Game Thread 139. September 2nd, 2019, 3:10 CDT. Astros vs Brewers

Yeah, they’re still playing baseball. Seems like there ought to be a hangover, and maybe a vacation, after yesterday’s thrilling and historic no-hit victory by Justin Verlander. Not to mention the ninth inning heroics by rookie Abraham Toro, whose ninth inning homer made Verlander’s achievement possible.

Verlander’s quote, “Where the f*** is Toro” is now and forever a part of Astros lore.

But there’s a game today, the third straight day game for the Astros. and the Stros have another fine pitcher throwing, Gerrit Cole, (15-5, 2.85 ERA) who is still in the thick of the Cy Young race. His opponent is Adrian Houser, who is having a break-out year at age 26 (6-5, 3.52 ERA)

Houser was drafted by the Astros in the second round in 2011, and was part of the Carlos Gomez trade that sent Brett Phillips, Domingo Santana and, of course, Josh Hader to the Brewers. Houser was considered the throw-in, but even he is coming back to bite the Astros in the ass, in what was surely one of the worst trades ever for the Astros.

Oh well, the Astros are still just one game behind the Yankees for best record in MLB, while the Brewers, with Hader, Yellich, Moustakas, et al are just four games above .500.

Yordan Update

Yordan Alvarez has finally hit a least a small speed-bump on his road to super-stardom. In his last five games he has only three hits, all singles, and though still drawing walks, he is striking out 36.4% of the time. He is batting .176 during this period.

Call-ups

The Astros have begun their September call-ups, adding outfielder Kyle Tucker, catcher Garrett Stubbs, and left-handed relief pitcher Cionel Perez to the expanded roster.

None of them are in the lineup tonight, which is below.