The throw to Evan Gattis from Carlos Correa was too late as the Oakland A’s rallied from an earlier 0-3 hole to beat the Astros in the bottom of the 10th by 4-3. Tony Sipp gave up the winning deep infield hit.
Close to 1:00 AM earlier today, after watching the Astros lose their 2nd straight game to Oakland, this time in the bottom of the 10th by 4-3 on the wobbly roll of an infield single, our worst fears for the playoff run were clearly confirmed: This Astros club will not go far without some quick fix improvement in all key areas.
First of all, is was the third “winnable game loss” on this now 2-3 road trip. The 1-0 loss at Seattle and the 7-4, 4-3 losses, so far, at Oakland all have portrayed the same Astros afflictions: (1) The lack of strategic hitting success with runners in scoring position; (2) starting pitchers who wrap good (but not great) pitching around one disastrous inning that then makes winning a long shot; (3) relief pitchers who suddenly can’t find the strike zone in relief; and (4) closers who suddenly can’t get strike three before giving up a run-scoring gapper.
The worse the Astros play in the clutch, the more expensive any perceived trade remedy is going to be – and in a year in which there are no obvious “Cole Hamels quality” over-priced options out there. Anything Astros GM Jeff Luhnow does now is going to be at high cost and high risk of being “too little, too late,” and too expensive in the cost of prospect talent to be worth the roll of the dice.
So, what is the guy going to do? Everybody in Houston is expecting Luhnow to pull the trigger on the deal that gives the Astros the chance they don’t seem to have with their current roster, but such a deal doesn’t appear likely this year. Maybe the infusions of Gurriel and Bregman will boost and catalyze better strategic hitting, but, in spite of his found “blind pig/wild acorn” grand slam in Seattle the other day, our chances at some point in the late season with Carlos Gomez coming to bat at the critical moment look pretty gloomy. And we don’t have a real starter ace this year. Nor do we really have a reliable relief staff or a killer closer. Nor are we likely to find any of our missing parts in a big trade in 2016.
I’m having enough trouble with sleep these days anyway – and that pinball hit to Carlos Correa on the left side that scored the winning run for Oakland last night in the bottom of the 10th didn’t help much.
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Publisher, Editor, Writer
The Pecan Park Eagle
Houston, Texas
The Pecan Park Eagle 
July 20, 2016 at 2:38 pm |
Just when you think they’ve rounded the corner they fall apart. over a long season your weaknesses always come back to haunt you. the facts that they don’t have an ace and a consistent closer and have to start Marwyn Gonzalez at first every game are indicative of a team that’s relying on too few players while Rasmus, Gattis, Castro, Gomez, Marisnick are all mediocre at best. i’d be satisfied with an 85-win season and a competitive team,
July 20, 2016 at 6:15 pm |
Your head scout for the Fresno Grizzlies cannot send a center fielder
to the parent club. Jon Singleton is batting 200 not an answer there.
I would acquire Josh Reddick from Oakland or Billy Burns Nashvillle Sounds. I will be in London-Rome-Barcelona for a 3 week vacation.
My next report will be from the Coliseum