The Indians don't have a clear fifth starter, so yesterday was a Bullpen Day in which eight Indians pitchers took the mound to just get to tomorrow, and hopefully the number of different looks would throw the Astros off. It didn't. Astros win 6-2 behind Mike Fiers' strong five innings, Alex Bregman's 2-run homer, and Carlos Correa's defense.
Fiers credited two slick Correa plays - one in which he made his first step -0.7 seconds before the ball was hit (the "-" is not a typo) - with getting the win. Correa has decided to one-hop throws to 1B from the hole:
You've got more control of the baseball when you try to one-hop it. Obviously, we have good first basemen, but when you try to throw it in the air, you can throw it over the first baseman, and there's no chance he can pick it up.
If you had Mike Fiers as the 2nd Astros pitcher to reach ten wins, then please step right up and allow me to tie you to this burning stake for witchcraft.
*Jake Kaplan notes: It's been a week since the Astros had a starting pitcher go six innings.
*Who Won Yesterday: Seattle, New York, Baltimore, Kansas City, Detroit
*Who Lost Yesterday: Southwest Arkansas, Toronto, Boston
AL Wild Card:
WC1: Boston +1
WC2: Baltimore/Detroit: 0
Houston: -2
New York: -3.5
Kansas City: -4
Seattle: -5
*MLB.com gives the Astros an 18.3% chance of making the postseason, with Boston and Detroit their most likely picks for the Wild Card spots.
*FiveThirtyEight puts it at 21% for the Astros.
*Ten days ago Dallas Keuchel beat the Rays and said his body felt as good as it had all year long. Now it's looking unlikely that he'll make another start this season. Hinch:
He's really good at pitching through a lot of the irregularities that happen throughout the season, and this is just something he couldn't do. When he played catch on Sunday and felt uncomfortable, we decided to send him back.
Brad Peacock will get the start tonight against Cleveland, and if he wanted to pull a Brandon Backe impression, that would be alright with me.
*Richard Justice writes about how Alex Bregman's surge at the plate coincides with Hinch moving him to the #2-hole.
*Jeff Passan broke down the schedules of 18 playoff-contending teams (I only did, like, six teams). According to Passan, only the Red Sox and Yankees have a tougher schedule than the Astros.
*Max Stassi and Kevin Chapman have joined the Astros from Fresno, and that might be it for September call-ups.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
