ASTROS' UNLIKELY ACE
How Ronel Blanco's dominance offers glimmer of hope in Astros' rocky start
Apr 8, 2024, 2:18 pm
Ronel Blanco looks like the real deal after two starts. Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images.
Ronel Blanco's brilliant start to the season is about the only thing going right for the Houston Astros.
Blanco threw 2024's first no-hitter Monday night against Toronto, then made it to the sixth against Texas on Sunday before allowing a hit. The problem for the Astros is what's happened on days Blanco didn't pitch. They have only one victory aside from his two starts.
After seven straight AL Championship Series appearances, Houston is considered a World Series contender again this year. And the Astros' record of 3-7 isn't worth panicking about. They've had a tough schedule, facing the Yankees, Blue Jays and Rangers, and their run differential of minus-4 isn't awful.
Houston has been without Justin Verlander, currently on a rehab assignment working his way back from shoulder issues. Injuries to Verlander and José Urquidy helped Blanco get a spot in the rotation, and he's certainly made a positive contribution so far. Christian Javier has also made two scoreless starts, and Framber Valdez has been solid.
The bullpen's been a different story. Houston relievers are 0-5 with 6.89 ERA, with newcomer Josh Hader taking a couple of the losses.
CENTRAL SURPRISES
It's easy to overlook the AL and NL Central, but Pittsburgh is tied for the best record in baseball at 8-2. The Pirates started 20-8 last year, then quickly sank back under .500 and finished 10 games under. So some skepticism is warranted, and the schedule was favorable early with series against Miami and Washington.
But then Pittsburgh took two of three from Baltimore, with both wins coming in walk-off fashion. Rookie Jared Jones has struck out 17 in 11 2/3 innings for the Pirates in two starts.
Just behind the Pirates at 6-2 are the Milwaukee Brewers, whose starters are 3-1 with a 2.72 ERA after the team traded Corbin Burnes in the offseason.
In the AL Central, Cleveland (7-2) is averaging nearly six runs a game, while Kansas City (6-4) has allowed only 25 in 10 games. Detroit (6-3) is right there near the top of the division as well.
TRIVIA TIME
When is the last time the Pirates won a postseason series?
LINE OF THE WEEK
Blanco's no-hitter was the earliest in major league history by date, beating the previous record of April 4 by three days. He struck out seven and walked two in his eighth career start.
It's the lone complete game in the big leagues so far this season.
COMEBACK OF THE WEEK
Spencer Strider's troublesome elbow is a big concern for the Atlanta Braves, but on the field so far, they're the only team above .500 in the NL East. They also have the best run differential in the National League.
On Saturday, Atlanta allowed six runs in the top of the first inning, and when Arizona took an 8-2 lead in the fifth, the Braves had just a 2.2% chance to win according to Baseball Savant.
Atlanta cut the lead in half quickly on Marcell Ozuna's three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth. Then the Braves scored twice in the seventh and twice in the eighth to win 9-8.
TRIVIA ANSWER
Pittsburgh beat Baltimore in seven games in the 1979 World Series, the Pirates' second championship of the decade. Since then, they've lost in the NL Championship Series in 1990, 1991 and 1992 and in the Division Series in 2013. They did win a one-game wild card round in 2013.
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Dec 16, 2024, 1:52 pm
It was midway through the third quarter of the Oklahoma City-Houston NBA Cup semifinal matchup on Saturday night. Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had just made a short jumper in the lane and, to his delight, a time-out was immediately called.
He needed it.
He retreated to midcourt, crouched down, propped himself up by his fingertips and took deep breath after deep breath. It was that sort of night. And given the way the Rockets and Thunder have defended all season long, such a game was predictable.
In the end, it was Oklahoma City 111, Houston 96 in a game where the teams combined to shoot 41%. The immediate reward for the Thunder: two days off to recover. The bigger reward: a matchup with Milwaukee on Tuesday night for the NBA Cup, with more than $300,000 per player the difference between winning and losing.
“That's what defense does for you,” said Thunder coach Mark Daigneault, whose team has held opponents to 41% shooting or worse a league-best 11 times this season — and is 11-0 in those games. “It keeps you in games.”
The Rockets-Thunder semifinal was basketball, with elements of football, rugby, hockey and probably even some wrestling thrown in. It wasn't unusual. It's how they play: defense-first, tough, gritty, physical.
They are the two top teams in the NBA in terms of field-goal percentage defense — Oklahoma City came in at 42.7%, Houston at 43.4% — and entered the night as two of the top three in scoring defense. Orlando led entering Saturday at 103.7 per game, Oklahoma City was No. 2 at 103.8, Houston No. 3 at 105.9. (The Thunder, by holding Houston to 96, passed the Magic for the top spot on Saturday.)
Houston finished 36.5% from the field, its second-worst showing of the season. When the Rockets shoot 41% or better, they're 17-4. When they don't, they're 0-5.
“Sometimes it comes down to making shots,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “Especially in the first half, we guarded well enough. ... But you put a lot of pressure on your defense when you're not making shots.”
Even though scoring across the NBA is down slightly so far this season, about a point per game behind last season's pace and two points from the pace of the 2022-23 season, it's still a golden age for offense in the league. Consider: Boston scored 51 points in a quarter earlier this season.
Saturday was not like most games. The halftime score: Rockets 42, Thunder 41. Neither team crossed the 50-point mark until Dillon Brooks' 3-pointer for Houston gave the Rockets a 51-45 lead with 8:46 left in the third quarter.
Brooks is generally considered one of the game's tougher defenders. Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the game's best scorers. They're teammates on Canada's national team, and they had some 1-on-1 moments on Saturday.
“It's fun. It makes you better,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “That's what this league is about, competing against the best in the world and defensively, he is that for sure. And I like to think that of myself offensively. He gives me a chance to really see where I'm at, a good test. I'd say I handled it pretty well.”
Indeed he did. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 32 points, the fifth instance this season of someone scoring that many against the Rockets. He's done it twice, and the Thunder scored 70 points in the second half to pull away.
“We knew that if we kept getting stops we would give ourselves a chance,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “And we did so.”