Maybe The Manager Wasn't The Problem? Astros Lose Again

With bad teams, and this goes back to last season, any success seems to be so temporary. Even with Houston has a lead, it's a balancing act trying to bring that lead home. That's why their early season run scoring in the late innings was so refreshing? Now, it's just the other team that plays pile-on after the lineup has turned over a time or two.

Dallas Keuchel looked okay at first, giving up some long fly balls, but not really getting hurt. Then, after that three-run home run, it looked like he was going to bounce back after just one bad pitch and stay in cruise control.

That fifth inning erased any illusions otherwise.

And, as I was watching that inning unfold, I knew exactly what would happen. With the meeting on the mound, it seemed obvious. When an out chance came up (the grounder Altuve took), this team couldn't even cover first base to get an out.

Talent level is one thing, but this team is also missing fundamental things. They're having communication issues in the field (like when Ben Francisco and Brian Bogusevic ran into each other on a fly ball in the gap). They're doing all the things that bad teams do to lose games.

So, they head to New York, still looking to get interim manager Tony DeFrancesco his first victory as an Astro. Looks like he won't go 30-10 down the stretch and force Houston to keep him. But, it's unfair to heap all this on him. This is a team in disarray and I'm not sure it gets fixed until the offseason.