Three things from the Astros’ 6-3 win over the Yankees

A five-game winning streak isn’t a noteworthy accomplishment, but the Astros have to feel good about their recent play.

Houston has a reputation for having long summers and mild winters. As a local resident, I can confirm this reputation. We also have brief, yet nice spring and autumn seasons. Tuesday happened to be one of those nice spring days, so I decided to go for a walk. I grabbed my headphones on the way out of the door and I found myself listening to the Astros game while enjoying the nice weather. It honestly wasn’t a bad way to finish a productive Tuesday.

The game itself was relatively uneventful during the innings that I was listening. Yankees’ starter Jonathan Loaisiga struck out the side in the first inning, which included George Springer, Jose Altuve, and Alex Bregman. Gerrit Cole gave up a solo home run to Luke Voit in the top of the first. The Astros would strike with runs of their own in the second and third innings. By the fourth inning, I was about to start preparing dinner while tracking the game on my phone. By the sixth inning, Gary Sanchez dashed much hope I had of Houston winning this game as I was eating my salsa verde chicken. I thought that the vaunted New York bullpen would shut the Astros down, unlike what they did the night before. Well, I was wrong, but I didn’t care. Houston’s lineup came back to score four runs combined in the seventh and eighth innings. Oh, dessert never tasted so good.

George Springer continues on-base streak

When healthy, the Astros’ lineup is one of the best in baseball. Sure, the team got a off to a slow start, but it is starting to click now. Even if the hits don’t come, there are other ways to impact the game. Springer has done that by getting on-base in all 12 games this season.

Jose Altuve hits career home run no. 100

Altuve’s first career home run was an inside-the-park one against the Giants back on August 20, 2011. At the time, we weren’t quite sure how Altuve would pan out in the majors. Fast forward to April 9, 2019, and he has panned out quite well. He also reached a notable milestone for his major league career: 100 career home runs. The 2017 AL MVP is the 16th Astro to hit 100 career home runs. Next on the list? Ken Caminiti and Hunter Pence with 103 home runs.

Gerrit Cole is still winless in 2019

Following his third start of the season, Cole is still winless. Yes, he is still winless despite a 3.32 ERA in 19 innings. And, honestly, I could care less about his win total. For one, the number of wins do not indicate how good, or bad, a pitcher is. It is not a good indication of talent and performance. There are so many factors that go into a game that it isn’t fair to lay the blame solely on the pitcher. Well, most of the time. For example, the Astros only gave Cole two runs of support in his first two starts.

Unless Cole was perfect, he was likely coming away with the loss in first two starts. No wonder he started the season 0-2. He is still winless in 2019, despite the Astros series-clinching victory over the Yankees on Tuesday. I would like to see a win by Cole’s name again soon, but it isn’t something to fret over.