The Pecan Park Eagle

In earlier times, winning the World Series was much easier to figure in most seasons. All your club had to do was get past Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and the New York Yankees – and it was all theirs to keep.

ASTRO*NOTES

One Game Back of Cleveland. The Astros gained a full game on the Indians last night and now stand only one full game back from a tie for best AL record and home field advantage in the league playoffs that come up immediately after season’s end. If the ‘Stros beat out the Indians for best record, they will open at home throughout the AL playoffs, starting probably against the wild card Yankees. If the Indians hold on to the best AL record, the Astros would still open at home, but against the AL East champion Red Sox, as the Indians open at home, probably against the wild card Yankees.

TODAY’S 152–HIT CLUB. For today, at least, and as you may note in today’s stat chart, Yuli Gurriel, George Springer, and Alex Bregman are all tied on the season with 152 hits each. Josh Reddick barely misses out with only 150 hits on the year. Who knows? Maybe Reddick will get get two hits in the Astros’ last game against the Rangers while the other contender bats go silent for another 24 hours? If so, the club hits Beantown for the final series of the regular season armed with a 4-man, “154-Hit” club!

Altuve Resting at 199. Unfortunately, Jose Altuve missed out on last night’s Silver Boot clinching 14-3 hit slam win over the Rangers last night because of that HBP he took on the left wrist late in the first Ranger series game two nights ago. Had he played lat night, it’s hard to see how he would have missed out on getting 2017 season hit #200 and probably more against the kind of stuff that was being served up at room temperature by Cole Hamels and all last night. -Maybe tonight’s the night. – All I know is that the little Rangers pitcher who dusted Jose “up and in” on the HBP got my worst thought wishes full-bore as I saw the thing unfold on the AT&T Sports-net broadcast when it did. This morning I cannot even recall the guilty pitcher’s name, but my wishes at the time for his ultimately permanent new home remain clearly in mind.

Astros Playoff Rotation. It’s not rocket science, especially given the talent level that’s available as picks for Games 1 and 2 – and the now confirmed doubtfulness about the health and mind-set readiness of Lance McCullers for Game 3. The Pecan Park Eagle is going with these four pitchers in this order: (1) Justin Verlander, (2) Dallas Keuchel, (3) Charlie Morton, and (4) Brad Peacock.

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HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE RACES, GB IN EACH

THRU GAMES PLAYED TUESDAY, 9/26/2017

L = LEADER BY LEAGUE AND WS OVERALL.

Overall Leader gets home field advantage (HFA) in World Series.

GAMES TO PLAY: DODGERS 5, INDIANS 5, ASTROS 5, NATIONALS 5

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HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE SERIOUS CONTENDER SCORES

THRU GAMES PLAYED TUESDAY, 9/26/2017

ASTROS 14 – RANGERS 3

TWINS 8 – INDIANS 6

PHILLIES 4 – NATIONALS 1

DODGERS (did not play, but enjoyed a winnable day off)

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AMERICAN LEAGUE BATTING AVERAGE LEADERS

THRU GAMES PLAYED TUESDAY, 9/26/2017

NR * LOST TIME ON THE DL HAS REMOVED CORREA FROM AN OFFICIAL QUALIFYING PLACE IN THE RANKING OF TOP 40 HITTERS.

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Tags: Winning Series is Easy to Figure

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