Whatever superstition you had in game one — wearing a bucket hat you don’t really like, setting out an Alex Bregman candle in front of a glowing TV no one is watching, or whatever — you must have used it again in game two because the Astros posted a 4-2 win over the Mariners to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the five-game series that now shifts to Seattle for game three on Saturday.
It wasn’t the most beautiful game with mistakes and walks and probably a little too much tension for Astros fans, but the result was the same, an Astros win.
WINNERS
Astros being really annoying.
It must be incredibly frustrating to face this team. In one game, their pitching struggles, but they come back and walk you off. In another, they provide killer defense and just enough pitching to fend you off for nine innings. No matter what teams try to do, the Astros just keep pecking away, game after game. Twitter was rife after game two with fans professing their absolute disgust over the Astros winning. It must hurt even more to know that is like rocket fuel for this team.
Defense wins championships axiom.
While the pitching has been a tad suspect over the first two games, the defense has been on point. Whether it is Yordan Alvarez throwing guys out at home with his canon arm or Yuli Gurriel scooping throw after throw and snatching line drives for timely double plays, this team’s defense is simply stellar. Every infielder has made important plays already and Kyle Tucker remains perhaps the best defensive right fielder in baseball.
Long balls.
Between Tucker and Alvarez and Alex Bregman and Gurriel, this has been a big hit series for the Astros. While they were in the top five in home runs this year, it has not been more on display than in this series, particularly when it comes to be hits. In game two, Tucker hit an absolute moon shot homer and Alvarez, well, you know.
Yordan…what else must he do?
Speaking of Alvarez, he is a complete nightmare for the Mariners. In addition to above average defense in the outfield and yet another critical home run — this one the opposite way — he has forced the Mariners to pitch around him. In this case, in the eighth, they chose to walk him and move Jeremy Peña to second. The next batter was Bregman who lined a shot the other way to score Peña and provide an insurance run to take into the ninth. He just warps the game in a way we haven’t seen in quite a while.
LOSERS
Seattle pitching.
It’s not as if the Mariners have been bad on the bump. Luis Castillo went seven innings and only gave up three runs. But, he is their ace. They have already thrown their best pitchers in this series — starting and in relief — and the Astros have just been better. If you’re the M’s, not sure what you do about it.
The strike zone.
The Astros weren’t exactly grooving fastballs. In fact, they were all over the place scattering seven walks over five pitchers. Only Hector Neris, who only threw one-third of an inning, did not walk a batter. The Astros were lucky it didn’t cost them. They managed to bear down and get some good defense behind them. But they definitely do not want to make a habit of putting guys on base needlessly.
Blood pressure.
Astros fans have, no doubt, put their cardiac health to the test over the last few days. As on friend of ours described the Astros closer, “They should call him Ryan Stressly.” In the end, we felt as much of a sigh of relief after game two as we did cheers of happiness.
Seattle fans.
Honestly, we feel bad for Seattle fans who have gotten to see their team in the postseason for the first time in 21 years. The team has talent and swagger and felt a bit like a team of destiny…until they came to Houston. The series is long from over, but playing this team has got to be deflating if you are the Mariners and their fans. No doubt, we’ll hear from them on Saturday and they will be loud.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2022.
