They’re on fire! Astros extend winning streak to 10 games
It sure looks like the Houston Astros don’t plan on waiting until 2017 before breaking out as playoff contenders.
Evan Gattis’ eighth inning home run, his second of the afternoon, lifted the Astros to a 7-6 win over the Mariners on Sunday and extended their winning streak to 10 games. At 18-7, Houston has the best record in the American League and a healthy seven game lead atop the AL West.
It’s been an exhilarating ride so far for the Astros. They’re banging balls out of the park and tearing up the basepaths better than any other team in baseball, leading the majors in both home runs (40) and stolen bases (31). 2014 AL batting champion Jose Altuve is the stabilizing force in a lineup full of boom-or-bust mashers, hitting .361 with a .407 OBP.
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On the mound, Dallas Keuchel (3-0, 0.73 ERA) and Collin McHugh (4-0, 3.41 ERA) have been sublime in the starting rotation while the bullpen is much improved from a year ago.
According to MLB.com, Houston hasn’t been this far above .500 since May 2006. To put that into perspective, the ’06 Astros squad featured Craig Biggio and Rogers Clemens. It’s also Houston’s best 25-game start to a season in franchise history.
How long will the good times last? The 162-game schedule is set up to squash pretenders and the Astros still have more than a few doubters despite their hot play of late. The starting pitching depth behind Keuchel, McHugh, and Scott Feldman is questionable, the home runs could dry up in a hurry, and the state of any team’s relief pitching is always unpredictable.
For now though, there’s no reason to nitpick. Baseball is fun again in Houston and it’s been awhile since we’ve been able to say that. Up next for the streaking ‘Stros is a series at home against the Texas Rangers, where they’ll shoot for consecutive win No. 11 and see just how far this winning wave will take them.
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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr
