Major League Baseball: 2018 Season

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Diamondbacks are currently tanking. I guess it's good that we got a brilliant start to the season because now that we suck, we're not going to lose a lot of ground in the standings. Hopefully they figure out something quickly.
 
Interleague Play for the Houston Astros wrapped up when we hosted the San Francisco Giants. Here's how the series went:

GM1 SF at HOU: (11-2; Houston)
GM2 SF at HOU: (4-1; Houston)

Astros are in full baller mode with this performance. Even more baller is that they have allowed a total of 126 runs in a 50-game stretch- the fewest allowed since 1920 (or the fewest in the Live Ball era). We are now 32-18 on the season after 50 games of the 2018 season. San Francisco falls to 24-26.

Up next for the Houston Astros... it's time to take another tour of Astros awesomeness. This stretch is going to be tough. We're at Cleveland for a four-game weekend series starting tomorrow. After that, we're at the New York Yankees for three games, then back home to take on the Boston Red Sox in a four-game series the following weekend. This 11-game stretch is going to be tough. NYY and BOS concern me the most. But first things first- got to hit the road and entertain the Cleveland Indians for four games at Progressive Field.


Congratulations to all other winners from today's/tonight's games including recent series winners.


[UPDATE] I accidentally put my post for another thread in this one. Sorry!
 
Hooking up was the Houston Astros and the Cleveland Indians in Cleveland. Summary:

GM1 HOU at CLE: (8-1; Houston)
GM2 HOU at CLE: (11-2; Houston)
GM3 HOU at CLE: (8-6; Cleveland)
GM4 HOU at CLE: (10-9. 14 innings; Cleveland)

The disappointing deal was that the Astros were down 3-1, put a 5-spot on the Indians... all for the game to go to Extra Inninge, and eventually fail. What should have been a series win ends up being a split. One cool story from today when I visited Yahoo! Sports was that José Altuve became the 6th ever player to record 10 straight hits. Too bad the Sunday game ended in an Astros loss. All credit to the Indians, but this was damned depressing. And it won't get much better because...

Up next for the Houston Astros Baseball Club- the conclusion of the road trip with a three-game set at the New York Yankees starting on Monday afternoon.


Congratulations to all series winners as well as other winners from today's/tonight's games.
 
Up next for the Houston Astros Baseball Club- the conclusion of the road trip with a three-game set at the New York Yankees starting on Monday afternoon.

Go Yankees.
 
It was a rematch of the 2017 American League Championship Series as the Houston Astros paid a visit to the New York Yankees for a three-game set. Did [New] Yankee Stadium continue to be a House of Horrors for the Astros? Find out in this summary:

GM1 HOU at NYY: (5-1; Houston)
GM2 HOU at NYY: (6-5, 10 innings; New York Yankees)
GM3 HOU at NYY: (5-3; New York Yankees)

Even in the ALCS last year, the Yankees blew the doors off of my Astros. So this is nothing new for HOU to fail at NYY. What angered me was that we probably would have and should have won Game 2. Up 5-3 to end up failing in extra innings. Shame.

Up next for the Houston Astros... so we failed to put away the Yankees. Maybe we can do them a favor by taking down their bitter rivals- the Boston Red Sox, here in Houston for a four-game weekend series.


Enjoy the weekend series!
 
We have now entered the month of June 2018. How are all the teams doing so far? Take a look at this Standings Update:


--- AMERICAN LEAGUE ---
AL EAST: Boston (39-18), NYY (35-17), TB (28-27), TOR (25-31), BAL (17-39)
AL CENTRAL: Cleveland (30-25), DET (26-30), MIN (22-30), KC (20-36), CHW (16-37)
AL WEST: Houston (36-22), SEA (34-22), LAA (30-27), OAK (29-28), TEX (24-35)

--- NATIONAL LEAGUE ---
NL EAST: Atlanta (33-23), WAS (32-23), PHI (31-23), NYM (27-27), MIA (20-36)
NL CENTRAL: Milwaukee (36-21), CHC (30-23), STL (30-24), PIT (29-27), CIN (20-37)
NL WEST: Colorado (30-26), ARI (28-27), SF and LAD (26-30 each), SD (25-33)

So after checking this list out, it is the Boston Red Sox with the best record and the Chicago White Sox with the worst record. Boston has the best American League record while the Chicago White Sox have the worst AL record. Milwaukee is tops in the National League at 36-21 while the worst record in the NL goes to the Cincinnati Reds at 20-37. If the Playoffs began today, the New York Yankees and Seattle have the AL Wild Card, and the NL Wild Card holders at present are Washington and Philadelphia.

There is still a lot of baseball to be played, so don't buy too much stock into what is going on right now. There is still time to improve if down or maintain solid form if ahead. Keep playing winning baseball for as long as you can!


That said, enjoy the weekend series! Good luck to all of your favorite teams.
 
The Astros didn't have too good of a time against the Yankees. So how would things go back home against the Red Sox? Series summary:

GM1 BOS at HOU: (4-2; Houston)
GM2 BOS at HOU: (7-3: Houston)
GM3 BOS at HOU: (5-4; Boston)
GM4 BOS at HOU: (9-3; Boston)

This tough stretch of games concludes with fairly mediocre results. The back half of this four-game set was nationally-televised, including the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball match last night between Boston and Houston. This stretch of games ended in a split in Cleveland, losing at the New York Yankees, and a split against Boston. Again- mediocre if you're an Astros fan. We are now 37-24 on the season, one game back in the AL West behind division-leading Seattle (SEA is currently 37-22).

Up next for the Houston Astros Baseball Club... we have Monday off but have a stretch of divisional series starting tomorrow. It also includes a long road trip after the Seattle series. We host Seattle for two games starting on Tuesday night. After that is another long road trip- four at Texas, three at Oakland, and three at [non AL West] Kansas City. First things first, though- Seattle for two before the road trip.


Congratulations to all recent series winners. And since my Astros are off today, congratulations to all game winners from Monday's games.
 
The Reds may suck, but Mr. Scooter Gennett has been on fire, much like last season. He received National League Player of the Month for May. Who'd a thunk it?
 
Down here in Texas and with baseball, you're either with the Houston Astros or the Texas Rangers. Both teams played in a four-game set in Arlington, Texas. Here is a series summary:

GM1 HOU at TEX: (5-2; Houston)
GM2 HOU at TEX: (7-3; Houston)
GM3 HOU at TEX: (4-3; Houston)
GM4 HOU at TEX: (8-7; Houston)

I only saw the end of Game 3. Notoriously, the MVP of Game 4 was... Astros' coach A.J. Hinch. A late balk call with an Astro on 3rd Base led the Astros to an 8-7 lead in the Top of the 9th. I think this is the first-ever time the Houston Astros have swept a four-game series against the Texas Rangers. The 'Stros and Rangers have battled since about 1997 for the Silver Boot. As much as I love Dallas Keuchel, he REALLY needs to step up. He's the only starting pitcher with a losing record on the Astros' pitching staff. Keuchel had a 6-0 lead after two innings in the Sunday game. Texas came all the way back to tie it at 6-6. All sins forgiven as we still won Game 4. However, Keuchel really needs to step up.

The Houston Astros are now 42-25 on the 2018 season of Major League Baseball.

Up next for the Houston Astros Baseball Club... we're off today but head to Oakland for a three-game set followed by a three-game set at the Kansas City Royals. So we're continuing our LONG road trip.


Congratulations to all recent series winners and game winners. That was my series summary and a little assessment of my Astros.
 
As much as I love Dallas Keuchel, he REALLY needs to step up. He's the only starting pitcher with a losing record on the Astros' pitching staff. Keuchel had a 6-0 lead after two innings in the Sunday game. Texas came all the way back to tie it at 6-6. All sins forgiven as we still won Game 4. However, Keuchel really needs to step up.
If it makes you feel any better, the Reds have exactly 0 starters who have a winning record. :)
 
If it makes you feel any better, the Reds have exactly 0 starters who have a winning record. :)
It does make me chuckle when an Astros or Yankees fan declare that they need another starting pitcher or one of the current ones to perform better. What, 4 out of 5 starters being dominant is not good enough??* There are 20+ teams that would kill for just one dominant pitcher, and a bunch of teams who would be content with someone who could go out there and tick over the 'quality start' stat.

*This is not an attack on anyone here, just a general observation.
 
I'm still surprised that the Tigers are doing as well as they are at the moment. It certainly does help that they play in the god-awful AL Central, but they have been playing far better than they should be given the fact that they are rebuilding.
 
Diamondbacks came back from a 5-0 deficit to win 9-5 last night. Good stuff. After only winning 8 games in the entire month of May, we've already matched that in June. Finally getting back on track, and that includes Goldschmidt who was awful to start the season.
 
If you'll be watching ESPN tonight, there will be a salute to Hank Aaron when the New York Mets are at the Atlanta Braves. I might watch some of that, but I'll surely be looking to see my Astros at the Oakland Athletics tonight.


Looking at the standings and talking about teams from fellow GTPlaneteers...

* Detroit is 31-36, 2nd in the AL Central. Cleveland leads the AL Central at 35-29. There was a point where every team in the AL Central had losing records.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks are 36-29 and lead the NL West. I don't know if that lead is going to last because the NL West is usually pretty competitive. Good for the Snakes to be ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers (33-32) and San Francisco Giants (33-33).

* The Cincinnati Reds are 23-43 and last in the NL Central. They have the worst win percentage in the NL. They DON'T however, have the worst overall record- that honor goes to the 19-46 Baltimore Orioles. The O's are the only team south of 20 wins so far this season. Baltimore will host the Boston Red Sox in their next series.

* How 'bout 'dem Yankees? The New York Yankees lead the AL East with a 42-19 record. They'll host the Washington Nationals in Interleague play for their next series.

* Canada's only remaining MLB team- the Toronto Blue Jays- is 30-36 on the season. They are fourth in AL East behind Tampa Bay. Funny enough, TOR and TB meet tonight in Tampa Bay. So we got Blue Jays 'n Rays. Not Devil Rays, just Rays.


That covers just about many favorite teams among active GTPlaneteers. Good luck to all of your favorite teams.


[UPDATE/OMISSION] Forgot to include Miami. So...

* The Miami Marlins are dead last in the NL East with a 24-42 record.
 
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Three games in Oakland between my Houston Astros and the home standing Oakland Athletics. How did this one go? Oakland still probably celebrating the Golden State Warriors winning another NBA Championship. But as for Oakland's baseball team...

GM1 HOU at OAK: (6-3; Houston)
GM2 HOU at OAK: (13-5; Houston)
GM3 HOU at OAK: (7-3; Houston)

A cool stat mentioned in the Thursday game was that the Houston Astros joined some rare company in winning at least 25 road games in the first 36 road games of a season in successive seasons. So that is how our latest trip to the Bay Area goes.

The Houston Astros Baseball Club is now 45-25 on the season, winners of eight straight. We apparently have the 2nd best batting average (.262) and lead the league currently in Runs (359), ERA (2.94), and WHIP (1.06). While we have this great record, Seattle still currently leads the AL West. Seattle has a tough stretch ahead of them as they will take on the Boston Red Sox in the beautiful Emerald City of Seattle. Check this out... Seattle got a four-game set against Boston, then three at the New York Yankees, followed by three at the Boston Red Sox. BRUTAL stretch! But that road trip for SEA ends with a four-game set at the lowly Baltimore Orioles. That's Seattle. But...

Up next for the Houston Astros... I don't think we're going to do the AL Central any favors, but we'll do our best to entertain the (22-46) Kansas City Royals in their house for the weekend. Astros. Royals. Three-game weekend series. Not to mention the finale of our long road trip.


Congratulations to all of the recent series winners as well as those who won today/tonight. Hopefully your team(s) is/are doing well.


[UPDATE] I meant 22-46 (obviously). Changes made.
 
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^ ...and so is Evan Gattis. The grizzly-bearded bloke banged a Grand Slam last night to put the Astros up for good to a victory. We now won nine straight.


In case you're wondering, here is some streak talk.

* The longest winning streak in MLB history is 26-straight games by the 1916 New York Giants (now the San Francisco Giants). Two of those games ended in ties.

* The longest losing streak in MLB history is 26 straight losses by the 1889 Louisville Colonels. Since the forming of the American and National Leagues, the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies lost a record 23 straight games.


Other than that, enjoy the remaining games on this Father's Day weekend!
 
My mind has been fixated on the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans this weekend. However, there was still a baseball season to be played. So it's time to talk about my Astros again. The Houston Astros concluded their latest road trip as we played at the Kansas City Royals. Here's how the 'Stros did in this series...

GM1 HOU at KC: (7-3; Houston)
GM2 HOU at KC: (10-2; Houston)
GM3 HOU at KC: (7-4; Houston)

So we finished this road trip 10-0. Three cities, three teams, won every game. The 2018 Houston Astros join some rather rare company in teams that finished a double-digit number of road games with a perfect record. I would be stunned if Evan Gattis doesn't get AL Player of the Month or something. The grizzly-bearded player has been money in the bank for the Astros. That especially included his wicked Grand Slam on Friday night to help the Astros win. The Astros' 10-0 road game sweep is great, but other teams have won 11 or more. The 1957(?) New York Yankees finished a road trip with a 14-0 record. Yikes! Houston will get the Royals again next weekend. This time, though, in Houston.

We are now 48-25 on the 2018 so far and a half game ahead of Seattle as of the time of this post. Oh, and did I mention we've won 11 straight games now? Eleven games was the Astros' longest winning streak last year.

Up next for the Houston Astros Baseball Club... we're back home to host the Tampa Bay Rays for a three-game set starting tomorrow night.


Elsewhere...

* Part of the Astros' upcoming home stand involves a series with the Toronto Blue Jays. I was a little curious and saw when Joe Carter hit a Home Run which helped the Blue Jays win the World Series in 1993. Toronto was the defending World Series champs in the 1993 season. Speaking of Barra333's Blue Jays...

* The Blue Jays did good today in Interleague play defeating the Washington Nationals 8-6 in beautiful Toronto. Tapera got the win today for TOR. Washington's loser was Ryan Madson.

* Another Interleague series involved Miami at Baltimore. The lowly Baltimore Orioles had a fish dinner today, defeating the visiting Miami Marlins 10-4. Dylan Bundy picked up the win for BAL while Miami saw Trevor Richards take the loss.

* NL Central action happened in the Steel City when Cincinnati and Pittsburgh went at it. The Reds defeated Pittsburgh 8-6. It was DeScalfani getting the win for CIN along with a Save from Raisel Iglesias. For losing PIT, it was Joe Musgrove taking the loss.

* So Cincinnati won today. How did the other Ohio team do? Well, they took care of Minnesota 4-1 in Cleveland. Shane Bieber (no relation to Justin Bieber I'm sure) was the winner, and Cody Allen got the Save. Jake Odorizzi was tabbed with the loss for MIN.

* Hotlanta! The hot Atlanta Braves took down the San Diego Padres 4-1 in the ATL. Teheran got the win for ATL and gets a Save from Arodys Vizcaino. José Castillo was the loser for SD.

* The Tampa Bay Rays went up to the Bronx to take on the New York Yankees. The Bronx Bombers got defeated 3-1 by Tampa Bay. Chaz Roe with the win for TB and a Save from Sergio Romo. Big bad CC Sabathia wasn't bad enough today, as he took the loss for NYY.

* The cats from MoTown went down to the south side of Chicago to meet the Chicago White Sox. It was also 3-1 for this game in favor of the Detroit Tigers. The win for DET went to Blaine Hardy and a Save from Joe Jimenez. The loser for CHW was James Shields.


Congratulations to all other winners from today and to all recent series winners.
 
The Blue Jays did good today in Interleague play defeating the Washington Nationals 8-6 in beautiful Toronto. Tapera got the win today for TOR. Washington's loser was Ryan Madson
Not only did they win today, but the Jays swept the Nats in the 3 game set. That included a Scherzer start. If someone told me on Friday afternoon that one team would win all three games and I had to bet on who it was, I would have lost a lot of money.
 
The next team to show up to play the Astros for a series- the Tampa Bay Rays. Not the Devil Rays of old, just the Rays. Three game set concluded recently, and here's how it went...

GM1 TB at HOU: (5-4; Houston)
GM2 TB at HOU: (2-1; Tampa Bay)
GM3 TB at HOU: (5-1; Houston)

So our 12-game winning streak ended on Tuesday. The Astros have now had winning streaks of 12 games in franchise history... but never 13 or more. A big part of Houston's series win on Wednesday was back-to-back-to-back jacks. First, it was George Springer, then Alex Bregman going yard, and capped off with José Altuve (who bombed two homers that night). The last time the Houston Astros hit three straight home runs was back in 2008 with Miguel Tejada, Lance Berkman, and Carlos Lee.

We are now 50-26 on the season. A few seasons ago, we'd have 50 wins by August or September. Now we've hit gold (50) two successive seasons in May. We are also the first team to hit 50 wins on the season so far. So good, it's scary. I almost tend to agree with the ones saying the 2018 Houston Astros could be even better than the 2017 Houston Astros. Still a long way to go, though.

Next for the Houston Astros Baseball Club... we played AT the Kansas City Royals last weekend. Now, Kansas City comes on down to H-Town. Three-game weekend series after taking Thursday off.


Elsewhere...

* ...I hope Yahoo! Sports fix their typo. A sentence reads (note the underlined text), "Housted moved ahead of the Yankees and Red Sox to reclaim the top spot this week." Uh... we're HOUSTON, not Housted...


Congratulations to all winners of games on Wednesday including series. That even includes the Cincinnati Reds taking down the Detroit Tigers in Cincy.
 
Let's see how the Houston Astros did against the visiting Kansas City Royals this past weekend...

GM1 KC at HOU: (1-0; Kansas City)
GM2 KC at HOU: (4-3, 12 innings; Houston)
GM3 KC at HOU: (11-3; Houston)

The Astros did most of their damage in Game 3 in the 2nd inning. A Grand Slam by Y. Gurriel helped put the Astros ahead by hanging an 8-spot on the Royals. We swept Kansas City last time, but ended up taking 2 out of 3 back at home. The 2018 Houston Astros are currently 52-27 and have a 4.5 lead in the AL West over the Seattle Mariners.

Up next for the Houston Astros Baseball Club... America's team- the Houston Astros. Canada's team- the Toronto Blue Jays. We settle the score in the U.S. of A for a three-game series. This series will be the final game of this home stand before our next road trip ensues. Oh, and this is a JohnBM01 vs. Barra333 inner-forum rivalry. I usually have qualms when facing AL East teams. But.. we'll see how this one goes.


Congratulations to all recent series winners as well as others who won on Sunday.

[OMISSIONS] This TOR at HOU series begins tonight. Three games.

There is also some potential trouble forthcoming involving the Boston Red Sox's Hanley Ramirez and potential drug ring involvement. This could be a serious matter if convicted.
 
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But.. we'll see how this one goes.
Quite well for you, I expect. The Jays have been horrible on the road recently.

There is also some potential trouble forthcoming involving the Boston Red Sox's Hanley Ramirez and potential drug ring involvement. This could be a serious matter if convicted

Hanley Ramirez not under federal investigation; friend dropped his name hoping to avoid arrest (Boston Globe)
article
A friend of former Red Sox first baseman Hanley Ramirez dropped his name in an effort to avoid arrest while transporting fentanyl from New York to Massachusetts in April, then immediately admitted the player had no connection to the drugs, according to documents filed in US District Court in Boston.

Ramirez is not under federal investigation and has not been linked to any drug ring, according to several people with direct knowledge of the case.
 
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Amazingly, the Reds are looking for their 8th straight win tonight. Even more surprisingly, it included a 4 game sweep against the Cubs, something the club hadn't done since 1983. Despite the win streak, we're still 13 games under .500...
 
International incident in Houston. It's America's team- the Houston Astros, taking on Canada's team- the Toronto Blue Jays. Three-game set and a GTPlanet inner-forum rivalry between myself (JohnBM01) and Barra333.

GM1 TOR at HOU: (6-3; Toronto)
GM2 TOR at HOU: (7-0; Houston)
GM3 TOR at HOU: (7-6; Houston)

Alex Bregman saved our backsides in Game 3 with a walk-off two-run jack to win after the Toronto Blue Jays hung five on my Astros in the first inning. The only win of this series involved former Astro J.A. Happ defeating Justin Verlander. Game 2's coolest moment was Jake Marisnick climbing the gate around left center field to snatch an Out for what would have been an extra base hit. Toronto is NOT a sorry team, and the AL East is not a sorry division (except maybe the Orioles this year). Heck, we had to go through Boston AND the New York Yankees last postseason to eventually win the 2017 World Series! The Astros were just that little bit better after Game 3. So after just crossing the halfway point of the season, we are now 53-28 on the 2018 season. Our lead in the AL West is 3.5 over Seattle.

Up next for the Houston Astros... we're going road tripping! A six-game tour through two cities is coming up as Houston will be at the Tampa Bay Rays for a four-game weekend series. Then after that, a two-game series at the Texas Rangers. So it's Minute Maid (HOU) against Tropicana (TB). The fun begins Thursday night.


Congratulations to all other winners of series as well as games that wrapped up today. Hopefully your team(s) won today/tonight.
 
The Houston Astros started a new road trip. Last time, they swept a 10-game road trip. So how did this one go at Tampa Bay? Summary:

GM1 HOU at TB: (1-0; Houston)
GM2 HOU at TB: (3-2; Tampa Bay)
GM3 HOU at TB: (5-2; Tampa Bay)
GM4 HOU at TB: (3-2; Tampa Bay)

Three straight losses for the Houston Astros after sweeping a 10-game road trip. No shame losing to the Tampa Bay Rays, but this surely hurts. A blunder on what seemed like a slightly fair ball helped give the Rays two runs to come home in Game 4. 55-31 is our record now while holding a one-game lead over the hot Seattle Mariners in the AL West.

Up next for the Houston Astros Baseball Club... we take Monday off but begin a quick two-game series at the Texas Rangers. We are essentially staying in Texas until the All-Star Break because we have an 11-game home stand after the at Texas series.


Congratulations to all series winners as well as winners of today's games. Those even include beat down wins today by Cincinnati against visiting Milwaukee, and the Detroit Tigers spoiling Canada Day in Canada against Canada's team- the Toronto Blue Jays.
 
I don't post a whole heck of a lot on this thread, but I just wanted to mention a couple of wild things. Reds reliever Michael Lorenzen hit a pinch hit grand slam yesterday in the win against the Brew Crew. In fact, Lorenzen has hit a home run in 3 straight plate appearances. Again, I stress the fact he is a reliever. And his grand salami came exactly a week after starting pitcher Anthony DeSclafani hit one himself. Fun fact: After another one hit today by Jose Peraza, the Reds have 9 slams on the season, leading the MLB and already having tied their record for a full season. And it's only the start of July.

With that, they are still 12 games under .500 on the season. Shows just how horrendous the start to the year was.
 
My Houston Astros are off today. So to pass the time, I will offer this Standings Update heading into the All-Star Break later this month. It's time to see how your favorite teams are doing heading into today's/tonight's games. Take a look:

--- AMERICAN LEAGUE ---
AL EAST: New York Yankees (54-27), BOS (56-29), TB (42-41), TOR (39-44), BAL (24-59)
AL CENTRAL: Cleveland (45-37), MIN (35-45), DET (37-48), CHW (29-54), KC (25-58)
AL WEST: Houston (55-31), SEA (54-31), OAK (46-39), LAA (43-42), TEX (38-47)

--- NATIONAL LEAGUE ---
NL EAST: Atlanta (48-34), PHI (45-37), WAS (42-40), NYM (33-48), MIA (34-51)
NL CENTRAL: Milwaukee (48-35), CHC (47-35), STL (42-40), PIT (40-43), CIN (36-48)
NL WEST: Arizona (47-37), LAD (44-39), SF (45-40), COL (41-43), SD (37-49)

Upon looking at these standings, my Houston Astros have the most wins in the league with a 55-31 record heading into today. However, the New York Yankees have the better win percentage at 0.667 to go with their 54-27 record. Best NL record right now hoes to the 48-34 Atlanta Braves. Baltimore is still the team with the worst record sitting at 24-59. The worst NL record is with the Miami Marlins at 34-51. An article on Yahoo! Sports (which I get my MLB information from) is talking about how Baltimore and Kansas City could be on pace for an awful record and season as both teams have atrocious records.


Again- my Astros are off today, so you all have fun batting the ball and throwing the ball around the ballpark. And there's your Standings update. You're welcome, world.
 
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