Astros Crawfish Boil: September 20, 2023

Welcome to the Wednesday Boil!

Houston Astros News

Brown stung by long ball as Astros drop crucial series (MLB)

Hays’ two homers lead Orioles to 9-5 win over slumping Astros (Times Union)

Houston Astros: Pitching hit hard again in another loss to Orioles (Houston Chronicle)

How Astros league-leading offensive outburst has definitely not gone as planned (Sportsmap)

Astros starting pitching a concern down the stretch (MLB)

Watch: Astros hitting coach Alex Cintron ejected for a second time this year after arguing with Phil Cuzzi (Sportskeeda)

LULAC Honors Astros Great with Presidential Medal (San Angelo LIVE!)

Astros / Brewers playoff bandwagons & Padres internal drama (Yahoo Sports)

How Astros historic benchmarks are in some ways being overshadowed (Sportsmap)

Houston Astros Prospect Shay Whitcomb chases home run title (Astros Future)

Houston Astros: Prospect Will Wagner promoted to Sugar Land (Houston Chronicle)

Astros’ Michael Brantley ‘a little sore,’ not in lineup vs. Orioles (Houston Chronicle)

Astros’ Ryne Stanek to undergo rehab assignment with Triple-A Sugar Land (Click2Houston)

AL West News

Which big bats could Mariners get in offseason? Watch for trades (Seattle Sports)

MLB playoff race: Where the Texas Rangers stand ahead of the final homestand of the season (Star-Telegram)

Former Angels outfielder being DFA’d shows they were right to let him go (Halo Hangout)

Radio host claims A’s will have ‘tough time’ building Vegas fan base (NBC Sports Bay Area)

MLB.com News

‘This is his game’: Biggio’s resurgence leading Blue Jays in WC race

Cubs bash four homers en route to romp over Bucs

Contreras, Crew connect in comeback win over Cardinals

Lewis (hamstring tightness) exits during at-bat in the 8th

Behind-the-back flip leads to unreal DP in Minor League playoffs

If O’s hold off Rays for division, AL’s No. 1 seed a guarantee

Acuña’s 2 HRs, Strider’s 11 K’s put Braves’ woes in rearview

Houston Astros Birthdays

RHP Ken Giles (33) pitched for Houston from 2016 through 2018. In 166 relief appearances, he went 3-10 with a 3.57 ERA, 216 K’s in 159 innings (12.2 K/9), a 2.56 FIP, and a 1.189 WHIP.

IF Angel Sánchez (40) played 175 games for Houston in 2010 and 2011. He hit .258 with a .310 OBP and provided passable defense at three infield positions.

IF Deury Carrasco (24) has spent the past seven seasons in Houston’s system. Although he’s still listed on Asheville’s roster, he didnot appear at any level in 2023.

This Date in Astros History

On this date in 2009, the 73-75 Milwaukee Brewers hosted the 70-78 Houston Astros in front of 30,024 at Miller Park, and handed the good guys a 6-0 loss.

Humberto Quintero, Miguel Tejada and Carlos Lee managed doubles, accounting for three of Houston’s five hits. Felipe Paulino (2-10, 6.06) struck out seven in six innings, but also allowed four runs on eight hits and a pair of walks to get tagged with the loss. Meanwhile, Crew starter Yovani Gallardo (13-12, 3.73) pitched five shutout innings, striking out seven and allowing only three hits.

Eulogy

The St. Louis Cardinals 2023 Championship Season (March 30, 2023 — September 19, 2023)

With their 7-3 loss to the Brewers last night, the St. Louis Cardinals became the seventh team to get mathematically eliminated from any postseason consideration. Now 67-84, the Redbirds will be playing a little spoiler and maybe a little draft posturing (although that’s less impactful than in season’s past, due to the lottery).

St. Louis has 11 World Championships to their credit, second only to the New York Yankees and their embarrassment of riches. The Cards have played in the postseason 32 times in total, including each of the four seasons preceding the 2023 campaign.

Like the first six teams to be put down, the Cardinals only had one player represent them at this season’s All-Star Game, third baseman Nolan Arenado. It was his eighth such honor, along with 10 Gold Gloves and five Silver Slugger Awards. To the surprise of some (mostly me), Paul Goldschmidt was not selected along with Arenado, despite out”WAR”ring the hot corner practitioner 3.5 to 2.6.

Houston had their series with the Birds from June 27 through June 29, with St. Louis winning the opener 4-2 and Houston winning the last two by scores of 10-7 and 14-0.

The Cardinals’ results confounded experts, many of whom had picked the team to win the National League Central. Sporting News had them winning by four games with an 87-75 record, but they actually need to go on a bit of a run to finish with even an inverse such record (75-87). Maybe next year! Seven down, 22 to go.