MLB The Show: Steelerfan's Houston Astros Franchise

[steelerfan]

I've never been accused of being a hometown fan in my life, honestly!

Unfortunately, the Aeros moved to Iowa after the 12-13 season.

The Dynamo, eh, I follow them casually.

I have been an Astros fan since I was very young but, generally as an adult, I've been a casual baseball fan.

I think I'm most surprised that you remember the Aeros thing, lol.

I have a buddy who has a Franchise going with the Royals and is having fun with it. If I wasn't using Houston, I'd consider Minnesota. They have some great pitching prospects.

[steelerfan]

With wins on Friday and Saturday night over the AL East leading Blue Jays, Houston has won 4 straight to improve to 5-4 on the current 10-game home stand. Houston (57-54) will wrap up the series, and the home stand, on Sunday afternoon at Minute Maid.

On Saturday, the Astros activated LJ Hoes from the 60-day DL and immediately Optioned him to AAA Oklahoma City.

[jaymo76]

Are you playing again tonight or tomorrow?

[steelerfan]

Are you playing again tonight or tomorrow?

I'm going to play again tonight.

[steelerfan]

A bit of housekeeping to do before I get into the results from the Toronto series. There have been several transactions in the last couple of days.

Since Hoes was activated and optioned to AAA OKC:

RP Matt Albers sent outright to AAA OKC.
(AA Corpus Christi) Activated SP Bobby Doran from the DL.
(AAA OKC) Activated SP Asher Wojciechski from the DL.
Placed RP Josh Zeid on outright assignment waivers.
Sent RP Pat Urckfitz from AA CC to A Lancaster.
Sent RP Kevin Chapman from AA CC to A Lancaster.
Sent RP Chia-Jen Lo from AA CC to A Lancaster.
Sent RP Aaron West from AA CC to A Lancaster.
Sent SP Jake Buchanan from AAA OKC to AA CC.
Sent 2B Enrique Hernandez from AAA OKC to AA CC.

[steelerfan]

The red hot Houston Astros pushed their winning streak to 5 in a row and 6 of 7 on Sunday, completing a 4-game sweep of the AL East leading Toronto Blue Jays at Minute Maid Park.

Starting pitching was the difference against the Jays. In the opener, Alex White went 7 innings, allowing just 2 runs; in game two, Jerome Williams surrendered one run in 6 innings; game three had Jarred Cosart giving up 3 runs in 8.2 innings; in the finale, Brett Oberholtzer allowed 1 run in 7.2 innings.

The Astros will have Monday off before playing 3 in Philadelphia (46-66). The probable starters:

Scott Feldman (7-5, 4.51) vs Roberto Hernandez (7-7, 3.65)
Alex White (3-4, 2.87) vs Ethan Martin (0-1, 7.20)
Jerome Williams (10-5, 3.28) vs Jeff Manship (1-1, 2.11).

A look at the current AL West standings:

Rangers 62-50 --
Mariners 60-51 1.5
Astros 58-54 4.0
Athletics 57-54 4.5
Angels 57-55 5.0

AL Wildcard:

Mariners 60-51 --
Indians 59-54 --
Astros 58-54 0.5

[steelerfan]

With 50 games remaining this season, some team statistics (MLB Rank in parenthesis):

Batting Average: .250 (19)
Runs: 450 (T16)
Doubles: 182 (T10)
Triples: 22 (T2)
Home Runs: 103 (T19)
Base on Balls: 292 (25)
Strikeouts: 945 (29)

Fielding %: .986 (16)

ERA: 3.99 (21)
Home Runs Allowed: 130 (30)
Base on Balls Allowed: 371 (27)
Strikeouts: 791 (20)

[JBHuskers]

Who's got the most triples? Altuve?

[steelerfan]

Who's got the most triples? Altuve?

I think Altuve has 3 or 4. Alex Presley has 5, leading the team. I'll post the list when I hop on shortly.

[jaymo76]

That 2-1 victory over the Jays was a great defensive battle. I thought Bautista would have feasted on your pitchers but that was not the case. Are the Jays out of first place now?

Now the million dollar question, do you have upcoming series with the Rangers and Mariners??? That will be must watch twitch tv!

[steelerfan]

That 2-1 victory over the Jays was a great defensive battle. I thought Bautista would have feasted on your pitchers but that was not the case. Are the Jays out of first place now?

Now the million dollar question, do you have upcoming series with the Rangers and Mariners??? That will be must watch twitch tv!

I'm playing the Phillies next, then the Rangers. I have several series left with both Texas and Seattle (as well as Oakland and LAA).

The Jays still have, I believe, an 8 game lead. That whole division has been slumping. In fact, looking at the standings the other day, the only reason the Jays have such a good record is because they are FEASTING on the other AL East teams. Toronto is below .500 against the rest of the Majors.

[jaymo76]

Playing tonight Matt or is it a "day off?" By the way do you play any RTTS? If so, ever broadcast it? I know JB is pretty into it but haven't seen any broadcasts in awhile.

[steelerfan]

Playing tonight Matt or is it a "day off?" By the way do you play any RTTS? If so, ever broadcast it? I know JB is pretty into it but haven't seen any broadcasts in awhile.

I may get a game in here in a bit. Watching some TV with the kiddo right now.

I think I'm going to finish my season in Franchise before I get back into RTTS. I played a bunch recently but it jacked up my pitching skill level via Dynamic Difficulty. When I went back to Franchise, I was on "Legend" pitching difficulty.

[steelerfan]

Getting on to play now.

[steelerfan]

JB, here are my leaders in triples:

Presley 5
Springer 4
Singleton 2
Altuve 2
9 players with 1

Just fyi.

[jaymo76]

That 7-6 victory was great to watch. I thought your pitchers were going to let you down in the end. Highly stressful victory hey buddy.

[steelerfan]

That 7-6 victory was great to watch. I thought your pitchers were going to let you down in the end. Highly stressful victory hey buddy.

Yeah. 7-2 I thought it was on cruise control. Even when it was cut to 7-5 I wasn't concerned. But then Crain gives up a long ball in the ninth and I still had to face Howard. Yeah, that was a bit stressful.

[steelerfan]

Going to stream game 2 of my series in Philly in just a few minutes.

[steelerfan]

Following Astro wins of 7-6 and 9-5, a 2-out, 2-run, walk off single ended Houston's 7-game winning streak as the Phillies avoided a sweep by the visitors on Thursday.

Houston (60-55) will return to the friendly confines of Minute Maid Park on Friday to begin a 6-game home stand as the Texas Rangers (64-50) and Minnesota Twins will each play 3 in Houston, before the Astros hit the road again for ten games.

Obviously, the upcoming series with Texas looms large. The AL West standings going into games on August 8:

Rangers 64-50 --
Mariners 62-52 2.0
Angels 60-55 4.5
Astros 60-55 4.5
Athletics 58-56 6.0

AL Wildcard standings:

Mariners 62-52 --
Indians 61-55 --
Angels 60-55 0.5
Astros 60-55 0.5
Tigers 59-55 1.0
Athletics 58-56 2.0

[steelerfan]

Probable starters for the upcoming series between the Houston Astros (60-55) and the Texas Rangers (64-50) August 8-10, 2014 at Minute Maid Park, Houston, Texas:

Jarred Cosart (8-5, 3.86) vs Robbie Ross (9-7, 3.14) 7:10 PM

Brett Oberholtzer (8-8, 4.18) vs Yu Darvish (11-5, 2.81) 6:10 PM

Scott Feldman (8-5, 4.55) vs Tanner Scheppers (8-8, 4.15) 1:10 PM