NERDS AROUND TOWN

Nerds Around Town: Texans, NFL season questions and Terminator

Cory De La Guardia
Sep 3, 2019, 5:58 am

Born with a comic book in one hand and a remote control in the other, Cory DLG is the talent of Conroe's very own Nerd Thug Radio and Sports. Check out the podcast replay of the FM radio show at www.nerdthugradio.com!


Tuesday on a short week? Let's do this! Tuesday on a short week? Let's do this!

GOOD DEED OF THE DAY

Another week, another mass shooting last week. What are we doing? Give blood, hug your loved ones, be careful.

MAYBE? MAYBE NOT?

So this pre-season ended with a bang for the Texans who scrambled to replace the injured Lamar Miller, add to the offense with another receiver, add to the woefully bad line with another lineman, move the now unhappy Clowney and replace his lost production with more guys in the LB corp. They managed to do all of that on Saturday which does make up slightly for getting outmaneuvered by the Patriots on Thursday. The trade for Clowney wasn't great but we weren't going to get a lot for a guy on a one-year deal. I'm excited to see what Stills can add to our offense, having a third legit weapon takes some of the pressure off the running game and in turn Watson. This is the third season which is make or break territory for most quarterbacks in the NFL and for the first time in recent Texans memory they are at least addressing the roster in such a way that we aren't just trotting out who we drafted and saying "best of luck."

BIG QUESTIONS THIS YEAR

The NFL season kicks off this year and there are lots of big questions that will be answered. The Colts just extended Jacoby Brissett two more years for $30 million, $20 of which is guaranteed. This is odd because he was on a one year deal, and now they're committing money and time to the backup QB. Leveon Bell coming to the Jets, was he the talent or were the Steelers that good? Here in Houston, we are running a franchise without a GM, the only franchise without one, are we smart or are we dumb? I feel like I know the answer but we'll see. The Browns? Are they for real? Is Andy Dalton done in Cincinnati, who hasn't had a winning season since 2015. This season will tell several player's tales.

AM I CRAZY?

I've seen a few trailers for the new Terminator movie and it actually looks really good. I know how weird it is to think that they are going to make a good Terminator but it turns out they actually might be. Once you get over the idea of a robot aging, and you accept that because of all the other movies Judgement Day has been pushed back several times, then you get to an interesting place. One where the story is exciting and there's a new girl in the role of mother to the rebellion, but this time she's a Hispanic immigrant. Cue the angry MAGA hats and anti-SJW types who were mad that Captain Marvel was a woman. Either way, the movie looks better than the last two.

NOT THAT YOU ASKED

In Ohio at a high school football game, the referees ended the game early after a player headbutted the ref. The team was being called for their 12th penalty in the half and a player went right to the head umpire, took off his helmet and headbutted him. The game was called early and the other team awarded the victory. The school involved, Dayton Dunbar is already under probation for a previous incident and the basketball team is banned from competitive play. This is not the kind of program colleges will recruit from or is giving the kids involved the right opportunity. For heaven's sake, who is running the athletics program.

Feel free to check out my brand new comic book Another Day at the Office or buy a shirt from Side Hustle Ts where some proceeds help people struggling with cancer or listen to Nerd Thug Radio. Thoughts, complaints, events and comments can be sent to corydlg@gmail.com.

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Houston is now 5-4 on the year

Astros pull out an extra-inning win to grab series victory against Angels

Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images

After splitting the first two games of the series, including the extra-inning affair on Saturday, the Astros looked to defeat the Angels on Saturday to secure the series win and leave Los Angeles with a winning record. On the mound were two pitchers looking to shrug off bad debuts to the season. Here is how the game went on Sunday afternoon:

Final Score (11 innings): Astros 6, Angels 5.

Record: 5-4, first in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Blake Taylor (1-0, 0.00 ERA).

Losing pitcher: Jacob Barnes (0-2, 3.86 ERA).

James walks his way into trouble

After a disastrous start to his pitching season where he was unable to record an out, Shohei Ohtani was able to sit down the Astros 1-2-3 on just eight pitches in the top of the first. However, Houston would take advantage of his struggling command in the top of the second, working three straight walks to load the bases with no outs. They then would get two more walks with two outs to grab an early 2-0 lead and end Ohtani's day early yet again.

Meanwhile, on the mound for Houston was Josh James. He, too, allowed some walks but was able to work around them in the first two innings, erasing two in the bottom of the first and one in the second for two scoreless innings.

That changed in the third when he would walk the bases loaded with two outs before Albert Pujols continued his nearly twenty-year reign of being a thorn in Houston's side, hitting a grand slam, Los Angeles' first hit of the day, to put the Angels up 4-2. James would get the final out of the third, but that would conclude his day, making it two straight starts he would be unable to reach the fourth inning. His final line: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 6 BB, 4K, 1 HR.

Valdez impresses as Bregman makes it a one-run game in the seventh

Framber Valdez was first out of Houston' bullpen, likely to try and eat up several innings. He would accomplish that mission, getting through the next three innings scoreless, holding the 4-2 score. It remained locked on that score despite Houston getting runners on base in each of those innings, as they would struggle to turn players on base into runs yet again in this series.

Alex Bregman gave the Astros a spark in the top of the seventh, leading off the inning with a solo home run to straightaway center to make it a one-run game. Valdez returned for yet another inning, another scoreless frame to keep it 4-3 going to the eighth.

Reddick ties it in the ninth, Astros win in extras

Houston would threaten to tie in the top of the eighth, getting a pinch-hitting Carlos Correa to third base after a single to leadoff the inning, but would be unable to score him, leaving it at 4-3. Valdez would record another scoreless inning in the bottom of the eighth, giving the Astros one more chance to tie or go ahead in the top of the ninth.

Michael Brantley led off the inning with a double and was pinch-run by Myles Straw, who would score the tying run on an RBI-single by Josh Reddick, but the Angels would hold the Astros there. Valdez remained in the game trying to push extra innings and would do so, erasing a leadoff walk.

Kyle Tucker started the top of the tenth on second base and moved to third on a sac fly by Carlos Correa to start the inning before scoring on another sac fly, this time from pinch-hitting Garrett Stubbs to give Houston a 5-4 lead. Valdez, well above his comfortable pitch count, was still on the mound in the bottom of the tenth, and allowed his first run, though unearned, on a leadoff RBI-single to tie the game again at 5-5. He would get one more out before Houston moved to another reliever, bringing in Andre Scrubb.

After an intentional walk to Albert Pujols, Scrubb would walk the bases loaded before getting a popout, then Houston would turn to Blake Taylor. Taylor would come through, getting a big strikeout to send the game to the eleventh. Springer started on second in the top of the inning and would score and put the Astros back in front on a one-out RBI-single by Alex Bregman. In the bottom half, Taylor would get through the inning, giving Houston the win and series victory.

Up Next: The Astros will have a day off tomorrow before picking up a three-game set with the Diamondbacks in Arizona on Tuesday. The opening game of that series will be at 8:10 PM Central. While Arizona is expected to start Madison Bumgarner, the Astros will have to pivot as they had Framber Valdez slated for that start, who made a lengthy appearance out of the bullpen on Sunday.

astros recap mlb astros vs angels shohei ohtani josh james albert pujols astros

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