72-69, and somehow in the hunt for a bye
Three games over .500. That is the entirety of what Houston’s record says, 72 wins against 69 losses, and the Astros are still in position for a first-round bye.
The American League got small this year. Houston leads the West, has won six of its last eight, took three of four in its most recent series and sits a game and a half back of Chicago in the Central. The Astros also own the tiebreaker over the White Sox from the season series.
Thursday afternoon took one big third inning. The 6-2 final did the rest.
“Good vibes, good people, good wins,” reliever AJ Blubaugh said, having now gone ten straight appearances without giving up a run.
Try it for $0.99.
Arizona’s grip is a half-game wide
The Diamondbacks (74-67) are playing an entirely different sport this month. They hold the last National League wild card by half a game over San Diego, and the underlying numbers are worse than the standings suggest.
Three runs. That is what Arizona managed across three games against Philadelphia, going 0-for-17 with runners in scoring position. They still stole one, 1-0 on Wednesday, on a James McCann homer in the eighth.
Torey Lovullo was not spinning it. “When you score three runs in three games and win one, you have to be satisfied with the win. But we need to be better offensively,” the manager said.
Corbin Carroll is in the middle of it. Two hits in 29 plate appearances over his last eight games, nine strikeouts, and lower-back pain he is refusing to hide behind. “I didn’t push to be in the lineup, they put me in it. I just said I wasn’t going to take myself out,” said the All-Star, who still leads Arizona in runs, triples and steals.
Javier back in a normal start
Cristian Javier returns to a conventional starting assignment after working behind an opener against the Mets. August was ugly: no wins, four losses, a 5.79 ERA. Arizona has historically been kind to him though, 2-0 with a 1.77 ERA across five appearances.
Merrill Kelly gets the ball opposite. The 37-year-old right-hander lost his first four decisions in August, then threw seven shutout innings with seven strikeouts against the Giants.
Houston is 13 games into a stretch without a day off. “The off days will really help us sort out our rotation,” Joe Espada said, which is true and also not much help right now.
Discover the rest of the MLB news on our website and app at mathodds!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply