“Hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports.” Ted Williams
“Hitting ain’t nothin but a thang.” Alex Bregman
Rumor has it that only Lou Gehrig and Alex Rodriguez have hit .300, and got 100 RBI, 30 home runs, and 50 doubles at or before the age of 24.
Alex Bregman, 24, is now hitting .298, has 96 RBI, 29 home runs, and 47 doubles with about 25 games left. I do declare, if he can somehow stay as hot as he has been for the rest of the season, which seems impossible, he might just win that MVP after all.
In the last five games alone the man has four home runs, four doubles, and ten RBI.
He had five of those RBI tonight, two on a home run in the second to open the Astros’ barrage, and three on a bases loaded double in the eighth.
Breg’s 29th
That boy's on fire. @ABREG_1 pic.twitter.com/uWfgSrtsk4
— Houston Astros (@astros) September 6, 2018
He had help of course. George Springer was 3-5 with 3 runs scored, which makes him 5-9 in the last two games.
Evan Gattis awoke from hibernation with a two run, 430 foot blast in the fourth inning. And Jose Altuve broke a long hitless spell with a double, driving in George Springer in the sixth, and scored on a Yuli Gurriel single in the fifth after getting on with a walk.
Here’s the Bear.
Blasted. @BulldogBeing pic.twitter.com/FOD3qkvkMB
— Houston Astros (@astros) September 6, 2018
Framber Valdez won his third game as a replacement starter for Lance McCullers despite highly erratic control in the early innings. Eventually he did end the game with a slight majority of his pitches for strikes, settling down to get 5 K’s and scattering five hits and three walks.
The key to Valdez as a pitcher is his ability to induce ground outs. In 5.1 innings he got 8, and only one flyout. He allowed only one run and his ERA in four games is 1.37.
How do you do it Framber Who?
The Astros have a day off tomorrow.
Box score and video here.