NEWSLETTER
The Houston Astros have been bit by the injury bug of late, Justin Verlander becoming the latest occurrence, when he left his start after just three innings on Sunday.
Verlander Leaves Start Early on Sunday
The Astros pulled Justin Verlander from Sunday’s game after just 60 pitches with some apparent calf discomfort. Verlander had allowed no runs on three hits in his three innings before leaving the game.
The Astros announced later that Verlander was dealing with some calf discomfort, and an MRI is scheduled for the AL Cy Young front-runner. Entering Sunday’s contest with the Orioles, Verlander’s 1.87 ERA led baseball, and his 148 strikeouts and 0.85 WHIP have been a key factor in Houston’s 12-game lead over the Mariners in the AL West.
The Astros topped the Orioles 3-1 on Sunday in a pitching duel to stave off a sweep at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles, who took the first two games of their weekend tilt on Friday and Saturday.
While the Astros are sitting pretty in the standings with 81 wins entering play today, they’re dealing with a slew of injuries as we get ready to flip the calendar to September.
Since last Wednesday, closer Ryan Pressly was placed on the injured list with neck spasms. Outfielder Chas McCormick dislocated his finger. Yordan Alvarez had treatment on his left hand just over a month after spending time on the injured list with a right-hand injury. Then Houston’s ace, Justin Verlander, was removed from Sunday’s start after three innings with a calf injury.
Cardinals Best Braves In Playoff Preview
If the season ended ahead of the weekend tilt between the Cardinals and Braves, the two would be facing each other in the first round of the Postseason. Their series this weekend was a playoff preview on paper and had a playoff atmosphere on the field.
Atlanta landed the first blow with an 11-4 victory on Friday night. St. Louis answered with a 6-5 win on Saturday, setting up a rubber match on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball last night. Things were looking pretty good for the Braves when Dansby Swanson hit a go-ahead three-run home run in the top of the seventh inning at Busch Stadium.
But, the Cardinals had a few more tricks up their sleeves last night. Tommy Edman evened things up at three-a-piece in the home half of the eighth inning with a solo home run.
Five batters later, Tyler O’Neill delivered the knockout punch to the Braves with a three-run home run that made it 6-3 St. Louis.
I caught the end of this game last night after I got home from a family get-together for my younger sister’s birthday, and it was an excellent finish packed with that October buzz that we’ve been waiting nearly a year to feel.
Katie Woo of The Athletic put together a really solid write-up on the excitement at Busch Stadium if you’re interested:
Halos Sweep Blue Jays
Mike Trout drilled his 28th bomb of the season on Sunday, evening up his season total with teammate Shohei Ohtani and helping the Halos sweep the Blue Jays in a weekend series in Toronto. The Angels will be watching the Postseason on the couch again this fall, but that doesn’t mean they can’t play the spoiler card down the stretch.
The Angels pounded the Blue Jays 12-0 on Friday to open the series with the Jays, who are fighting for their playoff livelihood down the stretch. It was a closer affair on Saturday, but the Angels edged the Jays 2-0, thanks to another gem by Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani tossed seven shutout innings while allowing two hits and striking out nine Toronto hitters in the winning effort.
Sunday was all Angels again as they topped the Blue Jays 8-3. The Angels outscored the Blue Jays 22-3 in the three-game sweep in Toronto. Thanks to the down performance by the Blue Jays this weekend, the Mariners jumped them for the second Wild Card spot in the American League, and the Orioles (who took two-of-three from Houston) are just a game and a half behind them for the final Wild Card spot.
