Well.

When the Astros got beat on Monday, I thought, "Okay. One game in a four-game series." When the Astros got beat on Tuesday with the walk-off after having battled back from McHugh's four-run 1st inning, I was heart-broken. It may have been the most painful loss of the season in an era of losing about 60% of the time. Last night, however, didn't hurt as much. The Astros got straight waxed, and I started to slip back in the comfortable 2010-2014 mindset of, "Whatever. So the Astros will never win again." This is familiar territory.

So the Astros are 77-69, 1.5 games back of the Rangers, 1.5 up on the Twins for the 2nd Wild Card spot. FanGraphs says the Astros' odds of winning the division have fallen from around 90% on August 27 to 39.2%, with a 78.5% chance of making the postseason.

Dallas Keuchel's final line: 4.2IP, 11H/9ER, 5K:0BB, 3HR. Game Score (via MLB): 11. So in the best chance for the Astros to get something out of this series, Keuchel gives up more runs (nine) as he had in his previous six starts (seven).

*Apparently Keuchel's Bad Start means he's no longer a lock for the AL Cy Young.

*A.J. Hinch doesn't think they need a team meeting.

*Here comes Evan P. Grant, typing with one hand while tweaking his nipples with the other:
Eli Manning's clock mismanagement might be the least surprising moment on the calendar. In the three days' (apostrophe sic) since Manning opened the door for a thrilling Cowboys' season-opening comeback, across the street, the Rangers have breathed hot air down Houston's neck, tackled the Astros by the shirt and, on Wednesday, stomped all over them.

*Ft Worth Star-Telegram's Gil Lebreton continued this foot fetish with:
...Wednesday night at the ballpark, the Rangers had the big boot pressed firmly against the Houston Astros' young throats. 

Oh, there's also a one-sentence "Houston, you have a problem" paragraph in there, too. Also, FanGraphs' Dave Cameron was on The Ticket and predicted that the Astros would retake the division, to which Lebreton responded: "Right. And unicorns will come flying out of Nolan Ryan's butt."

*In this Chron article on the many injured Astros, we get this in regards to Carlos Gomez:
The Astros and Gomez have to strike a tricky balance, because a setback with (an intercostal injury) means he's like done for the season. At the same time, Gomez said that if the team falls behind in the race, there won't be much of a season to play for, so the standings - in his mind - will influence how quickly he tries to return to the team. 

It's going to take me some time to figure out how I feel about that, because in the span of about three seconds I went from "Wait what the hell?" to "That kind of makes sense" back to "Oh hell no."

*Luke Gregerson was unavailable last night because he and his wife had their first child on Wednesday in Orlando. Congratulations to Luke and Mrs. Luke.

*The new Astros/Nationals Spring Training complex hasn't even broke ground yet, but there are already budget problems.