Well. This is just. (sigh). The Astros are a 1/2-game back of the Western Louisiana Rangers. FanGraphs gives the Astros a 52.5% chance of winning the division (down from 90.2% on August 27) and an 82% chance of making the postseason. There are 17 games left, five of them are with the Rangers. Now that it matters, the Astros are 1.5 games up on the Twins for the 2nd WC spot.
The Astros are now 19-26 in 1-run games. They are 4-15 in 1-run road games since May 1. They are 4-10 against the Rangers this season. Commence tearing your hair out.
*SI's extremely thorough game recap has questions for why Hinch used Harris once again. Harris, if you have actually gone insane and cannot remember, gave up the go-ahead homer to C.J. Cron on Saturday, the two-run go-ahead homer to Prince Fielder on Monday, and then the walk-off sac fly last night. Hinch, on going to Harris:
I clearly could have used (Gregerson), and didn't.
Hinch, on the clubhouse:
We'll be ready to play. Our world's not coming to an end.
*ESPN's Jean-Jacques Taylor brought himself to climax as he wrote this story about the Rangers.
The Rangers, left for dead in late July when they fell nine games behind the Houston Astros, will wake up Wednesday morning in first place for the first time this season. Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised, considering manager Jeff Banister ends virtually every tweet to his 17,500 followers with #nevereverquit.
*Carlos Gomez, Jason Castro, Jed Lowrie, Marwin Gonzalez. All are hurt. No one knows when they'll be back because of despair.
*Jim Crane caught a foul ball.
*A.J. Reed is Keith Law's Prospect of the Year.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
