Major League Baseball: 2017 Season

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I hope for the best for Jameson Taillon. My best wishes are with him.

My Houston Astros go back to work tonight. A quick two-game set at home in Interleague play against the Atlanta Braves will be followed by a four-game weekend series at the New York Yankees. But before going any further, I'll toss along this assessment.

The sexy deal regarding the Houston Astros has been the Sports Illustrated prediction of the Astros winning the 2017 World Series. The Astros so far have been a winning ball club sitting at 21-11 and 1st in the AL West. So far, so good. The Astros were a team that had less than 60 wins for three successive seasons, even surpassing their own records for fewest wins in their history. The Astros adjusted very well from life in the NL Central to the AL West. If the Astros were to make the World Series, it would be the only other time since the improbable 2005 Houston Astros that they played in the World Series. The Astros never won a single game when they played the Chicago White Sox. So maybe if the Astros get up to the World Series, they can do two things the 2005 Astros never did- win a World Series game or even win the World Series. All the Astros need to do is keep playing hard and keep finding ways to win. That alone will keep them afloat for this season and seasons to come.


If you would like to assess your own team, please do so. You may even assess certain other teams. Enjoy the new series. Good luck to all of your favorite teams.
 
Sad we're home for just two games. Still, we hosted the Atlanta Braves for Interleague action. The Astros won 8-3 on Tuesday night. Today, we won 4-2. We are now 23-11 on the season with a six-game lead in the AL West. 23-11 is the best 34-game stretch in Astros' history.

Up next for the Houston Astros Baseball Club... with all due respect to Atlanta, our next opponent is absolutely NOT Atlanta- four game weekend set in The Bronx at the New York Yankees. I wouldn't be surprised if we lose this series, even in a sweep. Astros. Yankees. The Bronx. Bronx Bombers 'bout to blow up in our face (or at least try to). Crucial series even in early-mid May.


Congratulations to all other winners up to and beyond the time of this post, including a 9th Inning rally that helped the San Francisco Giants sink the New York Mets in Queens.
 
Mets season is pretty much sunk at this point. Last year at this time it was the hitting that was hurt. This year? Cespedes may not be back this season. Same for d'Arnaud. Pitching wise? Syndergaard is likely done for the year, Matz may not return, Familia may be done for the year, Lugo may not return, Harvey is pitching like he's done for his career. I have no idea how they are 2nd in their division but they will finish well under .500.
 
Ken's New York Yankees were to be entertained by my Houston Astros for this Mother's Day weekend. Their four-game set began on Thursday with the Astros winning 3-2. The Astros won 5-1 on Friday. Saturday was rained out, so this series would be decided in a doubleheader on Sunday. We lost Game 1 of the double dip 11-6, but we made amends by defeating the Yanks 10-7 in Game 2 as Derek Jeter's jersey was retired that night.

Up next for the Astros... more National League memories as we are at Omnis' Miami Marlins for a three-game Interleague series starting tomorrow. No rest for the weary after a doubleheader in The Bronx.


Congratulations to all winners from today, including the Blue Jays taming the Seattle Mariners in Toronto, and also wins by both of Florida's Major League Baseball teams today.
 
The Houston Astros won 7-2 at Miami today. However, the unique story is that the Astros scored a Grand Slam in back-to-back games for the first time in team history. The Kansas City Royals are the only remaining team to never hit Grand Slams in back-to-back games. Joe Musgrove was HOU's winner. Junichi Tazawa, with the loss for MIA. Back at it tomorrow night in Miami for Game 2 of 3 of this series. We improved to 27-12 on the season now with this win.


Congratulations to Monday's other winners, including wins in offensive firestorms by Cleveland (vs. Tampa Bay) and Atlanta (at Toronto).
 
We're done in Miami with our Interleague series. The Houston Astros played against the Miami Marlins for a three-game set. Summary:

* Gm. 1: 7-2, Houston
* Gm. 2: 12-2, Houston
* Gm. 3: 3-0, Houston

So "winner winner, fish dinner" for the Astros. This baller season for the Astros continues as they've had their best 40-game stretch in franchise history. We came into the league the same year the Mets did- 1962. It's refreshing for the Houston Astros to be a GREAT team for once rather than being great at failing. I'm still not buying them as World Series champs this season despite being so good so far.

Up next for the Houston Astros Baseball Club... we're on a pretty long home stand. We will host the defending AL Champion Cleveland Indians for three, followed by hosting the Detroit Tigers for four, and finally the Baltimore Orioles for three. But first things first- Cleveland's coming on down to H-Town.


Congratulations to all other winners from Wednesday up to and beyond the time of this post. That even includes a walk-off solo jack by Arizona in 11 innings to send the New York Mets to seven straight losses (sorry, Blitz24...).


[UPDATE] I forgot to mention the NYM at ARI game was in Extra Innings (11 innings). Changes made.
 
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Detroit might as well show up to all remaining games without a bullpen this season since the pen they have usually plays as if they never played baseball ever to begin with.
 
Detroit might as well show up to all remaining games without a bullpen this season since the pen they have usually plays as if they never played baseball ever to begin with.
I feel if you combined the Mets and the Tigers bullpens it would somehow get worse and baseball would die forever.
 
The Reds have a good pen. Unfortunately they're getting worn out because they have to come in after 4 innings every game. We own a nice 6 game losing streak after getting swept by the Cubs.
 
The Houston Astros hosted the Cleveland Indians over the weekend. All we got in return is our butts handed to in a sweep. Series summary:

Gm. 1: 5-3; Cleveland
Gm. 2: 3-0; Cleveland
Gm. 3: 8-6; Cleveland

Perhaps no shame losing to Cleveland, but this is sad.

Up next for the Astros... we failed against one AL Central team, so maybe hosting another AL Central team could help. Four-game set with the Detroit Tigers. MoTown. H-Town. Minute Maid Park. Let's play ball!


Congratulations to all other winners from this weekends' series.
 
I haven't updated the last series my Houston Astros had. So this report is a quick update... my Astros won the four-game series against Detroit by taking 3 of 4. Summary:

GM 1 (MON) - DET at HOU: 1-0; Houston
GM 2 (TUE) - DET at HOU: 6-2; Houston
GM 3 (WED) - DET at HOU: 6-3; Detroit
GM 4 (THU) - DET at HOU: 7-6; Houston

And tonight, we just defeated the Baltimore Orioles 2-0 to start this final series of our home stand before heading off on a string of three straight road series.


Congratulations to all winners from today, including wins by Toronto, the New York Mets, and Cincinnati.
 
The Reds are hanging in there. Doing better than we probably should be, considering 4/5's of the starting rotation is now on the DL, 3 of those having been on there all season. Amazingly we're only 1 game under .500.

Adleman gave the bullpen a much needed rest by pitching 1 hit ball in 8 innings tonight against the Phils. Oddly the pen, which has been one of the best in the league, gave up twice as many hits and 2 runs in their only inning.
 
Funny you mention the Phillies, because I was snooping around the stats, I thought San Diego had the worst record so far. Turns out... it's Philadelphia. The Phillies have won only 16 games so far this season. Their record is now 16-30. San Diego, on the other end, has an 18-32 record.

I'm obviously proud of my Astros. The 'Stros are currently 33-16 after tonight's win over the Baltimore Orioles.
 
Taillon will pitch at AA Altoona today in a rehab start.

McCutchen demoted to 6th in lineup after becoming a $14 mil .205 hitter.

Bucs down to 1 starting pitcher that doesnt suck and in last place, but only 3.5 gb.
 
At this point, it seems like the Tigers are so bad that they'd lose to the already terrible Royals by being blown out right now if they faced off.
 
Our final series before heading off on a long road trip was completed earlier today. Yes, even though there was lots of racing going on, there's still a season of baseball to be played. So we were done taking on the Baltimore Orioles. This is the series summary:

GM1 - BAL at HOU: 2-0; Houston
GM2 - BAL at HOU: 5-2; Houston
GM3 - BAL at HOU: 8-4; Houston

So we swept the Baltimore Orioles on this home stand. What I didn't know is that the O's were on a losing streak. They've now dropped seven straight after we brought the brooms out to sweep the O's. As for my Astros, we're now 35-16 on the season after this series.

Up next for the Houston Astros... we're on a three-city road trip of 10 games and three series. The fun starts with a three-game set at the Minnesota Twins starting tomorrow, followed by a three-game weekend series at the Texas Rangers (no game this Thursday), and a four-game series at the Kansas City Royals.


Congratulations to all winners and series winners (or splits) of the most recent series, and also congratulations to everybody who won today/tonight.
 
The Houston Astros won today at the Minnesota Twins. However, it's weird how it happened. The Astros led 2-0 early on. The Twins would later find the scoreboard to be down 2-1. They later would be down 8-2 thanks to a seven-run inning by Minnesota. From there, the Houston Astros brought it to a 9-8 lead. The final score? Try 16-8, Houston. So basically, the Astros scored 14 unanswered runs to win today. What a nuts game!


Congratulations to Monday's other winners, including a win by the team we recently swept- the Baltimore Orioles. How did your boys do on this Memorial Day?
 
Well we've have a knack for scoring in the 1st inning lately. Unfortunately the pitching can't keep up. Once again the starter couldn't get past the 3rd inning today. I've lost count of how many times that's happened already this season.
 
@GTFan24, I saw on Twitter that Bryce Harper was trending earlier this evening. I then saw the Twitter video, and man... that was pretty rough. I probably would have done the same thing Bryce Harper did if I got plunked like that. If nothing's been doled out to Bryce Harper yet, there probably will be in the near future.
 
That dates back to the 2014 playoffs. Strickland was not impressed with a Harper HR and kept a close eye on him when he ran the bases then Harper got him again later in the series and did his own showboating. After Harper was safely back in the dugout he was the toughest guy in town screaming at Strickland on the mound.

If I'm facing Harper in a critical series in Sept or later I would buzz the tower in the 1st AB if he is that easy to trigger.💡
 
Harper had every right to do that. When a pitcher intentionally throws at a player, then they deserve to get their ass beat. The "unwritten" rule of baseball that says pitchers should do this for whatever reason is one of the dumbest things in pro sports. Now if a pitcher doesn't do it intentionally then it's a non issue and just a hazard of the game.
 
THIS JUST IN...

I was watching "Time to Schein" on CBS Sports Network. And just now, justice was levied out. Hunter Strickland gets a six-game suspension, and Bryce Harper gets a four-game suspension. Both players have elected to appeal. Man- Adam Schein went OFF! He went on this rant basically along the lines of saying, "Major League Baseball is okay with not enforcing tougher penalties and allowing for Bush League plays and moments to happen." Schein wanted at least 10 games for Strickland (he called for 15 games). So that's the punishment allowed.


Your thoughts, baseball fans?
 
The trend continued. The Reds had the lead each game against the Jays after scoring in the 1st inning all three games of the series. The result? Swept. :grumpy:
 
...and in Minneapolis, the Houston Astros completed their three-game set at the Minnesota Twins. Series summary...

GM1 - HOU at MIN: 16-8; Houston
GM2 - HOU at MIN: 7-2; Houston
GM3 - HOU at MIN: 17-6; Houston

The Astros somehow have a knack of hanging a bunch of runs on the Twins in Minneapolis. We did real good in delivering three routs of the Twins. If you do the math, we outscored MIN 40-16 in the sweep. Evisceration. So our record is now 38-16 on the season. Still 20+ games over .500 now.

Up next for my Houston Astros Baseball Club... we're off on Thursday but start a weekend series at those boys up north- the Texas Rangers. Three-game set in the continuation of the Battle for the Silver Boot.


Congratulations to all other series winners as well as those who won today/tonight. Also, I read that Bryce Harper's suspension was dropped to three games aside from the four initially set.
 
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