The numbers don’t lie PAGE 20
There’s no arguing who’s the better team when the Astros and Rangers face off.
The Astros will spend this weekend in Arlington.
Arlington might be a nice little city, but the Astros’ visits there through the years haven’t been enjoyable: 24 wins, 50 losses.
You don’t have to be a member of Mensa, which is located in Arlington by the way, to calculate that as more than two losses for every win. It could be worse. Last year, the Astros’ record against every team in baseball besides the Rangers, was 80-63.
Last year, the Rangers’ record against every team in baseball besides the Astros, was 80-63.
Yet the Astros finished 11 games behind the Rangers in the American League West.
Texas dominated the series, winning 15 of the 19 games between the two squads, including eight of 10 in Arlington.
Were the Rangers that much better than the Astros? Were the Astros that much worse than the Rangers?
Even if you accept the 1980s’ Parcellian Proclamation (“You are what your record says you are”) as sports law, it is difficult to not allow for an exception in this case.
Then again, the year before, when the Astros made their first playoff appearance in 10 years, the Rangers won the season series 13-6.
Two years before that, Texas all but skunked Houston 17-2 head-to-head.
The way the series has gone of late,
the 11-8 edge the Astros posted in 2014 is the one that doesn’t fit.
The look on Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow’s face when asked if this year’s Astros were better suited to match up against the Rangers wasn’t one of resignation. It was recognition.
“I don’t see how we could match up worse,” he said.
Armed for battle
But Luhnow knew his squad was better.
He knew he had added veteran pieces, glue if you will, that will help hold the team together when the inevitable injuries and slumps occur.
He also knew that he had added players who weren’t about to be bothered by what had happened against the Rangers in the past.
Norichika Aoki, Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann and Josh Reddick weren’t here for any of that mess.
A 4-15 record against a division rival is hardly a formula for success.
Had the Astros maintained against Texas just the 56-percent winning percentage they posted against the rest of baseball, they would have finished with 91 wins. Had they gone 9-10 against Texas, they would have tied Toronto and Baltimore for the wild card.
And it isn’t just that the Rangers won 11 more of the games played between the two teams, it was the torturous way in which they did it.
The teams played nine one-run games, and the Rangers won eight of them, including three 2-1 contests.
Time for a turnaround
The Astros are bent on turning that around this season.
They started May by winning three of four against the Rangers at Minute Maid Park.
Welcome to June, and the Astros are already 22 games above .500, the earliest point they have gotten there in team history. (In fact, they had never reached that point before July.) Best. Start. Ever. This is as good a time as any to visit the Rangers.
The top of the rotation is on tap, with Dallas Keuchel, who didn’t even pitch in the first series between the teams this season, set to start Friday.
A month ago, Alex Bregman tweeted out the message: “Opperation #BTSOOTR.”
Ignore that he misspelled operation — that’s an altogether different discussion — and focus in on what comes after the hashtag.
The second-year infielder’s message? Beat the (expletive) out of the Rangers.
These Astros have no fear. They aren’t entering games thinking about whether they will win or lose. Five runs down, six runs behind … they aren’t fazed. They expect to win, it’s just a matter of how.
Should expectations of winning in Arlington be any different than anywhere else? Nope. The Astros finished 11 games behind the Rangers last year, thanks to a pitiful record in their head-tohead matchups.
They are 12 games ahead of the Rangers this season, because they have the better team.
This year, these teams are what their records say they are.
Feel free to ask someone from Mensa if you like.