iOOTP Dynasty: Houston Astros

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Game 24: Houston (13-10) vs. Oakland (10-13), Gm 2 of 4
Scott Feldman (3-0, 0.70 ERA) vs. A.J Griffin (first start)

Oakland 11, Houston 5

Feldman was uncharacteristically shaky as he gave up four earned runs in the first, three coming on a Yoenis Cespedes home run. Houston came roaring back in the third, however, as Jason Castro tied it with a two-run double. Feldman gave up six more runs as he was awful, raising his season ERA to 1.90.

WP: A. Griffin (1-0)
LP: S. Feldman (3-1), 4.1 IP, 9 H, 10 R (6 ER), 2 K, 13 GS

Record: 13-11, 2 GB

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Game 25: Houston (13-11) vs. Oakland (11-13), Gm 3 of 4
Trevor Bauer (first start) vs. Tommy Milone (1-3, 4.91 ERA)

Oakland 8, Houston 1

Bauer finished with seven innings of work and struck out nine, but control was a huge issue as he walked six and gave up eight runs. Most of these runs came in the early innings, so manager Bo Porter elected to keep him in as the Astros were done early. Milone was dominant for the second straight start against the Astros as Houston dropped their second straight.

WP: T. Milone (2-3)
LP: T. Bauer (0-1), 7 IP, 10 H, 8 R, 6 BB, 9 K

Record: 13-12, 1.5 GB

Bauer was sent down to the minors immediately afterwards. Raul Valdes was promoted to fill the rotations spot until Harrell returns.

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Oakland 6, Houston 0

The Astros managed just one hit off of Sonny Gray as Oakland rolled, handing the Astros their third straight loss with a 6-0 shutout.

WP: S. Gray (1-5)
LP: B. Oberholtzer (1-1), 7.1 IP, 1 ER, 4 R, 3 K

Record: 13-13. .500 Now tied with Oakland for 3rd, 1.5 GB

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I'm going to start going by series and provide summaries with news and notes.

April 29-30: vs. Washington Nationals (12-14)
Game 1: Houston 3, Washington 2- Chris Carter hit his seventh home run, Jarred Cosart gave up just two runs over eight innings. Jesse Crain picked up his third save.
Game 2: Houston 3, Washington 1- Mike Olt hit his first MLB home run, a two-run shot and Brad Peacock struck out six over eight one-run innings. Jesse Crain picked up his fourth save.

Season
Record: 15-13, .536, 1.5 GB

News
Houston finished April two games above .500 at 15-13
Toronto's Edwin Encarnacion was named AL Player of the Month (.320, 10 HR, 29 RBI, 20 R)
New York's Masahiro Tanaka was named AL Pitcher of the Month (4-2, 2.00 ERA, 44 K, 45 IP)
Atlanta's Freddie Freeman was named NL Player of the Month (.311, 10 HR, 25 RBI, 16 R)
St Louis's Trevor Rosenthal was named NL Pitcher of the Month (15 APP, 12 SV, 21 K, 16.1 IP)
Tampa Bay's Kevin Kiermaier was named AL Rookie of the Month (.362, 12 RBI)
Philadelphia's Maikel Franco was named NL Rookie of the Month (.221, 6 HR, 18 RBIs)

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May 2-4: vs Seattle (16-12)
Game 1: Seattle 9, Houston 8 (13 inn)- Jesse Crain blew a save, Jair Jurrjens gave up go ahead two-run homer in the top of the 13th. Dexter Fowler added a solo shot but Astros fell.
Game 2: Seattle 5, Houston 4- Brett Oberholtzer gave up five early runs, Felix Hernandez wasn't at his best but still struck out nine over seven innings. Chris Carter hit eighth HR.
Game 3: Seatte 4, Houston 3- Crain blew his second save, giving up three runs in the ninth. Spoiled a stellar start form Jarred Cosart (8 IP, 1 R, 8 K). Carter hit ninth HR, 2nd game in a row.

Overview: A three-game series with the division leading Mariners saw the Astros swept to start the month of May. Next, they travel to face Detroit, who are 19-10 and lead the American League with the best record.

Season: 15-16, .484, 4th place, 4 GB.

Notes
-Jesse Crain signed a two-year contract extension totaling $5,600,000. Rough because the day it was announced he blew his second save in just three days.
-The Angel's Mike Trout (AL) and Atlanta's Freddie Freeman (NL) were named players of the week.
-Corey Kluber is out for ten months with a torn rotator cuff/
-Draft pool was released, 17-year old CF Bobby Mobley is top prospect.

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May 5-8: at Detroit (19-10)
Game 1: Detroit 10, Houston 4- Astros skid hits four as Dallas Keuchel gives up five runs. Even worse, LJ Hoes goes on the DL. Jose Altuve did hit a solo home run on a 4-5 day.
Game 2: Houston 2, Detroit 1- Win comes at a cost, as Alex Presley leaves with injury. Jesse Crain picks up fifth save, George Springer gets go-ahead RBI double.
Game 3: Houston 2, Detroit 1- Solo HR from Springer and Robbie Grossman, eight one-run innings from Scott Feldman and Crain's sixth save.
Game 4: Houston 4, Detroit 1- Jason Marquis goes eight one-run innings, allows just two hits, Springer hits two-run HR and Crain gets his seventh save.

Overview:
After dropping their fourth in a row to start the series, two dominant pitching performances from Marquis and Feldman helped them earn a series win against the Tigers and move a game above .500 heading into a three game series with Baltimore.

Season: 18-17, .514, 4th place, 3 GB

Roster Changes:
LJ Hoes and Alex Presley went on the DL, Robbie Grossman slid into Hoes starting spot. Demoted Dallas Keuchel and brought up Trevor Bauer for a middle reliever role. Also put Jason Marquis in fifth starter role.

News:
Giancarlo Stanton bruised his wrist, out for 3-4 weeks.
John Danks shut out the Cubs, allowing just three hits while striking out six.
Sergio Romo suffered ulnar nerve irritation and is out for four months

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Temporarily being put on hold, I'm working on designing a new and very, very detailed dynasty.