Bird’s the word for Astros in wild-card chase
If you’re an Astros fan who happens to enjoy birdwatching, the next several days are for you. They’re filled with Blue Jays, Cardinals and Orioles.
This also happens to be a crucial stretch if the Astros, whose shot at catching the Rangers in the American League West has grown extremely long, are to maintain their hopes of a wild card.
With Toronto and Baltimore waging a heated battle for AL East supremacy, at least one of the two will be a wild-card competitor for the Astros. (Perhaps both, should the Red Sox vault them.) So it would behoove the Astros to reverse the offensive ineptitude they showed in last week’s home series with the Jays when they visit Toronto for three games starting Friday.
In their four games against Toronto at Minute Maid Park, the Astros totaled five runs and lost three times. In the only game in which they topped one run, the Astros needed 14 innings to score two.
As the Astros learned in that series, the Blue Jays specialize in the long ball. Toronto, which scored seven of its 10 runs in the series on solo homers, is second in the majors with 162 home runs.
Two of those home runs against the Astros came off the bat of Edwin Encarnacion, whose 31 are tied for second in the majors and whose 94 RBIs rank first.
Reigning AL Most Valuable Player Josh Donaldson homered twice in one of the games at Minute Maid, providing the difference in a 3-1 victory. A threat to repeat as MVP, Donaldson has 27 home runs and 77 RBIs for the season and leads the majors with 92 runs while ranking fifth in OPS at .970.
In order to help limit the innings of Aaron Sanchez, the Blue Jays have gone to a six-man rotation after acquiring Francisco Liriano from the Pirates at the trade deadline. The Astros missed Sanchez (11-2, 2.85 ERA) in Houston but will face him on Saturday when they throw Collin McHugh. Joe Musgrove faces Liriano on Friday, with Mike Fiers opposing Marcus Stroman on Sunday.
If road statistics were all that mattered, Astros second baseman Jose Altuve would be the unquestioned front-runner to wrest the MVP from Donaldson. After going 5-for-9 in Thursday’s doubleheader sweep of Minnesota, Altuve is hitting .434 away from home this season. Among players with a minimum of 225 road plate appearances in a season, only Hall of Famer Harry Heilmann of the 1925 Tigers topped that figure, batting an absurd .456. (Heilmann made a habit of winning AL batting crowns in oddnumbered years, doing so by hitting .394 in 1921, .403 in 1923, .393 in 1925 and .398 in 1927.)
The Astros broke out of their offensive doldrums in a big way against the Twins, but they’ll have to hit on a consistent basis if they’re to stay in the hunt. Ideally, a boost will be provided by Yulieski Gurriel, their recent 32-year-old Cuban signee who is expected to make his major league debut during the two-game series with St. Louis that begins Tuesday at Minute Maid Park.
After the two games with the Cardinals, it’s off to Baltimore, where the Astros play four games starting Thursday. It was a home series with the Orioles in late May that ignited the Astros’ season. George Springer was inserted into the leadoff hole, and the Astros swept three tight ones from Baltimore, winning 3-2 (in 13 innings), 4-3 and 4-2.
Like the Blue Jays, the Orioles dig the long ball. They’re the only team with more homers (172) than Toronto. Mark Trumbo hit his major league-leading 32nd on Thursday. Manny Machado, an MVP candidate himself, has 26, and Chris Davis has 23.
And Baltimore is among the majors’ toughest teams to beat late. Closer Zach Britton is having an otherworldly season that, in the absence of a standout AL starter, makes him a bona fide Cy Young Award candidate. Britton boasts a 0.57 ERA and 0.77 WHIP and has converted all 34 of his save opportunities. And setup man and fellow All-Star Brad Brach has been almost as good. He’s 6-1 with a 1.21 ERA and 0.89 WHIP.
Toronto and Baltimore aren’t alone among the Astros’ wild-card hurdles. Boston, Detroit and Seattle are ahead of them as well, so a minimum of three teams will have to be jumped for the Astros to make the playoffs.
But beating the Blue Jays and Orioles is a good place to start. Think of it as wounding, if not killing, two birds with one stone.