Northern Exposure
Oh yeah, the Astros made a trade with the Blue Jays, too
Aug 1, 2019, 7:05 am
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So July 31, 2019 will be going down as one of the most exciting dates in Astros History. This day will be enough to shut up the haters because #TakeItBack is becoming more possible by the minute. Unless you lived under an I45 bridge, you knew today was the MLB trade deadline. The Astros had been fairly quiet, and fans were growing impatient; to the point that when Marcus Stroman was traded to the Mets, they were trying to justify trading for Trevor Bauer. While they managed to nail down yet another ace to bolster their pitching rotation in Zack Greinke, the Astros trade that really got my attention was the one between the Astros and Blue Jays.
I have been a Blue Jays fan since I was a child growing up in the yellow prairies of Alberta. Yes, I do own a Joey Bats jersey. The start of the millennium marked my move to the great state of Texas, and I have been following the Astros since my move (Big Puma, anyone?). How could I not when the Juice Box is literally 25 minutes away? So, today took an interesting turn when the Blue Jays traded Aaron Sanchez and Joe Biagini to the Astros for nothing but Derek Fisher. I painfully reminisced over Sanchez's starts (or lack thereof) the past few seasons. He has only pitched in 51 games since the 2017 season. Finger injuries have plagued him; from a finger caught in a falling suitcase in 2017 to being pulled out of a game for a broken finger nail this season. Hand injuries are Sanchez's kryptonite so it was hard to wrap my mind around where he would help improve a pitching rotation that had just added Zack Greinke. Sanchez's last couple of starts have been a bit reminiscent of his 2016 season. His July 28th game against the Tampa Bay Rays had his most exciting start where he allowed no runs to be scored until the 5th inning and had 10 strike outs. Sanchez should not pitch for more than 4 or 5 innings because the exhaustion can clearly be seen in his demeanor on the mound. Maybe it is time for Sanchez to take on a relief role on a team that has the almighty wizard that is Brent Strom.
Joe Biagini, is admittedly, a player I have been indifferent to. He has a 3-1 record but struggled in his outing against the Royals. Looking at his stats for his short 4-year career, this is his second-best season. Stepping back and taking a look at this trade, it is hard to see how the Astros got away with only sending Derek Fisher for Aaron Sanchez and Joe Biagini. I have heard various comments on Derek Fisher but per Ross Atkins, he is confident in his level of play and expected to provide depth, however Fisher is a left fielder and currently that position is being dominated by Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
All I can say to Ross Atkins is, bless your heart.
Fernando Tatís Jr. hit a tiebreaking solo home run and scored all of San Diego’s runs as the Padres avoided being swept with a 3-2 win over the Houston Astros on Sunday night.
Tatís sent the first pitch he saw from Tayler Scott (1-2) 427 feet to straightaway center to give the Padres a 3-2 lead in the seventh.
Tatís scored from second on a Mauricio Dubón error in the first, and he led off the third with a triple before scoring on an RBI single by Gavin Sheets.
The Astros tied it with two runs in the fifth on an RBI single by Dubón and a Yordan Alvarez sacrifice fly.
Luis Arraez was carted off and taken to a hospital for evaluation after a first inning collision with Dubón on a play at first base. Arraez’s face appeared to collide with Dubón’s arm or elbow, and the Padres designated hitter lay motionless in foul territory next to first base for several minutes.
After being tended to by trainers from both teams, Arraez was placed on a backboard and carted out of the stadium.
Dylan Cease yielded two runs on six hits with six strikeouts in five innings for the Padres. Alek Jacob (1-0) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win, and Robert Suarez pitched the ninth for his second save.
Starting pitcher Framber Valdez surrendered two runs on seven hits in six innings for the Astros.
Key moment
With two outs and the tying run on second in the eighth, Jason Adam struck out Victor Caratini to end the inning.
Key stat
The Padres have scored 20 runs in the seventh inning this season, the most runs they have scored in any inning.
Up next
Houston RHP Hunter Brown (2-1, 1.50 ERA) starts the opener of a three-game series against the Blue Jays on Monday night, while San Diego RHP Randy Vásquez (1-1, 1.74) starts Monday in the opener of a three-game series in Detroit.