*Houston is now 10-4 against Anaheim. They're now a paltry 31-6 at home against AL West teams.
*Scoreboard Watching: the Yankees beat the Blue Jays, the Dodgers lost to Colorado.
Houston (101-54): -
New York (101-55): -0.5
Los Angeles (99-56): -2.0
*Wade Miley: 1IP, 4H/4ER, 0K:1BB. He faced nine batters.
Miley's September: 50 batters faced, 22 outs. 7.1IP, 23H/18ER, 4K:5BB.
It's worth wondering if Miley has cost himself a spot on the postseason roster. He would normally get one more start, likely at Anaheim next weekend in the closing series. But when you're scuffling as bad as he is - and let's be clear: Miley has not made it into the 2nd Inning in three of his last four starts (and those starts coming against the Mariners, A's, and now Angels) - it is a concern. For me, Saturday night it looked like he gave up that leadoff homer to .731 OPS-having ass David Fletcher - who had not hit a home run since June 15 - and thought, "Here we go again," and here we, in fact, did go again. Miley is basically Jose Urquidy's opener. Mentally he's beaten right now.
Miley:
I'm not doing my part, I'm not getting the job done, and I'm not giving us a chance. It's tough to swallow, but at the same time, I've been through this, and I've got to keep working and try to get through it.
Side note: No, Wade Miley has not "been through this." He has made 243 starts in his career. Eleven of them have been shorter than 2IP, six of them shorter than 1IP, but never three out of four starts.
Hinch:
We're going to figure it out and he's going to be really effective for us. But given the time, it's a difficult time to assess because he's got one start left before we've got to make some decisions, but we'd obviously like to get him in a better frame of mind.
Miley, on the urgency of his last start of the regular season:
Pretty high, I would say. I got to gain some trust back. I got to go out and prove I can get outs in the Big Leagues and prove I can give this team a chance to win.
Chandler Rome: The Astros have a full-fledged 4th Starter problem. Miley threw 27 pitches last night. The Angels swung and missed on exactly zero of them. Martin Maldonado:
Me and Chirinos were talking at the end of the game and we just have to try to find out how we can get him back to what you saw earlier in the year. I think tomorrow we're going to watch a lot of video to see, as catchers, what we have to do to get him back.
*Bryan Abreu struck out the side in the 5th before getting touched up in the 6th. Last week Chandler Rome talked up Abreu's chances of making the postseason roster.
*Hector Rondon gave up a back-breaking 2-run home run to Kolk Kalkouk. It was the 10th home run Rondon has allowed (which feels low by about 50) and the second appearance in a row in which Rondon has given up a homer.
*Yordan hit his 27th home run of the season. He was called up on June 9 - the 67th game of the season.
*Kyle Tucker was 2x4 with two doubles.
Kyle Tucker, 2018: 72 PAs, three extra-base hits. .141/.246/.203.
Kyle Tucker, 2019: 50 PAs, seven extra-base hits. .313/.340/.542.
*Carlos Correa came out of the game after the 6th Inning, and everyone went crazy with their "Massage!" tweets or Daniela pics. But A.J. Hinch told us last Saturday this is what he was going to do these last games of the season. Hinch, literally last Saturday:
It will be borderline like a Spring Training schedule with in-season responsibilities. He may play six innings and come out, even if it's not a blowout.
*Don't be an idiot.
Fan interference. Stay in your seats. Just a thought. #astros pic.twitter.com/L8XhtVvvrb— Karen Warren (@karenwarrenHC) September 22, 2019
*Down 6-4 with Stubbs on first and two out in the 7th, Garrett Stubbs got thrown out at third base on an Altuve infield single that Stubbs thought went into the outfield. "Inexcusable," he said.
*Join our Patreon.
*Forrest Whitley threw 4.2IP last night, allowing a hit and striking out six.
*B.J. Surhoff was fired by Mike Elias and the Orioles, and is extremely upset with how Elias "treats people," which sounds like a familiar complaint.
*Saturday marked the final Cubs home game to be aired on WGN. The 7th Inning Stretch was pretty cool.
*Check The Hardball Times' Alexandra Simon with a retro review of 1996's "The Fan" with Robert DeNiro and Wesley Snipes.
*Chaos at the Black Keys' LA show!
*A Musical Selection: One of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands.
