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Houston Astros: Week 2 Round-Up – A Near Perfect Road Trip!

By James Zeankowski

Apr 15, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Houston Astros right fielder George Springer (left) celebrates with center fielder Jake Marisnick after a home run in the eighth inning at Oakland Coliseum. The Astros won 10-6. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Villa-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 15, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Houston Astros right fielder George Springer (left) celebrates with center fielder Jake Marisnick after a home run in the eighth inning at Oakland Coliseum. The Astros won 10-6. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Villa-USA TODAY Sports /
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Despite an Easter Sunday rain postponement in Oakland yesterday, this past road trip for the Houston Astros was certainly full of sunshine and smiles!

The Houston Astros completed their first road trip of the season. While the start up in Safeco Field and Seattle was a shutout, the next 4 games would prove to be difference makers!

The team took 2 out of 3 from Seattle, coming back from a 5 run deficit on both Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. Evan Gattis hit a bases clearing pinch hit double to couple with another Alex Bregman RBI in Tuesday’s victory.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the Seattle bullpen faltered to allow 6 runs to be scored from the 7th inning on. Back to back double digit hit totals helped propel the Astros to a series win.

In the next series against the Oakland Athletics, the comeback victories “kept coming.” Friday posted another victory for southpaw ace, Dallas Keuchel, who only gave up one earned run. This would also be his third quality start in as many appearances on the season.

To compliment this, the bats stayed hot! More magic in the 5th inning onward gave the team 17 more runs off of 18 more hits from the lineup over two games. One can only imagine how the bats would have been had there been no rain out.

Some other key notes from the past week include the following:

Springer Dingers Keep Coming!

George Springer hit a home run in the 8th inning Saturday to give him 6 already on the season. According to the stats on ESPN, he is averaging 8.7 at-bats per home run.

If that pace remains kept, Springer could launch up to 81 long balls this season. For context, the current MLB record for most home runs in a season is 73. That record is held by, none other than, Barry Bonds.

Next: Can The Astros Afford Carlos Correa?

Batman Relies on the Bats to Pick Him Up!

Lance McCullers had a rough outing on Saturday, giving up 8 hits and 5 earned runs. 2 of those earned runs were solo home runs from Khris Davis and Trevor Plouffe. Plenty of questionable calls frustrated both him and Evan Gattis, who caught McCullers for the first time of the season that day.

In spite of this, he was able to get the no-decision and avoid a loss with the help of the lineup. Brian McTaggart of MLB.com got him to describe his outing for a video clip on Twitter. His record currently sits at 1-0 with no-decisions in his past two trips to the mound.

Up next for the spacemen: The Los Angeles Angels and the Tampa Bay Rays. Stay tuned for updates next week. GO HOUSTON ASTROS!!!!

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