Astros Series

[Moose Milligan]

Tonight:  Means vs. Verlander

Tue:  TBD vs. Hunter Brown

Wed (2:10 PM EST) TBD vs. TBD

Houston is 5-5 over their last 10, clinging to a 1.5 game lead over the Rangers for first place in the AL West.  Oddly enough, they're only one game over .500 at home.

Like any series, I want to take 2/3 from them and I think we can.  But they're still a team with a lot of talent, it's not going to be easy.

[Jim'sKid26]

Means vs. Verlander absolutely piques my interest. I might be able to catch the first part of the game. I hope John pitches well. 

[DirtyBird]

Be better

 

[sportsfan8703]

Huge start for Means. I expect him to be pumped. Means has a chance to show tonight that he’s still an ACE and back for this WS run. 

[dtk9119]

Crap.. I missed Moose's thread for this topic. Mods, please merge threads. Thanks.

[Malike]

They have been absolutely dominated by LHP at home. They've just added more paint to the batter's eye to see if that helps them pick the ball up better against LHP at home.

[dystopia]

Shoot for 2/3. They aren’t playing great. 

[Moose Milligan]

54 minutes ago, Malike said:

They have been absolutely dominated by LHP at home. They've just added more paint to the batter's eye to see if that helps them pick the ball up better against LHP at home.

How's that legal?  I'm guessing they had to get league approval for it but still.  I probably wouldn't say it sounds fishy if it weren't the Astros doing it but whatever.

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

How's that legal?  I'm guessing they had to get league approval for it but still.  I probably wouldn't say it sounds fishy if it weren't the Astros doing it but whatever.

Teams have a lot of leeway when it comes to the home field.

As long as it's the same environment for both teams I don't see a problem.

[IllinoisOsFan]

Astros fell asleep in their last two series against 100 loss teams. I expect them to be locked in for our arrival. I hate the matchup, they have disciplined hitting and Verlander is Verlander. 

[Moose Milligan]

3 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Teams have a lot of leeway when it comes to the home field.

As long as it's the same environment for both teams I don't see a problem.

Correct, as long as it's the same for both teams that's fine.

But I don't recall the Astros bitching last year that they need to alter anything because they can't hit lefties so they have to do some painting in the middle of the season.  Like, too damn bad all of a sudden you're having issues at your home park.

Sheesh.  At least we waited until the offseason to move the wall back.

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

 At least we waited until the offseason to move the wall back.

That would be hilarious.

[dtk9119]

1 hour ago, dtk9119 said:

Crap.. I missed Moose's thread for this topic. Mods, please merge threads. Thanks.

Here's what I posted in the other thread.. 

 

Since I live here and we're going tonight -- figured I'd take a crack at this:

Mon Sep 18 8:10pm ET -- Means (BAL) 0-1 5.40 ERA vs Verlander (HOU) 11-8 3.39 ERA

Tue Sep 19 8:10pm ET -- TBA (BAL) vs Brown 11-11 4.61 ERA (HOU)

Wed Sep 20 2:10pm ET -- TBA (BAL) vs TBA (HOU)

BAL 93-56 2 games (3 LC) ahead of TB in AL East (if playoffs started today #1 seed in AL)

HOU 84-66 1,5 games ahead of TEX in AL West (if playoffs started today #2 seed in AL)

I would be thrilled getting just 1/3 in this series. For today, have to think there might be some hangover from yesterday, plus Means still coming back off TJ, Verlander not an easy match up although the O's have been okay vs him over the years. HOU in a hot and heavy race w/ TEX and SEA for AL West and they will have a massive sense of urgency. Since the O's don't get swept hopefully, they'll get at least one. That said, they have been good at MM park last couple years going 5-1. Gibson and Bradish would be lined up for game 2 and 3. Bradish had maybe his best career start last year at MM park. Verlander only went 3 innings against us there last year before leaving w/ an injury. Astros would go on to win that game, the only one they won in the series. We faced Brown this year back on Aug 10 at OPACY and beat him, the only game we won in that series.

[Malike]

15 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

How's that legal?  I'm guessing they had to get league approval for it but still.  I probably wouldn't say it sounds fishy if it weren't the Astros doing it but whatever.

Astros add green paint to batter's eye in center field after players complain about poor performance at home - CBSSports.com

Just in time for tonight's game, too.

Edited September 18, 2023 by Malike

[NCRaven]

Mile High Stadium was a dual purpose park and a section of the stands were on tracks so that you could set up for football and baseball.  Put Walltimore on tracks so that you can vary the distance based on matchups...in game...