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Griever20 · 12-20-2018, 02:44 PM

The Houston Astros:

The Houston Astros have now on the division for the fourth time in a row with 100+ wins, but 'only' have that one illustrious World Series ring from 2017 in their bag. Still, it is hard to blame the front office for that as GM Jeff Luhnow has been the master of the 'Win now!' trade, adding pieces at the trade deadline every year with great success.

One result of that is the 2nd best rotation in the AL with RHSP Jacob deGrom(32, 3.5*, 14-6 4.65), acquired at the 2019 trade deadline, RHSP Colin McHugh(33, 3.5*, 15-7 4.20), RHSP German Marquez(25, 3/3.5*, 8-8 4.43), acquired this trade deadline from COL, and veteran RHSP Brad Peacock(32, 3*, 17-4 4.03). Pound by pound, they are better than our starters, but, they are all right-handed... and we have a strong left-handed lineup.

Worth mentioning another trade deadline acquisition... LHSP James Paxton(31, 3.5*, 8-2 2.08) who only made 16 starts and is out for most of the playoffs with biceps tendinitis... I'm happy about that...

Bullpen-wise, we are pretty even with RHSP Forrest Whitley(23, 3/4*, 11-8 3.96) joining RHRP Jeurys Familia(31, 4*, 7-3 6SV 2.49) and RHCL Ken Giles(30, 5*, 2-3 41SV 3.30) at the sharp end of their bullpen... They also only carry one lefty here... our former employee LHRP Jake Diekman(33, 3*, 4-2 2.11)... Yes, I'm desperately looking for advantages for us...

The lineup has beaten us by 30 runs this season for best in the AL, starting with 6x Silver Slugger 2B Jose Altuve(30, 4.5*, .292-20-100 .790OPS) in an off-year, sophomore and 2019 Rookie of the Year LF Kyle Tucker(23, 3.5/4*, .303-28-104 .884OPS) and another trade deadline acquisition, 1B Jesus Aguilar(30, 3*, .262-34-80 .904) who hit 34 home runs in 115 games between HOU and MIL.

Another off-year dud is hitting cleanup...4x All-Star SS Carlos Correa(26, 4/4.5*, .249-22-82 .776OPS), but behind him sit a lot of home runs... LF Derek Fisher(27, 3*, -248-38-118 .836OPS) and veteran leader CF George Springer(31, 3.5*, .242-36-93 .823OPS)...

If everybody brings their A game, the lineups match up pretty ok-ish, but the pitching is a concern, the experience is a concern, and a head to head record of 8-11 isn't pretty.

Prediction: HOU in 5.

American League Division Series Game 1:

October 11th, 2020

Texas Rangers – Houston Astros @ Minute Maid Park

TEX: SP Cory Taylor(R, 10-9 4.55)
HOU: SP Jacob deGrom(R, 14-6 4.65)

Yep, we will get deGrom right away as expected, and we obviously start this show on the road... Astros fans and some of the players were vocal about 'showing those upstarts from Arlington who is boss in the AL', but some of our fans sneaked their way into Minute Maid Park so we had at least some support here...

Tempers flared for the first time when Taylor hit Tucker straight in the back with a breaking ball... and he had no control whatsoever at the start of the game. A wild pitch and a walk to Aguilar spelled trouble, but a well-timed visit by Danny Jansen calmed him down a little bit... and he managed to K Correa and fool Derek Fisher into a groundout... first inning over.

deGrom was using his fastball a lot, alternating speeds between 92 and 98 mph, but something stopped clicking in the second... as we loaded the bags on walks with one out on him. With one down, Julio Pablo Martinez was at the plate and knew exactly what to do... sit on the heater, guess the right speed, and hit it. deGrom went with the heater away... and Martinez... LASER BEAM TO RIGHT CENTER... DEEP... OFF THE SCOREBOARD, ONE IN... TWO IN... IT'S A 3-RUN TRIPLE FOR THE CENTER FIELDER!!!

Castellanos added to the pain with an RBI-double and eventually was stranded at third... BUT TEX 4, HOU 0! And the massacre continued! Top 3rd, Mazara single... Joey Gallo works a full count... and gets a payoff-pitch cookie of the middle of the plate that hit the train tracks in left field, 2-run home run, TEX 6, HOU 0.

Two walks and a Danny Jansen single... familiar sight. Bases loaded and Julio Pablo Martinez at the plate... He would swing through the slider, but Castellanos tagged on with a sac fly... TEX 7, HOU 0. deGrom's day would be over after four, 4IP 7ER. Merry Christmas.

Now, the question was, would Cory Taylor leave this place alive and well... not because he was not pitching well as he no-hit the Astros through four... but he hit a batter per inning... Tucker in the first, Springer in the second, Altuve in the third and Springer again in the fourth...

That ended in the fifth where he 'only' walked Alex Avila to erase him with a double play... 5 no-hit innings for Cory Taylor... WHAT IS GOING ON WITH OUR PITCHING???

The Astros brought in Chris Devenski who, despite some walks, was better than deGrom and lucked into a scoreless sixth when we ran into an out on a hit-and-run. Meanwhile, frustration was at an all-time high for Houston as Taylor pitched a 1-2-3 6th and had two down in the seventh... when Alex Bregman came to the plate and hit a high and hard one to right center... and that one was out of the range of our outfielders and broke up the no-hitter... what a shame.

Taylor stayed in to face Avila and struck him out easily... and got a well-deserved handshake after that inning. 7IP 1H 0ER 2BB 6K with four hit batters... Our bullpen clowns still managed to cough up a couple of runs in the ninth... BUT THAT WAS A BIG GAME ONE WIN!

SP Cory Taylor 7IP 1H 0ER 2BB 6K W
SS Royce Lewis 1-5 SB(1)
DH Nomar Mazara 1-5 R
3B Joey Gallo 1-4 2R 2RBI BB HR
1B Bobby Bradley 0-3 R BB
LF Billy McKinney 1-1 3BB SB(1)
C Danny Jansen 1-3 R BB SB(1)
CF Julio Pablo Martinez 1-4 R 3RBI TP
2B Jorge Castellanos 1-2 2RBI BB DB
HR TEX: Joey Gallo(1)
HR HOU: none
W: Cory Taylor(1-0 0.00) L: Jacob deGrom(0-1 15.75)
TEX 7 HOU 2 TEX leads ALDS 1-0
Taylor is a god. Yes, he was effectively wild today, but I'll take it. This was the instance I was talking about. Everybody brought their A game... apart from Gerson Moreno who was asked to pitch the final two innings...

NLDS:
Chicago Cubs 5 – Philadelphia Phillies 3
Chicago leads NLDS 1-0.

Atlanta Braves 1 – Los Angeles Dodgers 7
Los Angeles leads NLDS 1-0.

ALDS:
Minnesota Twins 2 – Tampa Bay Rays 0(10)
Minnesota leads ALDS 1-0.

12-20-2018, 02:44 PM	#47
Griever20 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Dortmund, Germany Posts: 3,648	2020 ALDS Game 1 The Houston Astros: The Houston Astros have now on the division for the fourth time in a row with 100+ wins, but 'only' have that one illustrious World Series ring from 2017 in their bag. Still, it is hard to blame the front office for that as GM Jeff Luhnow has been the master of the 'Win now!' trade, adding pieces at the trade deadline every year with great success. One result of that is the 2nd best rotation in the AL with RHSP Jacob deGrom(32, 3.5, 14-6 4.65), acquired at the 2019 trade deadline, RHSP Colin McHugh(33, 3.5, 15-7 4.20), RHSP German Marquez(25, 3/3.5, 8-8 4.43), acquired this trade deadline from COL, and veteran RHSP Brad Peacock(32, 3, 17-4 4.03). Pound by pound, they are better than our starters, but, they are all right-handed... and we have a strong left-handed lineup. Worth mentioning another trade deadline acquisition... LHSP James Paxton(31, 3.5, 8-2 2.08) who only made 16 starts and is out for most of the playoffs with biceps tendinitis... I'm happy about that... Bullpen-wise, we are pretty even with RHSP Forrest Whitley(23, 3/4, 11-8 3.96) joining RHRP Jeurys Familia(31, 4, 7-3 6SV 2.49) and RHCL Ken Giles(30, 5, 2-3 41SV 3.30) at the sharp end of their bullpen... They also only carry one lefty here... our former employee LHRP Jake Diekman(33, 3, 4-2 2.11)... Yes, I'm desperately looking for advantages for us... The lineup has beaten us by 30 runs this season for best in the AL, starting with 6x Silver Slugger 2B Jose Altuve(30, 4.5, .292-20-100 .790OPS) in an off-year, sophomore and 2019 Rookie of the Year LF Kyle Tucker(23, 3.5/4, .303-28-104 .884OPS) and another trade deadline acquisition, 1B Jesus Aguilar(30, 3, .262-34-80 .904) who hit 34 home runs in 115 games between HOU and MIL. Another off-year dud is hitting cleanup...4x All-Star SS Carlos Correa(26, 4/4.5, .249-22-82 .776OPS), but behind him sit a lot of home runs... LF Derek Fisher(27, 3, -248-38-118 .836OPS) and veteran leader CF George Springer(31, 3.5, .242-36-93 .823OPS)... If everybody brings their A game, the lineups match up pretty ok-ish, but the pitching is a concern, the experience is a concern, and a head to head record of 8-11 isn't pretty. Prediction: HOU in 5. American League Division Series Game 1:* October 11th, 2020 Texas Rangers – Houston Astros @ Minute Maid Park TEX: SP Cory Taylor(R, 10-9 4.55) HOU: SP Jacob deGrom(R, 14-6 4.65) Yep, we will get deGrom right away as expected, and we obviously start this show on the road... Astros fans and some of the players were vocal about 'showing those upstarts from Arlington who is boss in the AL', but some of our fans sneaked their way into Minute Maid Park so we had at least some support here... Tempers flared for the first time when Taylor hit Tucker straight in the back with a breaking ball... and he had no control whatsoever at the start of the game. A wild pitch and a walk to Aguilar spelled trouble, but a well-timed visit by Danny Jansen calmed him down a little bit... and he managed to K Correa and fool Derek Fisher into a groundout... first inning over. deGrom was using his fastball a lot, alternating speeds between 92 and 98 mph, but something stopped clicking in the second... as we loaded the bags on walks with one out on him. With one down, Julio Pablo Martinez was at the plate and knew exactly what to do... sit on the heater, guess the right speed, and hit it. deGrom went with the heater away... and Martinez... LASER BEAM TO RIGHT CENTER... DEEP... OFF THE SCOREBOARD, ONE IN... TWO IN... IT'S A 3-RUN TRIPLE FOR THE CENTER FIELDER!!! Castellanos added to the pain with an RBI-double and eventually was stranded at third... BUT TEX 4, HOU 0! And the massacre continued! Top 3rd, Mazara single... Joey Gallo works a full count... and gets a payoff-pitch cookie of the middle of the plate that hit the train tracks in left field, 2-run home run, TEX 6, HOU 0. Two walks and a Danny Jansen single... familiar sight. Bases loaded and Julio Pablo Martinez at the plate... He would swing through the slider, but Castellanos tagged on with a sac fly... TEX 7, HOU 0. deGrom's day would be over after four, 4IP 7ER. Merry Christmas. Now, the question was, would Cory Taylor leave this place alive and well... not because he was not pitching well as he no-hit the Astros through four... but he hit a batter per inning... Tucker in the first, Springer in the second, Altuve in the third and Springer again in the fourth... That ended in the fifth where he 'only' walked Alex Avila to erase him with a double play... 5 no-hit innings for Cory Taylor... WHAT IS GOING ON WITH OUR PITCHING??? The Astros brought in Chris Devenski who, despite some walks, was better than deGrom and lucked into a scoreless sixth when we ran into an out on a hit-and-run. Meanwhile, frustration was at an all-time high for Houston as Taylor pitched a 1-2-3 6th and had two down in the seventh... when Alex Bregman came to the plate and hit a high and hard one to right center... and that one was out of the range of our outfielders and broke up the no-hitter... what a shame. Taylor stayed in to face Avila and struck him out easily... and got a well-deserved handshake after that inning. 7IP 1H 0ER 2BB 6K with four hit batters... Our bullpen clowns still managed to cough up a couple of runs in the ninth... BUT THAT WAS A BIG GAME ONE WIN! SP Cory Taylor 7IP 1H 0ER 2BB 6K W SS Royce Lewis 1-5 SB(1) DH Nomar Mazara 1-5 R 3B Joey Gallo 1-4 2R 2RBI BB HR 1B Bobby Bradley 0-3 R BB LF Billy McKinney 1-1 3BB SB(1) C Danny Jansen 1-3 R BB SB(1) CF Julio Pablo Martinez 1-4 R 3RBI TP 2B Jorge Castellanos 1-2 2RBI BB DB HR TEX: Joey Gallo(1) HR HOU: none W: Cory Taylor(1-0 0.00) L: Jacob deGrom(0-1 15.75) TEX 7 HOU 2 TEX leads ALDS 1-0 Taylor is a god. Yes, he was effectively wild today, but I'll take it. This was the instance I was talking about. Everybody brought their A game... apart from Gerson Moreno who was asked to pitch the final two innings... NLDS: Chicago Cubs 5 – Philadelphia Phillies 3 Chicago leads NLDS 1-0. Atlanta Braves 1 – Los Angeles Dodgers 7 Los Angeles leads NLDS 1-0. ALDS: Minnesota Twins 2 – Tampa Bay Rays 0(10) Minnesota leads ALDS 1-0. __________________ MLB 2012 - The Toronto Ban Jays The Montreal Expos... Exposing the New MLB? MLB 2015 - Being the Brewmaster(ended) MLB 2013: The Blue Jays That Never Were(concluded)