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Post by astrosdoug on Apr 9, 2018 7:59:36 GMT -6
Today looks to be one of the coldest games played in team history, right up there with some of the chillers played at Wrigley Field in the NL years.
Verlander vs. Lynn
Lynn gave up 5 runs over 4 innings in his first start against the Pirates on April 2.
The weather will be hard on everybody but the last time the Astros were in this situation (Opening Day 2016 at Yankee Stadium) they pulled off a win.
Go Stros!
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Post by thomasj13 on Apr 9, 2018 8:11:46 GMT -6
Astros bats need to start producing.
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Post by olpapa on Apr 9, 2018 9:01:56 GMT -6
“The weather will be hard on everybody but the last time the Astros were in this situation (Opening Day 2016 at Yankee Stadium) they pulled off a win.”
Yes..., and IMO Keuchel hasn’t been the same since pitching in that game in those conditions. No kind of weather to be playing baseball in.
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Post by paastrosfan on Apr 9, 2018 9:18:12 GMT -6
“The weather will be hard on everybody but the last time the Astros were in this situation (Opening Day 2016 at Yankee Stadium) they pulled off a win.” Yes..., and IMO Keuchel hasn’t been the same since pitching in that game in those conditions. No kind of weather to be playing baseball in. Spent the weekend watching AAA on the frozen tundra of mini PNC Field. Still trying to thaw out, but couldn't pass a chance to see Robles and Torres in the same game. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2018 12:11:03 GMT -6
Considering the weather conditions and the pitching match-up. I don't know many runs will be scored in this game. I'm guessing something like a 3-2 outcome.
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Post by blcoach8 on Apr 9, 2018 12:24:23 GMT -6
If they hit like they did last year in Minnesota, we will sweep the series
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Post by bannedfan on Apr 9, 2018 12:26:00 GMT -6
Just looked at Twins schedule and this series has to end by Wednesday. Twins play Thursday while the Astros have an off day. My guess...they play tonight.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2018 12:28:32 GMT -6
Just looked at Twins schedule and this series has to end by Wednesday. Twins play Thursday while the Astros have an off day. My guess...they play tonight. I hope so! Cold weather won't be the issue. It would be snow, and I didn't see snow in the forecast earlier. I could be wrong though. |
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Post by astrosdoug on Apr 9, 2018 13:36:07 GMT -6
“The weather will be hard on everybody but the last time the Astros were in this situation (Opening Day 2016 at Yankee Stadium) they pulled off a win.” Yes..., and IMO Keuchel hasn’t been the same since pitching in that game in those conditions. No kind of weather to be playing baseball in. Spent the weekend watching AAA on the frozen tundra of mini PNC Field. Still trying to thaw out, but couldn't pass a chance to see Robles and Torres in the same game. The "frozen tundra" reference reminds me how Ichiro and Bryce Harper both allowed balls to fall in the outfield yesterday rather than send their bodies flying into the frozen tundra (Harper's case) or a frozen wall (Ichiro's case). I'm hoping Hinch has issued strict order to guys not to go diving/crashing into hard surfaces because the injury risk is a lot higher today than it is normally. Besides that, I wouldn't be surprised if we see more hit batsmen, more wild pitches, more defensive errors... coming home healthy will be more important this series than coming home with wins. |
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Post by paastrosfan on Apr 9, 2018 13:36:34 GMT -6
Just looked at Twins schedule and this series has to end by Wednesday. Twins play Thursday while the Astros have an off day. My guess...they play tonight. I hope so! Cold weather won't be the issue. It would be snow, and I didn't see snow in the forecast earlier. I could be wrong though. The snow should be out of there, it is moving East, we are suppose to get two inches tonight. |
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Post by paastrosfan on Apr 9, 2018 13:39:01 GMT -6
Spent the weekend watching AAA on the frozen tundra of mini PNC Field. Still trying to thaw out, but couldn't pass a chance to see Robles and Torres in the same game. The "frozen tundra" reference reminds me how Ichiro and Bryce Harper both allowed balls to fall in the outfield yesterday rather than send their bodies flying into the frozen tundra (Harper's case) or a frozen wall (Ichiro's case). I'm hoping Hinch has issued strict order to guys not to go diving/crashing into hard surfaces because the injury risk is a lot higher today than it is normally. Besides that, I wouldn't be surprised if we see more hit batsmen, more wild pitches, more defensive errors... coming home healthy will be more important this series than coming home with wins. Probably more than throwing their bodies around on a frozen field, pulled muscles and the threat of an arm injury would be on top of the list. |
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Post by Saint on Apr 9, 2018 13:46:37 GMT -6
Astros bats need to start producing. Didn't we destroy Minnesota last year in Minnesota? I seem to recall just completely embarrassing them. |
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Post by Saint on Apr 9, 2018 13:49:42 GMT -6
Sports are getting too soft, imo. There should be baseball rain, shine, or snow.
On another topic, I'm wondering which of the top-3 in our lineup gets a day off today. Springer and Bregman need to get their heads right.
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Post by astrosdoug on Apr 9, 2018 13:50:32 GMT -6
Astros bats need to start producing. Didn't we destroy Minnesota last year in Minnesota? I seem to recall just completely embarrassing them. The Astros did. The Twins had played a mammoth extra inning game the day before their series with the Astros and basically didn't have an effective bullpen. In the middle of that month, the Astros had been swept by the Indians (and shut out by the Marilns!), and hit totals were low just as they have been in the past 4 games. I don't know, maybe Minnesota is the Astros' good luck charm for breaking out of hitting slumps. |
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Post by ɮօʀȶǟʐ on Apr 9, 2018 13:50:50 GMT -6
Ssssspringer is DH
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Post by astrosdoug on Apr 9, 2018 13:57:25 GMT -6
Sports are getting too soft, imo. There should be baseball rain, shine, or snow. On another topic, I'm wondering which of the top-3 in our lineup gets a day off today. Springer and Bregman need to get their heads right. If I had to choose between the two, I'd say Springer. One, he might need to rest that leg/ankle/hamstring or whatever felt sore to him yesterday. Two, his plate discipline has been measurably worse than it was last year. He's been swinging at more balls outside the zone and whiffing on more balls in the zone. Might be better for him to work on the hitting in the batting cages than up there in front of all 5000 frozen fans in Minnesota. Bregman has actually reduced his strikeout rate from 15% to 11% this year and his whiff rate is only half of Springer's .That's why I'm not worried about Bregman -- he's making contact, but just not getting balls to fall in the right places. Over time that kind of statistical bad luck will even out. He might have some minor mechanical tweaks to make -- he's not making the type of hard contact that we saw last year so much. Hitting under or over the ball just a tad, which is producing those grounders (and sometimes, game-winning RBI pop-ups). |
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Post by Saint on Apr 9, 2018 13:58:20 GMT -6
Didn't we destroy Minnesota last year in Minnesota? I seem to recall just completely embarrassing them. The Astros did. The Twins had played a mammoth extra inning game the day before their series with the Astros and basically didn't have an effective bullpen. In the middle of that month, the Astros had been swept by the Indians (and shut out by the Marilns!), and hit totals were low just as they have been in the past 4 games. I don't know, maybe Minnesota is the Astros' good luck charm for breaking out of hitting slumps. I hope so. The offense sure looked horrible against a weak San Diego staff. |
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Post by abregmanfan on Apr 9, 2018 13:59:14 GMT -6
“The weather will be hard on everybody but the last time the Astros were in this situation (Opening Day 2016 at Yankee Stadium) they pulled off a win.” Yes..., and IMO Keuchel hasn’t been the same since pitching in that game in those conditions. No kind of weather to be playing baseball in. We played this weekend north of Dallas. Game time temp was 31. Windchill was 20. Freezing rain. But we played. |
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Post by Saint on Apr 9, 2018 14:00:26 GMT -6
Sports are getting too soft, imo. There should be baseball rain, shine, or snow. On another topic, I'm wondering which of the top-3 in our lineup gets a day off today. Springer and Bregman need to get their heads right. If I had to choose between the two, I'd say Springer. One, he might need to rest that leg/ankle/hamstring or whatever felt sore to him yesterday. Two, his plate discipline has been measurably worse than it was last year. He's been swinging at more balls outside the zone and whiffing on more balls in the zone. Might be better for him to work on the hitting in the batting cages than up there in front of all 5000 frozen fans in Minnesota. Bregman has actually reduced his strikeout rate from 15% to 11% this year and his whiff rate is only half of Springer's .That's why I'm not worried about Bregman -- he's making contact, but just not getting balls to fall in the right places. Over time that kind of statistical bad luck will even out. He might have some minor mechanical tweaks to make -- he's not making the type of hard contact that we saw last year so much. Hitting under or over the ball just a tad, which is producing those grounders (and sometimes, game-winning RBI pop-ups). I'm not "worried" about either of them, really. But a mental day off would be beneficial I believe. Springer is trying to be the WS MVP again with every swing, but he has had a couple very hard hit balls go for outs too. At least Bregman is getting on base despite struggling. |
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Post by sempersmom on Apr 9, 2018 16:00:09 GMT -6
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Post by sempersmom on Apr 9, 2018 16:18:34 GMT -6
Tonight's lineup:
Astros:
Springer, DH
Bregman, 3B
Altuve, 2B
Correa, SS
Gonzalez, LF
McCann, C
Davis, 1B
Marisnick, CF
Fisher, RF
Twins:
Dozier, 2B
Mauer, 1B
Sano, 3B
Rosario, LF
Morrison, DH
Escobar, SS
Kepler, RF
Buxton, CF
Castro, C
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Post by m240 on Apr 9, 2018 16:49:30 GMT -6
Fisher and Davis have three games to see which one stays up when Guirrel gets activated
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Post by ɮօʀȶǟʐ on Apr 9, 2018 16:53:33 GMT -6
No I’m not. You can check the lineup |
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Post by sempersmom on Apr 9, 2018 16:56:24 GMT -6
No I’m not. You can check the lineup You know what I mean. |
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Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood...
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Post by marshall on Apr 9, 2018 17:37:07 GMT -6
Tonight's lineup: Astros: Springer, DH Bregman, 3B Altuve, 2B Correa, SS Gonzalez, LF McCann, C Davis, 1B Marisnick, CF Fisher, RF Twins: Dozier, 2B Mauer, 1B Sano, 3B Rosario, LF Morrison, DH Escobar, SS Kepler, RF Buxton, CF Castro, C It's going to be great being able to respond to my old friends instead of just eavesdropping. |
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Post by bannedfan on Apr 9, 2018 18:10:55 GMT -6
Huge crowd in Minnesota tonight🙄
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Post by astrosdoug on Apr 9, 2018 18:11:20 GMT -6
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Post by bannedfan on Apr 9, 2018 18:13:22 GMT -6
Another Springer K.
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Post by astrosdoug on Apr 9, 2018 18:13:43 GMT -6
Hinch has bunched all three of the team's Strikeout Masters at the bottom of the order tonight. Let's see how it goes... they probably won't K at all tonight just because I mentioned it
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Post by astrosdoug on Apr 9, 2018 18:15:46 GMT -6
I'm counting 9 pitches outside the strike zone for Lynn and only 3 inside the zone so far.
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