Astros Surge Through Playoff Gauntlet of Schedule

It’s been a while, but I’m back reporting on Astros baseball.

After the Astros had a bit of a tumbling start to the season, in which they had started off 7-9 fresh off an embarrassing series loss at home to the state-rival Texas Rangers, many people in the Astros fanbase were starting to have doubts about the 2023 team.

The Astros weren’t sweating it, though. They knew they had been in this same spot before. The last three regular seasons, the Astros had all started off 7-9 through their first 16 games. It was only a matter of time before the bats got going and the pitching turned a corner, right?

Well, with the upcoming series the Astros had against three of the hottest teams in the sport, it was a tall hill to climb. However, the boys in orange and white weren’t shaken by this challenge. They went out against Toronto, Atlanta, and Tampa Bay and took 7 out of the 9 games they played, including a sweep of a red-hot Braves team. They won every series with great starting pitching (especially from Garcia, Valdez and Brown) with the bullpen holding every lead down. The offense, while hindered and not at 100%, produced, with youngsters such as Houston-native Corey Julks and Jake Meyers solidifying the bottom of the lineup, while Mauricio Dubon turned into Altuve 2.0, and the big man himself, Yordan Alvarez, delivering several clutch moments while battling a neck injury.

Needless to say, the Astros silenced any doubt put against them the past week, as they have taken care of some of baseball’s best squads and have shortened the gap between them and first place by only half a game, aided by the Reds’ three-game sweep of the “Won The World Series in April” Rangers.

The Astros head back home to match up against a struggling Phillies team this weekend and look to continue their winning ways in front of their fans.