Oakland Fans Are Eatin’ It Up!
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Astro*Notes
When the Astros began this 4-game series at Oakland on Friday against the A’s, they were taking on the already eliminated last place club in the AL West.
At 59-80 on the season, the A’s also began the series with the 2nd worst record in the AL.
The Astros, on the other hand, began the series with an 86-53 mark, best by 3 games over the surging Cleveland Indians for best record in the AL and the coveted home field advantage in the upcoming post-season AL playoffs.
Things were looking good for the Astros until they played these first 3 games in Oakland, a solo game Friday night, followed by yesterday’s Saturday double-header.
The A’s, so far, have defeated the Astros in those first 3, with the finale coming up this Sunday afternoon, by successive scores of 9-8, 11-1, and 11-4.
Totals stagger the mind for the first 3 games. The allegedly nobody A’s, with nothing left to play for but pride, loose fun, and the end of the season, have gone as banana gold as one of their primary uniform colors.
For the A’s in their first 3 games with the Astros this weekend, the club has scored a total of 31 runs on 39 hits and 7 homers!
Astro starters McHugh and Morton went successively for 5.0 innings, followed by Peacock’s 5.2 inning stint in Game 3.
Altogether, the Astro starters gave up only 8 runs total, with only 7 of them being earned. Their starter departures allowed their relief help to surrender the balance of those other 25 A’s runs scored.
This Sunday morning, the Astros and Indians are now tied in the AL for the eventual winner’s right to home field advantage through the AL Playoffs with identical records of 86-56. The Astros got here by getting creamed by one of the reputedly worst clubs in the league. The Indians roared into the tie by winning their 17th game in a row on Saturday.
UNFUDGINGLIEVABLE!
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AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST STANDINGS
THRU GAMES OF SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2017
| RANK | AL WEST | W | L | PCT. | GB |
| 1 | ASTROS | 86 | 56 | .606 | |
| 2 | ANGELS | 72 | 70 | .507 | 14.0 |
| 3 | RANGERS | 71 | 70 | .504 | 14.5 |
| 4 | MARINERS | 71 | 71 | .500 | 15.0 |
| 5 | ATHLETICS | 62 | 80 | .437 | 24.0 |
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AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST GAME SCORES
THRU GAMES OF SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2017
ATHLETICS 11, 11 – ASTROS 1, 4
YANKEES 3 – RANGERS 1
MARINERS 8 – ANGELS 1
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AMERICAN LEAGUE BATTING AVERAGE LEADERS
THRU GAMES OF SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2017
| RANK | PLAYER | TEAM | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BA |
| 1 | JOSE ALTUVE | HOU | 534 | 187 | 37 | 4 | 23 | .350 |
| 2 | ERIC HOSMER | KC | 530 | 171 | 25 | 1 | 24 | .323 |
| 3 | AVISAIL GARCIA | CWS | 443 | 142 | 22 | 4 | 16 | .321 |
| 4 | JOSH REDDICK | HOU | 438 | 139 | 30 | 3 | 13 | .317 |
| 5 | JOSE RAMERIZ | CLE | 525 | 162 | 47 | 6 | 25 | .309 |
| NR* | CARLOS CORREA | HOU | 350 | 107 | 18 | 1 | 20 | .306 |
| 6 | JOE MAUER | MIN | 455 | 139 | 32 | 1 | 6 | .305 |
| 7 | ELVIS ANDRUS | TEX | 567 | 173 | 40 | 4 | 20 | .305 |
| 8 | JONATHAN SCHOOP | BAL | 544 | 164 | 33 | 0 | 31 | .301 |
| 9 | JEAN SEGURA | SEA | 466 | 140 | 28 | 2 | 8 | .300 |
| 10 | JOE ABREU | CWS | 547 | 164 | 37 | 5 | 29 | .300 |
| RANK | OTHER TOP 40 ASTROS | TEAM | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BA |
| 12 | GEORGE SPRINGER | HOU | 478 | 141 | 25 | 0 | 31 | .295 |
| 13 | MARWIN GONZALEZ | HOU | 402 | 118 | 27 | 0 | 21 | .294 |
| 20 | YULI GURRIEL | HOU | 473 | 136 | 36 | 1 | 17 | .288 |
| 22 | ALEX BREGMAN | HOU | 486 | 138 | 34 | 5 | 16 | .284 |
NR * LOST TIME ON THE DL HAS TEMPORARILY REMOVED CORREA FROM AN OFFICIAL QUALIFYING PLACE IN THE RANKING OF TOP 40 HITTERS.
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Bill McCurdy
Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher
The Pecan Park Eagle
Tags: UNFUDGINGLIEVABLE!
The Pecan Park Eagle 
September 10, 2017 at 12:29 pm |
I am so happy that you have your baseball to excite you and keep your mind active. I am big time football fan. SEC, and now the Dallas Cowboys. I love Dak!! I thought of you all the time during the Houston weather problems, and you were in my prayers nightly. I do hope that things are going well for you now. My experience with Hurricanes is extensive as you know . I have not been able to get over Katrina yet. So much damage here at the farm still! Soon Jerry will have been gone for 12 years. He died during 9/11 and Katrina. I am busy with my Pit Bull puppy, and she is my life now.. thinking of you and wishing you well. Neal
September 11, 2017 at 1:21 am |
Dear Sweet Neal, You will always be one of the great female friends of my early adult life, as will your late husband Jerry be one of the great kindred spirit friends from our years at Tulane. Take care of yourself. You never know when I just may find a way back into that beautiful Mississippi forest where you live to say hello in person again – one more time. Can’t promise it’s going to happen, but, at our ages, hope floats a lot of the things we look forward to the most. 🙂
September 10, 2017 at 2:13 pm |
I am most bothered by the reluctance to let starting pitchers who have been effective (better than the pen all too often) push through any problems that seem to show up around 100 pitches and the almost total reliance of pulling hurlers once they reach that point. No one knows how to “bounce back”. This would not be such a problem if the members of the pen were more consistently reliable. Throwing more strikes would be a start! That includes the starters who hit that magic 100 way too soon.
September 10, 2017 at 2:38 pm |
During my rookie year, when I was 18, I was on a 100 pitch limit. I still remember a veteran pitcher by the name of Jim Owens warning me, “Don’t let them make you into a 7 inning pitcher.”
When they put Nolan on a 100 pitch limit in the mid 80s he was livid. You can only do (or not) what you think you can do and expect to do. To expand on Yogi: “100% of pitching is all mental.”
September 11, 2017 at 1:39 am |
I’m afraid it gets worse. They lost again today. The pitching is failing at a time when the offense is sputtering. The team is 25-28 in its last 53 games, and that isn’t the record of a playoff-ready team. The Yankees of 1999 collapsed mightily at the end of the season en route to sweeping through the playoffs like a juggernaut, but that was a playoff-experienced team. Nevertheless, Yogi also said, “In baseball, you never know”. I’m happy to be surprised in a good way now that things are looking decidedly grim.
September 13, 2017 at 2:33 pm |
Nothing to worry about. Most teams regardless of the sport win 50% of the time at home. The A’s are bottom feeders. Three years in a row of 90 losses or more. Simply a blip. I still think the Fresno Grizzlies best pitcher should get a shot this year. Armenteros had a 2.03 ERA. Last two times I saw him pitch in Fresno (Game 1 no hitter through 6 innings) Game 2 perfect game through 7 innings. Electric stuff