To be fair the guy get one hit every like 12 at bat, so let him celebrate a little even if is a single, poor guy doesn't get too many opportunities to do so.
What's exciting about Giles is the improvement he has shown from last year to this year has been sustainable... and he's still young/raw enough to expect further improvement has he refines the art of pitching.
Every time I see his interviews, Giles doesn't come across as a very deep thinker LOL. But he got right back on the horse after a rare failure and came through in a huge way.
Feel like a weight has been lifted with that one. Keuchel pitching well and Giles shutting those schmucks down.
That's what your ace is supposed to do when you're in the midst of a losing streak. Thank you, Keuchel! Now let's keep doing that, and get Verlander next week.
I'm seriously starting to wonder whether Tyler White would make a better DH than Beltran in the postseason. There would be many who say that you are better off going with a playoff veteran in the postseason since they've been there - done that... and will keep a level head whereas a rookie or near-rookie like White is likely to choke under pressure even if his regular season stats were great. Have there been any studies done comparing senior veterans to rookies and near-rookies in the playoffs? I'd be curious to know how each group's postseason stats compare to their regular season numbers.
Sure do! In August, the Astros offense comes in 11th in the ML with OPS of .764. That compared to .855 (1st in ML by a long shot) prior to the ASB. The bats weighing down the Astros team OPS the most belong (in order) to McCann, Marisnick, Davis, Fisher, Reddick, Beltran, Centeno, and Springer (all below .700). We are still not done with the first half of August so there is plenty of time to turn things around but at least we saw 3 guys on that list get hits tonight. We probably don't need to worry much about Springer (will take him a while to get hot again after the DL stint), Davis (headed to Fresno soon for White), or Centeno (going to Fresno when Gattis returns). But the other guys need to get it in gear.
He looked great today. Hopefully in September we will get to see Brendan McCurry with the ML club. He's been on fire the past 6 weeks and does the 6-out appearance quite frequently. At such a time as the team can no longer afford Giles, or he goes the way of Tony Sipp, McCurry might be able to step into his shoes. Alternatively, he might be a useful offseason trade piece.
So it seems that the Astros can only win games now when there's a GoT episode to follow. This one was just as nervewracking: that umpire had no consistency whatsoever today aside from being consistently bad. Looks like our luck is starting to turn though. That's baseball for you
I would rather see the Astros beat the Rangers than the vintage Yankees. I hate the Rangers. I hate their stadium. I hate their uniforms. I hate the Dallas freeway system........
