GAME ON
How Astros are finding new, exciting ways to make Rangers feel the Houston heat
Jul 25, 2023, 1:10 pm
Chas McCormick and Yainer Diaz have come up huge. Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images.
If you want a snapshot of how this improbable, snakebitten, but still standing Astros season has gone so far, the defending World Series champs kicked off their most important regular-season series in years Monday night with Brandon Bielak on the mound.
Bielak wears jersey No. 64. He was followed by reliever Parker Mushinski, No. 67. Tonight’s starter for Game 2 of this showdown series against the first-place Rangers is J.P. France. He wears No. 68.
This isn’t the pitching rotation anybody expected. None of these hurlers was expected to play a critical role for the Astros this season. This looks more like “pitchers and catchers report early for spring training.” Players with Nos. 64, 67 and 68 are usually offensive linemen in the NFL.
But here we/they are. The Astros defeated the Rangers 10-9 Monday night in a rollicking, frustrating and ultimately glorious game that seemingly took forever. But you know what they say about good things come to those who wait. The Astros are only two behind and breathing down the Rangers’ necks for first place in the American League West and a likely first-round bye in the playoffs.
Monday night’s offensive heroics were provided by Chas McCormick (six RBI) and Yanier Diaz (two RBI and the game winner), two more players not expected to play leadership roles for the Astros this season.
These are not the star-studded Astros of years past, with Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Justin Verlander, Alex Bregman, Gerrit Cole, George Springer, Carlos Correa and more stocking the American League All-Star roster. This edition of Astros scratches out wins with McCormick, Diaz, Mauricio Dubon, Corey Julks, inherited pitching ace Framber Valdez and a supporting staff of guys maybe you never heard of a year ago. Kyle Tucker is the undisputed star of the 2023 Astros.
Minute Maid Park was electric Monday, packed with 38,000 screaming, standing fans. If they were expecting a tight, well played, playoff fever game, that’s not what they got. The Rangers jumped on Bielak for two runs in the first, three in the second and one more in the fourth. The Astros took the lead, briefly, with four runs in their half of the first inning, only to repeatedly fall behind. The Rangers had three multi-run leads in the game, only to watch each vanish.
It was a gut-punch loss for the Rangers. It remains to be seen if they can recover from the devastating defeat.
If the Rangers do fall behind the Astros, this will be the game when they walked the plank. They didn’t just snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, they went out of their way to blow it. Don’t think for a moment that the Rangers aren't feeling the Houston heat. They’ve got to be puckered up and desperate. If the Rangers lose tonight, timber! Look out below, where the Angels are playing their best ball of the season.
It wasn’t the Astros at their squeaky clean best, either. The Rangers treated Bielak like a kid playing the children’s Backyard Baseball video game set on “easy.” Bielak, coming off two solid starting efforts, gave up six runs, six hits, four walks, two homers and a wild pitch in 4-⅔ innings.
Reliever Phil Maton faced four batters in the seventh inning and didn’t record an out (two hits, two walks, three runs). Astros pitchers allowed seven walks. Astros fielders committed two errors. Astros batters left seven runners on base. It was sloppy for sure. But a win, especially a huge one like this, is a win.
The home plate umpire had a bad game, too. In the bottom of the ninth, with Tucker on first and nobody out, Jose Abreu struck out after the ump clearly missed a ball 4 pitch. Very upsetting. Later, and let’s keep this between us, I’ve watched 20 replays of Kyle Tucker scoring the winning run at home and I still don’t see his foot touching the plate. The play was reviewed and the safe call stood. Game over. Not complaining.
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Astros keep doing this, and it’s getting hard to ignore
Jun 25, 2025, 10:01 pm
While the rolling Astros have a week of possible World Series preview matchups against the Phillies and Cubs, it’s the Rockets who made the biggest local sports headline with their acquisition of Kevin Durant. What a move! Of course there is risk involved in trading for a guy soon to turn 37 years old and who carries an injury history, but balancing risk vs. reward is a part of the game. This is a fabulous move for the Rockets. It’s understood that there are dissenters to this view. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, including people with the wrong opinion! Let’s dig in.
The Rockets had a wonderful season in winning 52 games before their disappointing first-round playoff loss to the Warriors, but like everyone else in the Western Conference, they were nowhere close to Oklahoma City’s caliber. While they finished second in the West, the Rockets only finished four games ahead of the play-in. That letting the stew simmer with further growth among their young players would yield true championship contention was no given for 2025-26 or beyond.
Kevin Durant is one of the 10 greatest offensive players the NBA has ever seen. Among his current contemporaries only Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic make that list. For instance, Durant offensively has clearly been better than the late and legendary Kobe Bryant. To view it from a Houston perspective, Durant has been an indisputably greater offensive force than the amazing Hakeem Olajuwon. But this is not a nostalgia trip in which the Rockets are trading for a guy based on what he used to be. While Durant could hit the wall at any point, living in fear that it’s about to happen is no way to live because KD, approaching his 18th NBA season, is still an elite offensive player.
As to the durability concern, Durant played more games (62) this past season than did Fred VanVleet, Jabari Smith, and Tari Eason. The season before he played more games (75) than did VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Alperen Sengun. In each of the last two seasons Durant averaged more minutes per game (36.9) than any Rocket. That was stupid and/or desperate of the Suns, the Rockets will be smarter. Not that the workload eroded Durant’s production or efficiency. Over the two seasons he averaged almost 27 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor, 42 percent from behind the three-point line, and 85 percent from the free throw line. Awesomeness. The Rockets made the leap to being a very good team despite a frankly crummy half-court offense. The Rockets ranked 21st among the 30 NBA teams in three-point percentage, and dead last in free throw percentage. Amen Thompson has an array of skills and looks poised to be a unique star. Alas, Thompson has no credible jump shot. VanVleet is not a creator, Smith has limited handle. Adding Durant directly addresses the Rockets’ most glaring weakness.
The price the Rockets paid was in the big picture, minimal, unless you think Jalen Green is going to become a bonafide star. Green is still just 23 years old and spectacular athletically, but nothing he has done over four pro seasons suggests he’s on the cusp of greatness. In no season has Green even shot the league average from the floor or from three. His defense has never been as good as it should be given his athleticism. Compared to some other two-guards who made the NBA move one year removed from high school, four seasons into his career Green is waaaaaay behind where Shae Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, and Devin Booker were four seasons in, and now well behind his draft classmate Cade Cunningham. Dillon Brooks was a solid pro in two seasons here and shot a career-best from three in 2024-2025, but he’s being replaced by Kevin Durant! In terms of the draft pick capital sent to Phoenix, five second round picks are essentially meaningless. The Rockets have multiple extra first round picks in the coming years. As for the sole first-rounder dealt away, whichever player the Rockets would have taken 10th Wednesday night would have been rather unlikely to crack the playing rotation.
VanVleet signs extension
Re-signing Fred VanVleet to a two-year, 50 million dollar guarantee is sensible. In a vacuum, VanVleet was substantially overpaid at the over 40 mil he made per season the last two. He’s a middle-of-the-pack starting point guard. But his professionalism and headiness brought major value to the Rockets’ kiddie corps while their payroll was otherwise very low. Ideally, Reed Sheppard makes a leap to look like an NBA lead guard in his second season, after a pretty much zippo of a rookie campaign. Sheppard is supposed to be a lights-out shooter. For the Rockets to max out, they need two sharpshooters on the court to balance Thompson’s presence.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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