Houston’ Astros’ Silver Boot SHOWDOWN Against Rangers | Alvarez is injured and Zach Cole shines

Houston’ Astros’ Silver Boot SHOWDOWN Against Rangers | Alvarez is injured and Zach Cole shines

The Houston Astros were up two to nothing. But Jordan Alvarez, he’s hurt. What’s going on with him? What’s going on with Zack Cole? Is he the wonder kid? We’ll go and talk about this and more on tonight’s Locked on Astros podcast. Yel Diaz. This is Locked On Astros. Hello and welcome to Locked On Astros, your daily Astros podcast. Here are your hosts, Eric the Man Heisman, and Brett Htown Wheelhouse Chansy. [Music] We are locked on Houston Astros and we hope that you join us for daily locked on Astros podcast. My name is Eric Heisman. He is Trevor Howard. We are the Locked on the Astros podcast. Brett is doing fine. He is actually back home. I still told him that you better not come in. I’m actually gonna put an picture of him pretty quickly in a second, but he’s back home. He’s fine. Um, so guys, thank you for all the wellw wishes to for him. So, he appreciated it. So, he’s back home. So, guys, thank you for making Locked on Astros podcast your first listen every day. Whether it’s on YouTube, go ahead and subscribe to us. Go and make this your first listen. Apple, Odyssey, Spotify, wherever you listen on podcast, go and check us out. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, a lot of people probably bet on the Texans, but right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you can get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the app today. So, Trevor, I know today’s game was a heartbreaking win. It was a good win. The Astros desperately needed this win. But Yornan Alvarez, how long is he gonna be out? How big of a ankle sprain is this? And Jason Alexander, he showed that he was human or was the defense showing that they’re a human. So these are some of the topics we’ll talk about on tonight’s Locked on Astros podcast. Yeah, I mean, you know, just I mean, a lot of good and a lot of bad, right, Eric? I mean, you score two runs on on a little chopper in front of the plate from Carlos Kareah. He throws the ball away lighter, makes an uncharacteristic error there at the mound and you see two runners coming home and then when I hear Todd Callus on the broadcast broadcast say, “Here comes Yordon Alvarez.” I’m like, “Dude, get down. Get down. Slide, slide, slide.” Because that’s a Do Garcia throwing it. He does not have a weak arm whatsoever. Um, you see him run through and I don’t think your ankle’s supposed to be at a 90 degree angle. You’re the math guy, Eric. You you know that is your ankle ever supposed to be facing in a 90° angle facing the opposite way? Yeah, I saw the um I saw the replay on that. That wasn’t good. He could barely put any weight on it. A lot of good and a lot of bad. I mean, Jason Alexander gave up a couple, but it was a lot of infield errors there in the fifth inning. That was when things kind of got a little bit hairy. Um they showed resiliency, though. Uh they they had a muchneeded win against the Rangers. kind of catapulted themselves three and a half I believe ahead of the Rangers as of right now and only a half a game back of the Mariners. So, and then you mentioned Zack Cole. So, I I mean is is this the wonder boy? Is he is he here to save the season? Is he here to salvage something for the Astros? Is he going to be you you said it yesterday, is he going to be the 2023 version of Evan Carter for the Houston Astros in 2025? We got a lot to discuss, but yeah, I mean, just like I said, you know, a lot of good, a lot of bad, but I’m super super happy the Astros came away with a big victory here tonight against the Texas Rangers, right? Uh I This is how Astros fans are. I know Doug is saying this tongue and cheek, but he’s like, he can still swing a bat with a bad ankle, right? Yeah, but he might not be able to run. So, you not you need a beer league uh pinch runner going to first base, and I don’t think they do that in big leagues. I think there’s some rules against it. But can he swing in a chair though? Can he swing in a chair and have somebody push him to first base? Would that would that be possible? Try hitting a ball sitting down. You can’t get much doing that. You’re right. Yeah. Yeah. Don’t No, don’t even listen to me because the Astros might up and do it. So, I don’t know. Don’t listen to me. Yeah. So, Alvarez, unfortunately, um he ran through a stop sign in that situation. We’ll have to talk about that a little bit later. But, uh you mentioned Zack Hole. Let’s go and talk about him right now. I mean, he came in to replace Alvarez and he came in and just looked like Alvarez out there. I know he went to go play right field. Uh Sanchez, by the way, who came in and went to go play um left field, he actually made a great play to save the game to uh in the I believe it was the eighth inning, he threw a runner out at home plate. So, the Astros have been playing a little bit better defensively a little bit later in games recently, but um Zack Cole, I don’t know if this kid’s the wonder kid. I don’t know if he watched the Natural and um they have this bat or something, but he is the Energizer Bunny. He’s the guy that’s probably going to energize this whole lineup with or without Alvarez. But today, he was two for three with three RBI’s. And I saw the home run earlier and I was walking upstairs to set up for the podcast and everything and try to get my monitor fixed and I saw that he had another hit in RBI. I’m like, what’s up with this kid? He’s on fire. He’s batting .462 with a 1456 OPS and he did this in his first game at Dykin Park. What can you ask for as a Astros fan? somebody that not only could possibly step in for Alvarez, but somebody that is a much needed shot in the arm for the Astros and in a game that you really need. I mean, you know how close the Rangers are to the Astros in the standings. We’re talking outside looking in to being in the last wildard spot. He clutched up and we need clutch hitters like that. We’ve seen in the past bases loaded. How many times we we come up short? We’re down to two outs, I think. Two strikes in that. And he hits a two-run pump into the right right center field and just watches that thing. He looked like a season pro out there. So, it kind of makes you wonder where was he in the middle of August when the Astros seem couldn’t score any runs. But the Astros did the right thing here, Trevor. It’s great to have him up here now. Brought him up. They brought him up at the right time. They bring up two main prospects at the wrong time when they’re not on a hot streak and they’re not playing good baseball. Oh, maybe they’ll figure it out once they get up here. And what was his OPS in in Triple A? Like was he hitting like 1,200 OPS or something like that? He was he was ready to come up here when he did and I mean I remember seeing the tweets after the Atlanta game mode. It’s only downhill from here after this four RBI night. He shot right back up. I mean, I think his stock just went skyrocketed because you see what he can do. And not only he I mean, he wasn’t even supposed to be in the lineup today. He’s filling in for Yordon Alvarez and doing Yordon things. Yordon is that guy that gets the clutch two-run shot, the the go-ahehead two-run shot late in the game. Zack Cole does just that. And then you mentioned before the insurance run on top of that to score Jeremy Pena. It got a little hairy towards the end. We kind of needed that insurance run. Uh, but he looks like a season pro right now and I’m excited to see what happens with him for the rest of the season. Where they put him in the lineup, I’d probably keep him in the top four, but he is the Energizer Bunny. You you you said it perfectly. He’s the battery pack to our jetpack in order to get this thing to fly. And this team needed something. They needed something to get them going. And maybe he’s their Red Bull. The The Astros were smart. They they knew that this offense, I don’t think Zack Cole is going to stay this hot forever, but the Astros offense just needed something. Sometimes a change of scenery, sometimes just a new uh face in the crowd. That’s why sometimes you see them bring up prospects. But like I said, they brought up the guy at the right time when he’s hot, not when he’s going to come up and struggle. And so the there a case could have been made. Maybe they should send down Cam Smith for a little bit at some point this season to get him in a groove and then bring him back up, but we saw him hit the home run um last night. That’s one of the good things that did happen yesterday. But for this game, yes, it was heartbreaking the fact that you did possibly lose Alvarez. We’ll talk about that in a little bit, but you got the win and you the Yankees did lose. So that gets the Astros closer to getting uh to them. I know the Blue Jays are getting closer to clinching the AL East. So the Astros, they don’t need to worry about clinching. They need to just worry about getting into the playoffs. And after thinking about what you said last night, it’s if they win AL West, great. But they just need to get into the playoffs. And yes, it would be better to be that number three seed, but it doesn’t matter. or you’re still going to be playing in a wild card series anyway. So, it doesn’t really matter which seed you play. And it just in those type of series, it just matters of who’s hot, right? You know, just just get in. Anything could happen once you punch or take it to the dance. Anything could happen. Um, but right now, I mean, I think I said it on the show last night. If I didn’t, I’m going to say it right now. The pressure is off of you right now. You’re not in first place in the AL West. This is the Mariners division to lose. Not all their eyes are on you anymore. You can go in and you you can beat the Rangers. you can take two out of three. Maybe you can even go in and sweep these guys. A lot of the eyes are off of you right now because America is super super high on the Seattle Mariners. So keep that in mind as well when you’re watching these Astros play. Uh not all the eyes are on them anymore. Maybe for the Silver Boot series in a way the eyes are still kind of on them. But point is you’re getting clutch hitting right now from someone who’s not even supposed to be in the lineup. He’s been up in the lineup for a weekend and change and he’s already made a huge difference on this team. And uh look out now, Eric. They’ve taken the last three out of four games. Are the Astros starting to heat up? I’m just saying what I’m seeing. I saw some fight there tonight. If if they’re down 3-2 in the sixth inning or the top of the fifth inning like they were tonight three weeks ago, I I personally I don’t think the Astros win that game, right? You’re seeing a change at least in the in the clutch factor. You know, Carlos Korea is still hitting, of course, but Zack Cole, I can never talk enough about him. Jesus Stan Ju Jesus Sanchez snapping that 0 for 25 I think it was when he s he saw a 3 0 green light doubled off the left field wall. So things are really starting to click here. Um but man it really stinks to see Yordon Alvarez go down because he was he was electric we’re gonna have to talk about Alvarez a little bit more in a second. But guys thank you for making Locked on Astros podcast your first listen every day. Hey guys, if you’re losing a little bit of a hair after seeing Alvarez hurt himself, maybe you need to get to some Neutrifol. There’s you see probably see all these ads on TV about hair growth. Sure. 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I can’t even believe that. I might even have to get to the game this weekend. But there’s nothing like going to the ball game ball at Dykin Park. I still can’t believe it’s called that. But the energy, the crowd, the that you got Zack Cole hitting home runs. But to see it in person and get the tickets for half the price of what you might get it on if you buy it from uh the actual place where you’re supposed to buy it from. That’s why game time is there. That’s why Brett and I use Game Time. The app gives you an advantage back to fans. Game time is fast, easy, and backed up by the Game Time guarantee. You’ll always get 100% authentic T tickets delivered right on time and at the best price. Plus, all the fees are included. So, it’s the price you see is a price you pay. So, fees are included. Know that your total upfront. So, they have zone deals. it. Pick the sections, Game Time picks the seats, and you save big. So, download the Game Time app, create an account, and use the code lock on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, that’s promo code L C D O N MLB for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go. Download Game Time today. Hey you guys, welcome back to Locked on Astros podcast. My name is Eric Heisman. He is Trevor Hower. We are the Lock on Astros podcast. Brett is doing fine. I know some of us are just joining right now, but uh he is fine. This is what he put on X. And so he’s back home. He is um we told him to still take the week off just to recover. And so hopefully he takes that heat. I know the Texans game was not a good game today, especially lose like they did, but the Astros, they did win today, but it has to be pretty stressful to watch one of our favorite players go out there and hurt himself like that. Trevor, I don’t know about you, but when I first saw it, I initially thought knee because with all his knee issues that he’s had in the past, and I even put a video out there where I thought it was his knee because it was my literal my instant reaction and it was just like it’s his knee and it’s his repaired knee and I’m like, if he’s misses a significant amount of time, I mean, there’s only what 11 games left, the Astros might be cooked and he’s had chronic knee issues in the past. I think it was 2020 he had the double knee surgery. Just the way he was walking into the dugout, I’m like, that doesn’t look like a lower leg injury. I guess it was after looking at the replay and uh looking at what Chandler Rome actually just put out on X. Yordon Alvarez will get an MRI tomorrow. Joe Aspatada said not much other information. That is what uh he tweeted out about eight minutes ago. He’s getting straight for an MRI right now. So, they’re getting imaging right away. They’re doing the right thing. They’re doing what they should have done with his hand earlier on in his with his earlier injury in this in the season, but time will tell what’s what’s going to come out of this MRI. I I know MRI shows um they they look for torn ligaments and and and things like that. So, you hate seeing things like that. And he came back and was the exact same before he left. He was hitting the ball like crazy. He was at one point he was like our only clutch hitter. And then of course we bring in this the Zack Cole kid who’s coming in on the on the scenes and we all know how good he is. But of course when the Astros win it comes at a price and the price is losing your one of your top three hitters in the lineup by far. So it feels like yay the Astros beat their arch rivals in the Texas Rangers but at what cost? You lost 44. So it does stink. Um, I think if he comes back bare minimum, I I think it’s probably going to be just speculating here. I I couldn’t even tell you. I don’t even have a timetable. Joe Espatada doesn’t have any information, but I don’t think he plays for the rest of the home stand. I think that’s a pretty safe bet, but just trying to be realistic here. It just stinks. It really does. I don’t think he comes back for the rest of the season. They’re going to want somebody to play for the remaining games. So you cannot I mean if they go ahead I they have to wait for inflammation and ankle to go down in first place to do the MRI tomorrow. We know that swell up like a balloon. Man, you saw how you saw the picture of that. That’s Yeah, that was ugly. Yeah. So they’re going to have to wait to see how bad it is. And so he’s likely not going to play the rest of the regular season unless it’s just a minor spring. And even then they’re probably just going to play it on the safe side and put him on the IIL. get somebody else up here and maybe we’ll catch another lightning in a bottle and get somebody up here to be another jump starter like Zack Cole has been. But you have the guys that could play the outfield. That’s the good thing about the Astros right now. Especially with the discovery of Zack Cole. He is your left fielder now. You have Alt that could play second base. You can have You have Cam Smith and Sanchez that can play right field. So you have options. you’re not like scrambling to find somebody. You have people that can play. So, you don’t have to rush this guy back. And I know that a lot of people are wanting them to rush Issach Prades back. But for this reason, you don’t want to rush him back. If you want him ready for the playoffs, you want to take the time and make sure that he is ready to run because you he can’t I just want to preface this. You cannot have him hitting from a wheelchair either. Okay, Trevor. I was thinking more of like an office desk, like a spinny chair. You know, those that at your at your office desk that you can spin around in circles. I was thinking more so that one. You get a little bit more speed, a little bit more leverage. Um, that was what I was thinking. But yeah, you you can’t afford I I that was actually going to be my next like follow-up question. Do you think with the Yordon injury, the Astros maybe kickstart the rehab for Esop Parades and they try to bring him back even quicker? Because you lose a top bat in your lineup. Don’t you want to bring one back in return? Almost feels like you’re not really losing anything because when Eso Parades was playing, Yordon was injured. And now, of course, when Yordon gets injured, we’re looking at Eso Parades kind of coming back. So, we can never have them on the same team at the same time. And that’s kind of frustrating to see, but I’m with you, though. I I don’t want to see him get rushed by any stretch of the imagination. And this is what Luke says is this is why the cushion matters because we don’t have any right now. and it’s a lot of uh close games um in standings and so like the Astros they had a shot to put the Mariners away. Now the Mariners are redot and uh to go off what you said remember when Dana Brown said it’s a long shot for Eso Prades to come back for the Mariner series but there’s a chance. I think it’s even more of a chance that he might come back just because especially if they lose the next two games, they might get desperate. And we know what desperate teams will do. They’ll bring people back before they’re ready. We saw the Astros bring back some pitchers before they probably should have been ready this year. But um we’ll go ahead and talk about Jason Alexander. He showed that he was possibly human, but um I maybe it was just the defense kind of let him down. We’ll go and talk about this and more on the Lockdown Astros podcast. Hey guys, thank you for making Lockdown Astros podcast your first listen. But right now, we got to talk about FanDuel. So, if you’re ready for kickoff, well, I know the Texans game was earlier, but you can still uh place some um some bets on the next week’s games. And right now, new customers can uh place a $5 bet. And if your bet wins, you can get $300 in bonus bets if you use it across the app. So whether it’s betting on the Texans, maybe the overunder, how many points they’re going to score, how many uh touchdowns CJ Stout’s going to get, whatever you you’re into. If the Texans aren’t your team, whether it’s the Patriots or the 49ers, whoever it is, it’s quick, easy, and the best way to add a little more energy to Sundays. So, are you ready to play? Download the FanDuel app by visiting fanduel.com to get started. That’s fanduel.com to place your first $5 bet today. Hey guys, thank you for making Lockdown Astros podcast your first listen every day. Whether it’s on YouTube, go and subscribe to us. Go and make us first listen on Apple Odyssey, Spotify, wherever you’re listening to podcast, go and check us out. And I’m being joined by Brett Chansy, a much younger version of Brett Chansy. So, how are you doing today, Brett? I’m doing great. You know, I’m always positive, always strollers. I’m super positive about Jason Alexander. Um, looking human, but still looking like probably your number two pitcher in the rotation if it was up to me. Um, I’m positive that I love beating the Texas Rangers. I will say that. Just kidding. Brett is on the fiveday IO. It’s not down to four days. He didn’t miss today, so we’re down to the 4-day IIO. You got Trev How. You got to deal with me till probably the end of the week. So Brett will be coming back. Guys, don’t worry. I’m only here for temporary reasons. Um, but yeah, you got the guy with the with the long flowy hair here for the rest of the week. Ironically, if you look at some older pictures of Brett, he did have some hair that looked like yours and he had to do that rocking rocking the hockey lettuce. Hell yes. So, um, Jason Alexander tonight only pitched four and two/3 innings, five hits allowed. Three runs, only one of them was a earned run. In fact, I believe of of the first seven runs that were scored, only five of the earned run, only five of the runs were sorry, five of the runs were unearned, two of the runs were earned. So, there’s a lot of errors in this game overall. But, um, unfortunately, Jason Alexander had a early exit. um five strikeouts, only 83 pitches. He did throw 52 strikes, 31 swings, nine whiffs. Uh but his ERA um is now at 404 on the season. The defense was just not good behind them. So, I don’t know if I’m going to blame this game on the Astros got the win, but the I guess the lack of not going five innings. I’m not gonna blame this on Jason Alexander, but at the same time, if this was from Valdez, we would be like, “Oh, from Veraldez has no mental uh focus or whatever.” So, no fortitude whatsoever. No, he’s a he’s this, this, and that. I mean, I think Jason Alexander was on cruise control through the first three innings. I thought he looked I thought he looked phenomenal just mowing him down through the first three. Saw a little bit of traffic there in the fourth inning. When you get to the fifth, that’s when things got a little hairy. Harry hairy with the defense, too. It wasn’t just him, but he was kind of hanging a lot of pitches over the middle of the plate, putting a lot of balls in play. Uh, I know Altuveet probably should have got one there at first base. I think Jeremy Pñena uh was was credited with an error, I believe, there in the fifth inning. Nothing was really going well there. It’s And then, you know, he walked someone in the top of the fifth, too, to put the and then can’t throw out a runner there at second base. That runner comes across to score. The Rangers go up three to two. kind of seems like it’s really starting to hit the fan. But I will give credit to Joe Espatada. I think he made the the necessary move. He put Stephen Ochre in the game. He looked phenomenal. They said he said, “Look, you know, Jason Alexander, this you you pitched well. Your pitch count is up high. We’ll need you for a postseason run if we get there. You did all right. You did all right. Defense didn’t really help you out, but we’re going to put Steen Ore in here and he’s going to clean it up for you.” That’s exactly what he did. So Jo Espatada, I thought it took him a little too long to take Fon Brad of the game yesterday, but I thought he did perfect today managing, taking Jason Alexander out, putting Stephen Ochre in the game. But Jason Alexander, believe it or not, guys, he’s human. He’s not automatic. He’s not lights out. George Castanza is a human being. So take that if take that how you will. Yada yada. I don’t listen to you. I just I just see the a the second ace out there and the guy that’s going to be pitching game two of the playoffs for you the Astros if they they make it there. Hopefully they make it there. They are now a half game behind the Mariners. And so the Astros just need to play good baseball against the Rangers. And what I saw today was um pretty good pitching definitely from the bullpen. Uh the offense seems like it’s getting back and even in Sunday’s game, they only scored three runs, but you saw signs that this offense was still there. Alvarez was starting to get some hits. You saw some other guys starting to get some hits. So, it looks like overall like Zack Cole was getting the offense going, but somebody was asking like who’s going to be getting the start on Tuesday. Well, Joe Spot just announced that it’s going to be AJ Blue Ball. He’s not starting. Yeah. And why not? You know, I think AJ Blueb Boss showed that he is a credible starter in this league. You can use him in the mop-up role if things kind of get out of control in some games. You could also use him as a starter. I think he’s shown a lot of great stuff. He’s got a lot of great movement on his fast ball. And he’s a call from this year that I think he made his debut in April against the Tigers. He’s going to make a he’s playing in a very important game tomorrow. Um, you know, if if the Astros take the next two, it starts with AJ Bluebod day, but if they take the next two, they will rip the Silver Boot Trophy away from from the Arlington Rangers right out of their hands. They have it in the palm of their hands. They just got to win one more out of these next two. But I think AJ Blue Ball has earned this start. I feel more comfortable with him on the mound than JP France or throwing another bullpen game. Even though when the Astros did throw their bullpen game just a couple nights ago, they were really holding it down. AJ Blue Ball though, I think I think he’s nails. He’s been nails lately. Play your hot hand. I I I don’t blame Joe Espado for going with AJ at all. Yeah. So, right now, the Astros are four- six against the Rangers. I think after the win today, they’re five and six. So, like you said, they’ve got to win the next two games to win that silver boot. So the silver boot means a little bit more because that means this year they have the tiebreaker against the Rangers in in case of situation where you are um let’s say there’s a three-way tie for first place in AL West at the end and it does matter who’s in third place, you will have the tiebreaker of the Rangers. And if you look right now the they have a five tie with the Mariners right now. And so if you win two of those three games versus the Mariners, you have the tiebreaker over the Mariners, too. So this is how critical these next two games are, these next two series are for the Houston Astros. It’s not just the last home stand, but it’s it could have we saw what happened last year with the Tigers and just how it the fact that they did finish um in first place in AL West, but it had them face the Tigers and the Tigers were a team of destiny. Well, not really, but at least to get past the Astros and but the Tigers are a good team this year and maybe that’s why they defeated the Astros. But, uh, Tariq Scooble, by the way, I don’t know if you saw that, but he exited his the game early the other day, but apparently he’s going to be okay for his next start, but um I I don’t blame the Tigers for taking their ace out as a precaution. Yeah. No. Um, I mean, that’s the equivalent to the Astros losing Hunter Brown. I mean, that is big. Tariq is probably going to win the American League Sai Young this this year. And um the fact that they took him out, I heard that it was minor, it was mostly precautionary, but AJ Hench is a smart guy. He knows what he’s doing. Uh going back on the Rangers thing though, not only is winning the silver boot always fun and just kind of waving that around the, you know, Arlington, just kind of waving that in their face, just saying like, “Hey, look, look at what we won for the seventh year in a row.” Not only is that fun, the tiebreaker is also fun. Also kicking the Rangers back down the mountain. If you sweep the Rangers this series, it’s going to be tough for the Rangers to rally back from that because you’re looking at what maybe a fivegame lead over the Rangers, something like that. And I think once that happens, the Astros can not they can kind of not really fully put them in the rearview mirror, so to speak, but they can really just they can look ahead to Seattle, look ahead to bigger and better things. The Rangers are that pesky little brother that just won’t stop poking you in your leg and you’re like, “Get away. Get away. Get away. You want to put them down. You want to kick them back down the mountain for good. Take two of three. Take three of three. Just take it a game at a time. I think the Astros know what’s at stake. They’ve been in this position before. Um but you mentioned a three-way tie possibility. I want every single tiebreaker. I I want to be greedy. We got 11 games to go. Why not be greedy right now? Win all the games on your schedule. It starts with tomorrow, then the day after, and then in the series, and then you’re looking on to Seattle because that is where your season is decided. Yesterday, I made a little mistake about the 2001 series season. I did say the Mariners went to World Series. I know they’ve never been to the World Series. It was a floating slip. Um, I meant to say they won the AL West that year, but they won a lot of games, period. They won a lot of games. I think it was 116, but for some reason I said they went to the World Series, but um I just want to apologize because a couple people have called me out for that, but I know the Mariners have never been to the World Series, but I was tired yesterday, guys. And I just got back from the hospital um pretty much right before we did the show. So, wasn’t that the year Astros legend Luis Gonzalez walked it off in game seven off of Mariana Rivera? Maybe. I think so. I think that was 2001, right? That was the last time the Mariners won the AL West. So, yeah. Yeah, we’re coming up on a 24 year anniversary of that. So, uh I I know the Mariners want it. I know their fans want it, but the Stros want it, too. I mean, they’ve been running this division outside of 2020, which who counts that as a real season in 2016. This has been the Astros division for a long time now. Just take it a game at a time, just like I said before. Yeah. So, the Astros were three for seven runners in scoring position. You had the three RBI’s for Cole. He’s got seven RBI’s already, and I know most of them were in the first game of his MLB career and then his first home game. So, he’s he likes to do things in his first one. So, let’s see what he does now without the excitement of my first major league game, my first home game. Now, like Carl Cray had told him, he put brought him aside. Hey, kid. enjoy this, but it’s not always going to be this easy. You’re going to deal with some failure. So, it’s just how you adjust to this. So, the Astros, especially if Alvarez is going to be out for the rest of the regular season, they need Zack Cole to step up like he’s been doing, and they need other people like we’ve been seeing Yiner Diaz um having some big hits. We’ve been seeing a little bit more of uh Christian Walker having some bigger hits and even Altuve has been having some bigger hits. So, the Astros need to do the same thing. I know it’s going to be AJ Blue Ball tomorrow. I Who’s going to be on the mound for the Rangers? I haven’t looked yet. I believe it’s um Mel Kelly. Okay. And then it’s going to be uh Jacob Deg Grom versus Christian Javier the day after. So, we know what the Astros did last time they played. Good or bad, Christian. I’m just saying. Well, good. Number one, yeah, good or bad Christian Javier. But number two, we know what the Astros did to Jacob Deg Grom last time they met. So, I’m just I’m just saying. I’m just saying that. I think they won that game what, 10 or 11 nothing last time they faced against Jacob Deg Grom. Just putting that out there. And uh Mel Kelly uh his he’s got a 12-7 record. His RA is 3.21 21 on the season and he has 162 strikeouts. So, if you’re looking for somebody that has a home run against him, it’s Jesus Sanchez who made a great throw. I know I’ve already mentioned that, but the Astros won today’s game because he saved that run at home plate. So, he is making contributions even though his bat isn’t exactly what the Astros wanted. But, not a lot of the Rangers hitters have seen a lot of blue ball. So, this will be a a interesting matchup tomorrow. Let’s just say that the Astros need to play like the backs are against the wall and pretend like this series actually matters. This is not the all-star game where it’s like this one counts like Bud Celick used to do and everything. This really does matter. The Astros need to win as many games as they can because you need the tiebreakers. You need to try to still try to get the AL West and you need to make the postseason. So, any final thoughts, Trevor? Well, I mean, I will say one thing. I love beating the Rangers. I love taking a game from them. I also love shutting down Adulli Garcia. I don’t think we mentioned that yet, but he didn’t do any damage to the Astros tonight as far as I’m concerned, which when that doesn’t happen, that feels like another win. That feels like two wins because that guy knows how to hit the ball in I almost called it Minade Dykin Park. I still do. I still do all the time. Um, but yeah, that feels like he’s feels like he’s Barry Bonds in that building. So when he doesn’t do anything, it almost feels like two wins combined into one. So I’ll leave it at that. Take the win tomorrow. JJ Blue Ball’s rocking a three in one record with a 245 RA. We need you to pitch like that tomorrow, my guy. Just lock in. Take it game by game because essentially like Eric said, your backs are against the wall right now. Yeah. So guys, thank you for making it locked on Astros podcast. You’re our first listen every day. Go and subscribe to us. Go and make his first listen. Apple, Odyssey, Spotify, wherever you listen podcast, go and check us out. Brett will be back at some point next week, but he’s doing okay for everybody that’s asking. And Trevor, once again, thank you for joining and we will see you tomorrow, guys. and ghosts. Ghost rose.

Join Eric Huysman and Trevor Hauer for the Locked On Astros podcast as they discuss game one versus the Rangers. A game that started on a positive note, the Astros scored two runs, but quickly soured as slugger Yordan Alvarez hurt his ankle while scoring. Jason Alexander showed that he was human, or was it the defense that let him down? Is Zach Cole the wonderkid?

The Houston Astros face a crucial test as the playoff race heats up. Can the team overcome injuries and secure a wild card spot?

Eric Huysman and Trevor Howard analyze the Astros’ recent performance, highlighting Zach Cole’s breakout and Jordan Alvarez’s injury impact. The hosts dissect Jason Alexander’s pitching struggles, debate playoff scenarios, and preview the high-stakes series against the Texas Rangers. Guest insights shed light on roster moves and strategic adjustments.

Tune in for expert takes on the Astros’ path to October baseball and how recent developments could reshape their championship aspirations.

0:00 Intro: Astros up 2-0, Jordan Alvarez injured

5:53 Zach Cole’s impressive performance and impact

15:01 Yordan Alvarez injury update and implications

19:02 Jason Alexander’s performance and defensive issues

24:51 AJ Blubaugh to start next game

34:40 Outro: Upcoming games and playoff implications

Locked On Astros is a daily podcast about the Houston Astros, hosted by Eric Huysman and Brett Chancey. It is part of the Locked On Podcast Network.
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