros have run off an impressive 22-9 streak. A few facts about that run…..

  • The Astros are 5-1 in one-run games in those 31 games
  • They are 8-3 in extra inning ballgames.
  • They are 10-7 on the road
  • They are a tough to beat 12-2 at home
  • They have outscored their opponents 155-114, which is an average of 5 runs to 3.7 runs
  • In their wins only, they have outscored the opponents 136-70, which is basically an average of 6-3
  • On May 24th they were 17-28, fifth out of five in their division
  • They were 10 Games back of Seattle for the division lead and 7.5 games back of Texas for the second Wild Card
  • On June 26 they had charged up to 39-37
  • This put them in second place and 10 GB of Texas for the division lead, but only 1.5 GB of Toronto for the second Wild Card
  • It should be noted that as strong as the Astros have played in the last month, the Rangers have been an insane 24-8

So, can the Astros maintain their charge? Even though the division seems like a mirage a long way in the distance, the wild card is easily in reach. What do you think?

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164 responses to “Anatomy of a Houston Astros’ streak”

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  1. The team we just beat down had a lineup full of excellent hitters; nevermind Hosmer Morales and Cain, we got a peek at superstars in the making, Orlando and Merrifield. The difference is that we limited their runs-scoring with timely pitching and good defense. Earlier in the year, we let the likes of Texiera, Cano and several Rangers hurt us with bases juiced. Now, we are keeping the crooked numbers at bay!

    You’d be hard-pressed to figure out with all those K’s and pitiful AB’s last year how we kept winning. It usually turns on a big play at the plate, though, and I’d rather have a gamer like Springer even if hitting 260, than most any other player. Every matchup has a sort of crossroads moment, and champions figure out a way to be a step ahead. Lot of debate here about HAL and JL and Crane, but to their credit, seeing as how it is relatively the same team we broke camp with, Reed and some of the milb guys ready..I rather think Astros brass and development men are starting to see what they had envisioned. That has to be rewarding after the difficult start we had!

    Think about it this way: we have a small market team and budget. We were never going to compete with those spoiled rats in Chicago who cry like babies when they cant add a Trout, or in BOS or NY where money is no object. This team is getting it done with true grit, and Im proud of their recent resurgence.

    You can tell a lot about a team when they have their foot on your neck. We didnt back down!

    About a week or so ago the Padres were spanking the Rangers late, like 16-4. I thought it was VERY telling TEX still put up a run in the 9th. I want to see our Astros that tenacious, and that’s what has me worried we are still not quite there. I think it would breathe Life into this team if somehow Keuchel can salvage this season, or some other pitcher takes the reins…

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  2. Yes, they can if they continue to play like they have. No they won’t win every game but I said a while back they would need to play almost .600 ball to have a shot at the playoffs. So far, so good. Am I surprised at the turnaround? A resounding yes! Not because I don’t have faith in them which I do, but outside a few players I just didn’t see it happening. I’m still wondering what happened to change things. I mean the turnaround was almost beyond the pale with the speed and intensity that it took on. Of course it’s almost magical and I don’t know who the magician is but they need a gold star, and a few other accolades.

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  3. It seems to me that it is just a matter of things evening out.
    The Astros ran the bases terribly for six weeks. But they are a good base running team and that has gotten straightened out.
    The Astros have a good defense but they were making dumb plays and now that is evening out.
    The Astros have a good bullpen and several guys in that bullpen weren’t pitching well for the first six weeks. They made some changes and the pitching has now had a positive regression to what we knew they were capable of.
    The Astros had problems with their starting pitching in the first month. That has gotten better.
    The Astros didn’t hit for six weeks and now guys are moving up towards their career norms.
    They have decent players. Most of them were not playing well for six weeks. That has changed.
    Plus, Gary Pettis has been better and Orbit and Julia have hit their stride.
    Can they keep it up? If the players play to their career numbers, yes, they can keep it up.

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      • Dan, I got a draw a line about Sparks… 😉

        Seriously though, he appears to be so unprepared most of the time concerning his game prep. Missed names, poor play calling. During the recent Fox telecast of the Astros, Momma Sarge and I listened to the Astros’ radio broadcast while watching the game. Even she was astonished at how much Sparks was off on his calling of the game as we watched it live on television.

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      • Sarge, I have to admit Sparks is just terrible. I remember when radio was all I had year before last. He made me want to pull my hair out.
        On the other hand though. That Fox crew was the worst I’ve ever seen or heard.

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  5. It happens at least once every game for one team or the other. One team gives the momentum to the other, like having a home run taken off the board, three guys strike out and leave him standing out there and the other team comes in and scores a run on a wild pitch. The Astros created the Angel’s momentum by failing to do their jobs.
    Let’s see if we can swing it back our way, now.

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  6. Tied up.

    The idea of Jake Marsnick in the DH spot (running for Gattis) makes about as much sense as bringing up Tyler White to do nothing but pinch run.

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  8. Wow! Just, Wow! What a great win. They shifted the momentum back, kept the pressure up and the Angels gave it up. Way to come back, Will Harris.
    This cold one is for you, daveB. I had to pop a top at 1 am. Now I will take my meds and sleep like a baby.

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    • Thanks OP, I’m just waking up to the score. Here in Atlantic Standard time, those West Coast starts are just too late for me, especially on a school night. I’m thinking now that I’d rather not have the All Star break coming up so quickly. Too many good things are going our way right now.

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  9. *WOW* is right……that waaay too much drama for this old gal! Feldman is going to take McCullers start tomorrow…..let’s hope some more runs are in those Astros bats, because Feldman can give ’em up, remember??!! GO to bed Becky!⚾

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  10. I went to bed with us down 2-0, but the way they have been playing I had real hope we would break through against their bullpen.
    In April this was a 2-1 loss with the Astros leaving runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out in the 9th.
    Waking up to a West Coast win is a sweet early morning gift.

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  11. I felt bad when Valbuena had the “HR that wasn”t” called back and he never moved from second base. But at least made Shoemaker throw enough pitches that he was out after 6 IP.
    McHugh looked good.
    The offense came back for 4 runs without a HR, which is a rare occurrence.
    Will Harris has become much more of a tight rope walker since taking over the closer’s role. He still saves the game, but there is a lot more excitement than when he was 1-2-3 in the 8th inning. Something about that 9th inning….
    17 runners to get to 4 runs – not too efficient, but just good enough.

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  13. This morning I’m enjoying a big bowl of crow. Two months ago I was begging the team to trade Valbuena fro a bucket of driving range golf balls, but wow he has been a big part of the success of the last month! Kudo’s LV! Great win, Harris what a 9th , buried himself and dug out .

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  14. I did manage to catch the early part of the game. I thought McHugh pitched very well. That pitch that Trout took deep was an excellent curve ball just off the dirt. Just goes to show how good he really is.
    The Stros are on a roll…but are just flat out stubborn about a couple of players that continue to struggle. Hope it does not wind up being the difference between success and failure.

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  15. Managed to catch the early portion of the game last night. I thought McHugh pitched very well. That pitch that Trout took deep was a good curve ball just above the dirt..a good pitch ! Just goes to show how good that guy really is.
    The Stros are on a roll ! But there are a couple of players that continue to struggle and the FO just refuses to mitigate the problem. Hopefully, it won’t wind up being the difference between playing in October or not.

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    • That pitch to Trout was right down the middle (and 2 inches above the ground). Phil Mickelson could have hit it with a 2 iron, but baseball players should not be able to hit something like that out of the park.

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  16. And then there’s that team up north that just keeps on rolling. Top of the ninth, down by a run, against NYY, with a rain delay.
    I wake up this morning to see they came back and scored four runs to win. Dang. What do they have that makes them so good? Plus half their starting pitching staff is on the DL.

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  18. Time for obligatory “but that defense!” comment. Valbuena made some huge plays yesterday. His at bats generally go deep even when he fails. Last year he saved Keuchel’s bacon many a time. I ventured to TCB the other day and the peanut gallery was calling for him to be traded/released/whatever. I don’t get it. However, I am guilty of wishing we’d kept Dexter Fowler and his high OBP when not on the DL.

    By the way, he made some great plays behind McHugh last night too.

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    • Was going to say the same, and thought of you, Devin, since we both agree Valbuena’s money defensively. I like his plate discipline, too, and what I’ve noticed is he’s out charging when Correa hits a walk off, when Gomez is down it’s Luis chatting him up. I find him to be a real glue player, like Springer, Gattis (apparently, Fister) and Jake etc.

      Even though I realize there should be streaks, some evening out… I think Valbuena is starting to make strides. Pitchers are much less reluctant to pitch him straightforward with the deep threat of making better contact lately.

      Also, did anyone else sense that when Trout put his hands on Altuve’s head, the Lil one wasnt having it?! He gave him a glare similar to the one Pujols couldnt get off his face all night. Ya gotta hand it to a competitor like that – their team out of the race and still that intense.

      Yes, Sandy, TEX just believes nobody will stand in their way. Until we prove it on the field, I dont see their equal yet. Although I have to include Cleveland in the mix now…

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      • MarkW, there’s a half-page photo of that moment in today’s paper. Trout has a huge grin on his face and even though Altuve’s hands are on his hips, there’s an ever-so-slight smile breaking. I get the feeling it was a baseball bear hug and affectionate. 🙂

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  19. Of Topic nice to see you Daz Cameron have a 4-5 night, HR, 3B, and 3 RBI’s. Hoping that he and young Tucker are the OF, of 2018-2028

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  20. Thoughts heading into tonight’s early game (OK it is early if you live in Hawaii).
    – Could this be a nice Feldman/Devenski tandem start tonight? Devenski did pitch 1.1 IP two nights ago, but still…
    – How many people a month ago thought the Astros would be 1 game out of the wild card at the end of June?
    – I have not seen the lineup, but I’m guessing it will be fairly lefty-centric against Lincecum
    – It is amazing how much smarter Hinch looks when the players actually perform
    – Again, the Astros offense owned the late innings last night like they did during their best portion of 2015
    – The Astros have special talents like Altuve and Correa, but things go so much better when guys like Gomez, Valbuena and Castro contribute
    – Can they lie to Will Harris and tell him it is the 8th inning when it is really the 9th?

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    • Dan, I don’t think it has anything to do with the 9th inning for Harris, u fortunately. His performance has been unsustaininable at the ML level. Things were bound to level out at some point. He is overdue to give up some runs and it is bound to happen whether it’s the 8th, or 9th.

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    • The main difference between inning 8 and 9 is that pro hitters are a little more likely to fight for a single base when they have three outs left rather than six.

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  22. I think it’s going to be a roller coaster all season with this team. I expect the bats to go hot, cold, hot, cold, with this streaky bunch. Hopefully the youth, enthusiasm, and improved starting pitching makes up for the long cold start. And if we take advantage of all of the pitching injuries on that team from South Oklahoma, the future looks bright. I was listening to MLB radio today. They were asking whether the Astros would start Keuchel if Astros made the 1 game wild card playoff……I say lets win the division so we don’t have to find out the answer.

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    • The Wild Card looks daunting as they very well may have to play K.C. at the K and, if they somehow won that game, would then have to play Texas. I haven’t given up on the division, but it’s going to be tough. The Astros surely can’t have any more bad stretches and Texas would have to regress and have a month like the Astros had in April.

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      • its a steep mountain any way you look at it. Maybe that north Texas heat will slow them down in the next couple of months.

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  23. Alex Bregman hit a two run home run in the first inning of the Texas League ASG. Ryan Cordell was on base at the time. Cordell is a big time prospect of the Rangers and those two may see a lot of each other in the years to come.
    Teoscar Hernandez led off the third inning with a single, stole second, and after Bregman struck out, Derek Fisher drove Teoscar home with a base hit.
    Bregman singled in the top of the fifth.

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  24. Keegan Yuhl was the starting pitcher for the South team and he gave up a hit and no runs in his one inning.
    Evan grills pitched the fourth inning and gave up a run on three hits.
    Edison Frias is pitching the fifth inning and has given up a hit so far.

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    • JD Davis has entered the ASG at 3B and has a single in his only at bat. All four Astros position prospects have at least one hit and Bregman has two.

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  25. Alex Presley was DFAd by the Brewers today and his place on Milwaukee’s roster was taken by Jake Elmore.
    Paul Clemens was claimed off waivers by the Padres, from the Marlins.

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    • When I see Jale Elmore still kicking around, I have to figure that Joe Sclafani just decided to go home and get a real job. He never really got a chance once Fontana showed up.

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  27. JEEZE……I hope these guys don’t dial up the drama tonight, I can’t take two nights in a row! Currently…..big, bad, Lincecum is outta the game top of the 5th, and the boys have a 5-1 lead!

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  28. Good outing by Feldman considering he has only been pitching a couple innings at a time. His fielders did not help him tonight.

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  30. Ya gotta love Alteve!!! That little kid has some wheels, and if you’re not careful he will steal two bases in 3 minutes!!

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  32. Luis Valbuena struck out as many times as the entire Angel’s team, four.
    His error hurt the bullpen even more than it did Feldman.
    Springer was 0-2 as a leadoff. But three BBs, baby!
    Correa had a great night!
    #5, 6, 7 Hitters had 6 hits tonight.
    Feldman starts and wins on a night that the Houston pitchers gave up no earned runs on the road.
    After this year ends, the Angels still owe Pujols $150 million.
    The Astros are only 3 games under .500 on the road.
    Altuve’s slash line at the end of the game: .350/.427/.559/.986. His walk tonight was his 39th, six more than all of last year. He still has only 32 Ks. Amazing.
    Altuve was mad at himself for the base running error tonight. So the next time up he singled and stole two bases to make up for it
    Marwin continues to play terrific baseball.

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  34. If the Astros can complete the sweep today they return for a 10-game home stand against the White Sox, Mariners and A’s. This is a great opportunity to gain some ground before the ASB. The team is really playing well so let’s hope they can keep the momentum going.

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  35. McCurry and Hoyt have been presenting a formidable back-of-the-bullpen team in Fresno. Last night they combined for 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BBs and 5 Ks. McCurry got his third AAA hold in three tries [his only other AAA appearance was in a save situation, which he converted], and Hoyt got his 19th save in 21 save opportunities.

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    • James Hoyt has a K/9 rate of 16. He has more saves(20) than hits allowed (18).
      18 hits in 38.1 innings.
      The slash line against James Hoyt in his last 15 appearances is .115/.229/.164/.393

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  36. Hoyt impressed me in Spring training 2015, and he’s done nothing but continue to impress me now. When they bring him up, and they will….who is the odd an out? Right now every single guy outta the bullpen is firing on all cylinders! Tough decision to make. The Angels are gonna have to bite the bullet and start a rebuild, but I’m not sure they have the talent in their farm. Can’t trade Uncle Albert, and the only other guy that can net you a kings ransom is Trout, and they will be drinking ice tea in he!! Before they do that.

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    • I am hopeful that as the summer drones on the Astros’ will monitor very closely the innings, the velocity, and the command of heavily used RH pitchers like Giles, Gregerson, Harris, Neshek, Feldman, Feliz, and Devenski. If any of them begins to falter in these areas, or Heaven forbid gets hurt, I suspect we’ll see Hoyt first, then McCurry. I just hope that this year they do not take any overused, exhausted bullpen guys into the play-offs, if we get there, the way we did last year.

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    • This is worth a discussion, which means it’s a good comment, in my opinion.
      I am going to think about it and get back to you later.

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      • Definitely. One option would be a similar contract as Kevin suggested that buys out the remaining 2-3 years of his current contract. Altuve and his agent may be open to this if his salary increases from $5M/ year to $20M/year starting in 2017. Both parties could benefit from a contract like this.

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    • Can we start a kickstarter for this? Altuve has 937 career hits already as we reach the midway point of his 6th year in the bigs (5th full) at age 26. I don’t know that Crane can bankroll that contract and pony up for enough other guys on his own, but I’d like to see Altuve into his early 30s, minimum.

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    • This is a great question – really!. Right now, the Astros could be total butts and make Altuve play 2017-2019 under his current contract and team options and pay him $17 million for those 3 seasons. He would become a FA for the season he turns 30 and might not get the humongo deal. So the team has some leverage here.
      But if they got him to take the deal that Kevin proposes he would have security, would have better dollars than he has now, but would be a bit of a bargain. ($20 million a year as a bargain – I remember when the world was going to end because Nolan Ryan popped the $1 million a year line.

      I think they need to look at re-negotiating seriously with him this off-season. They will have quite a bit of money coming off the books anyways (Rasmus, Gomez, Feldman, etc) and they need to sign the co-face of the franchise.

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    • The kind of length of that contract is probably too dangerous.

      I am a big Jose fan, have been since day 1. The guy is the ultimate gamer. You watch interviews, you see the fun he is having playing this game and getting paid for it. I don’t think he is the kind of guy that takes things for granted. I saw the ESPN special on him, he is as genuine as they come. To me, he is more important to this franchise’s future than even Correa and Keuchel.

      All of the things to love about him, but committing that kind of money for that many years, he is great today, should be tomorrow, but in 2022? I don’t know. I would rather pay him 20 mil a year until like 2020, a much safer contract, and give him 25-27 mil a year after that, than be mired in a deal on a player that that stops performing. I got it, us fans think he won’t (I don’t either) but the Braves didn’t see Andruw Jones falling off a cliff either. Sometimes you don’t see it coming.

      I won’t be mad at the Astros if they give him that deal though.

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  38. Congrats to the Astros on a fine exhibition of baseball.
    Castro and Valbuena had a tough night.
    Gave up after 4 innings, but honestly, I felt a little bad for Lincicum(?).
    He was a great pitcher that was, in no small part, responsible for world series wins.
    I am curious about 2 things: A) Why is he still playing. His physical issues have caught up with him and he will likely not get back to peak form. B) Was he in the league and successful long enough to be paid for his talent ? (The big contract)

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  41. Good Lord…….can Dallas Keuchel have *one* game error free😠😠? It seems like every start he has had this year, someone commits an error. Jeeze.

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  42. As of the middle of the 6th inning, the Astros have scored 6 runs against Jared Weaver. The top 4 in the lineup have scored all 6 of those runs. The top 4 of the line-up also have 6 of the 7 hits. Great job by 1-4; but how about a little help from 5-9?

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  46. Altuve is getting more expensive as we talk about him.

    I’m still kind of scratching my head over the Reed promotion, coming at the time when lefty Valbuena has been hot and even Marwin is having success from the left side. For these reasons, I’d rather have kept Kemp around, as he’s certainly more apt to get on base than Jake and can pinch run and can play left and second when we want to let Altuve DH for a light day. Bottom line is that he’s much more versatile than Reed.

    Reed might be our guy, but we brought him up when his AAA stats were good but still unremarkable. Was the promotion necessary?

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  47. Great win great sweep great 30 games. The guys on TV said the last 29 games Altuve is batting either .421 or .431 cant remember.

    My gut DK is still mediocre at best so far and Giles , I feel good about as long as we have a 10 run lead.

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    • We were 4 and 10 in Keuchels first 14 starts. We’ve won his last three. I’m cautiously optimistic, but I don’t think we’ll ever see a Cy Young season out of him again. At this point I’m starting to wonder who we’ve got in our rotation that will shut the best teams down in a playoff series. Keuchel used to be that guy.

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  48. Thoughts on this game:
    When Keuchel throws pitches up in the zone, they get drilled.
    The Angels are really bad because the Astros relievers were not sharp and the Angels still could not get runners home. Astros relievers gave up a bunch of hits in this entire series.
    Reed is facing much better pitching, compounded by a doozy of a slump.
    #s 5-8 in the order ended up with four hits and three walks today.
    The Astros scored in 6 of 9 innings today.
    Mike Trout is only 24 years old.
    The Astros are currently one half game out of both wild card spots.

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      • I say, it’s probably a long shot. I think the Astros could be players, but they have their value figures and usually fall short of teams that have a lot of money. The thing is, several of the teams that are usually players are not going to play on this one.
        If they do happen to like him, decide to go after him and sign him, some prospect is going to be traded for pitching and I doubt it’s Bregman.

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  50. My son, his wife and their daughter (granddaughter for us!!) are down in Corpus for annual trip. He said they will probably go to see the Hooks play a couple of the next three games. He was asking my advice on Sneed vs. Grills vs. Martes. I told him they have all been pitching pretty darned well. Grills has the best ERA, Sneed the high K rate and Martes is solid and so much younger at 20…I thought they would enjoy any of the 3.

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