My wife asked if it was over because Biagini's walk... I just stared at her, since obviously no, but also because there had already been 3 walks at that point.
I agree. Any no hitter is a huge accomplishment (even at the little league level). What made this even more special is it was on the night of the induction of the Astros HOF (with many of the players in attendance). Also, read this morning that this was Houston's 12th no no (trailing only the Dodgers who have 13).
A no-hitter is always awesome, but in terms of this being treated like a home run of a trade, it was one game against a bad team. I suppose the Gomez trade was a home run since Fiers threw that no-no.
In the history of MLB there have only been 14 combined no hitters, so pretty cool on that note yes even against a bottom dweller. More rewarding is the story behind it; Sanchez just getting traded and starting winless since April with a 6.07 ERA, to win a game like last night and instantly bond with his new team is special.
It was fun. Not sure whether trade works out in long run, but feels good any time you win games leading into three games with your aces starting.
I get what you're saying... but I caution use of the word "trade"... Derek Fisher was not going to be a contributor on this team, nor on any future Astros team, especially with the emergence of Straw. Its amazing he still had any value whatsoever... in my mind, he was closer to Reed status (losing for nothing) vs. prospect status. That, combined with Sanchez still looking to have good raw tools... just possibly underachieving... and then blowing the roof off his debut... and I think some excitement (along with anger from Blue Jays fans/rest of baseball) is completely warranted.
For all the trash talking of the Mariners as an organization, their fan base is informed and passionate. Lookout Landing has been one of the best baseball blogs on the internet and spawned several excellent baseball writers/editors like Jeff Sullivan. That being said, it has well recognized that the site has a sardonic/self-deprecating bent and the coverage from last night was no different. Last night's game recap was a perfect example of the dark, but humorous quality writing they produce. And the opening line from this morning's link post is just hilarious:
Yes it was "one" game and in that "one" game a no hitter was thrown. Was it a "home run of a trade"? Only time will tell but when a no hitter is thrown (especially at the MLB level) it's special and it's even more special that the 'Stros did it. If Altuve (or any other Astro) went 5 for 5 in a game with 8 rbi's would it be diminished because it was against the Mariners?
But wouldn’t we all do that trade again without hesitation? Fiers helped keep our place in the standings which resulted in the #1 seed in the AL. Homefield turned out to be pretty important in 2017. I don’t know how his trade will pan out but it looks like we filled 2 holes for a guy that had minimal future here. It was a no brainer move regardless of outcome.
#2 seed. Cleveland was the 1 seed by 1 or 2 games. The yanks were the wild card (beating the twins I think) and took down Cleveland crawling out from an 0-2 deficit in the divisional round, while we were beating the AL East (and 3rd best team in the AL) Red Sox in 4. The Astros have never had the best record in baseball. I’d love to see that change this year.
I didn’t get a chance to see the game but anyone have a vague idea how often Sanchez was throwing his curve? I think I saw he was only throwing it 20% of the time with the Blue Jays and it’s his best pitch.
Something like a little under 20 percent in Toronto to a little over 30% last night. Biggest difference was way more 4 seamer and way less 2 seamers.
