Houston Astros: Club Astros finally gets the monkey off their back

A roller coaster ride for Astros’ fans

Sep 19, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Scott Kazmir (26) is removed from the game against the Oakland Athletics in the fourth inning at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Saturday night’s Houston Astros game was a bumpy emotional journey for Astros’ fans everywhere. We started off the game roughing up a Cy Young candidate, Sonny Gray before Evan Gattis tried to advance to second base on a fly out to right field. Gattis maybe thought that they would throw to third base to try to get the lead runner. Instead, they threw to second base and caught Gattis like a bear caught in a bear trap. The Astros had already scored three runs off of Gray in the first, so why was this such a big deal?

Excitement Turned to Regret

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When an ace pitcher is struggling, you go for blood and don’t give outs away like Gattis did there. Gray couldn’t find the strike zone early in the game. So Astros fans were probably happy that they scored three runs, but with the team has pitched recently, you have to be greedy and get as many runs as you can squeeze out. The Astros are still in playoff competition, but their margin of error is shrinking as we speak. Every win means something right now, so if you see an opportunity to take advantage, you Felix Hernandez them.

After fans had cooled down, Scott Kazmir gave up a homer to some guy named Jake Smolinski, which brought back deja vu back from Friday night’s game where the Athletics crawled back little by little to win 4-3. Kazmir only lasted 3 2/3 inning, getting the rare early hook from manager A.J. Hinch in the fourth inning. The pitcher we traded for to pitch in these big time game situations was pulled early; Astros fans thought that was the end of the game with how things have gone recently.

Here we go Again

Vincent Velasquez is in the game; he will hold the A’s down. He’s part of the bright future and can throw the heat, but he struggled last night giving up three runs in 2 1/3 innings. The thoughts that we suck again was floating through all the Astros fans minds. I even had the urge to tell the Houston Chronicle to break out the tombstone, but instead I urged them to hold off on it for now. The Astros were down 6-3 in the sixth inning, and even the public address announcer seemed unexcited when he announced Jose Altuve‘s name. My family was ready to leave, and I could see that most of the fans were ready to leave.

Next: Doodles the Rally Monkey

A roller coaster ride for Astros’ fans

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