*Don't miss our 1600-word Wild Card Tale of the Tape.
Astros: 2nd-lowest road win % among teams to make playoffs since 1900 1987 Twins (lowest), 2006 Cards (3rd-lowest) won World Series (Elias)
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 6, 2015
*FanGraphs' Dave Cameron: The Astros/Yankees game should be a bullpen affair. Lots of good information on aces pitching on short rest and the importance (and value) of bringing in relievers early and often.
Odds are not on Dallas Keuchel's side. Since '95, teams using starters on short rest in the playoffs against rested starters are 18-37.
— Phil Rogers (@philgrogers) October 6, 2015
*Dallas Keuchel doesn't care about that stat.*Average tickets on TiqIQ for tonight's game are going for $180, far less than the $300 the Cubs/Pirates tickets are going for.
*Evan Drellich, on how the 2015 Astros were built. Keep reading until you get to the part about how huge Luhnow views the Dexter Fowler trade.
*Colby Rasmus stuck up for Josh Fields' camouflage suit, and a clubhouse leader was born, based on his apparently miserable experience in St. Louis:
I'd get there five, six hours before a game to just sit there and look at my clothes in my locker in a locker room where nobody really even wanted to talk to me anyway. And when they did, it was just to make fun of me about my clothes or things like that. To me, that's really not beneficial to a healthy environment. Call me a sissy or whatever, but I don't think that that's the way it should be.
*Jose de Jesus Ortiz, on how Club Astros was born.
*Jerome Solomon: The Astros' best is good enough
*Carlos Gomez plans to play tonight, but it's not really up to him:
I don't know. It's not be decision, but I should be there. That's on my mind that I'm going to be there. Tomorrow I'm going to come ready to start in the lineup and do my job.
*Collin McHugh is lined up to start a potential Game 1 of the ALDS on Thursday.
*This is weird: Luhnow is "putting forth a new vision" that could result in altered roles or the departures of farm director Quinton McCracken and assistant farm director Allen Rowin. Luhnow "has already made changes in player development, letting go of a slew of people last week." Seven of the nine affiliates made their respective playoffs in 2015.
*Howard Megdal wonders about all those Evan Gattis triples (stealing an off-season blog post idea right out from under me).
*Steve Wulf on how the Astros arrived ahead of schedule.
*The Astros and Yankees both think they're underdogs.
*Girardi won't reveal the lineup, and A-Rod and Reggie Jackson have nice things to say about Carlos Correa.
*Joel Sherman wonders if the 2015 Yankees can channel the 2000 Yankees.
*Surprise! Both beat writers from Enn Jayyy Dawt Cawm think the Yankees beat the Astros tonight.
*The New York Post introduces baseball fans in New York to the Astros.
*Luhnow's first Major League game was at Yankee Stadium, and the bright lights and big city await the youthful Astros - a good read from Gordon Edes.
