Close the door on July 2012 and hope that August 2012 is not merely its clone-buddy.
The Astros won only three games in July. Their 6-3 win at home over Milwaukee on Saturday, July 7th, put an end to a 9-game losing streak that began with straight losses at the tail end of june 2012. Their second win on July 16th, a 2-0 conquest of San Diego at their place, snapped a 4-game loss-run that included the four days off for the All Star Game as time-killers. The third and last July win for the Astros finally came on Sunday, July 29th in the form of a 9-5 hammering of the Pirates at Minute Maid Park. That last one was significant for one major reason. It snapped the bleeding on a franchise-record 12-game losing streak that ran from July 17th through July 28th.
The Astros followed their final July win with a two-loss kick-start on a new downer streak as we slide into August.
Wow. And the Chronicle people are suggesting (as recently as yesterday) that GM Jeff Luhnow now thinks the club playing .500 ball the rest of the season is a reasonable expectation. Really? It’s hard to believe he really thinks or said that. Even going .500 next season is off the plane of my magical thinking without significant roster changes to add experience – and that’s not direction we are going. Besides, it’s not how many games we win now, or next year, that matters. What matters is – are we going in the right direction as for the goal of rebuilding this club into a contender? I personally think we are, if we are thinking three to five years. If it’s a double-decade strategy, ala the Pirates, then I’m not with it. I may not have the time to wait that long.
Some notes of interest on the 24 Astros losses for July 2012:
(1) I think the 24 losses is a franchise record for losses in one calendar month. Perhaps, some informed source, like Bob Hulsey of Astros Daily or Bill Gilbert of SABR or Greg Lucas of Fox Sports can confirm that for us. I frankly cannot recall a more horrible month since the whole big league shooting match started back in 1962.
(2) Half of the 24 July losses came by 1 or 2 runs. (Make that 7 one-run losses and 5 two-run losses.)
(3) The Astros were shutout 4 times in July 2012.
(4) The Astros also lost by 3, 4, and 5 runs on 2 occasions each.
(5) The club also lost by 6 and 9 runs in 3 games each.
Now its August. We need some news along the line of “ASTROS BITE LOSING STREAK.” The reverse is no longer news. It’s slipped into gear and become the expected result.
Tags: Astros' Losing Streak
The Pecan Park Eagle 
August 1, 2012 at 6:12 pm |
In July 1962, the Astros were 5-24. In April 1969, the Astros were 4-20. So, by winning (or losing) pct., July 2012 was the worst month in franchise history (excluding March or October).
August 2, 2012 at 1:20 am |
Makes missing Baseball (in Singapore) a little easier…..