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Rockets and Astros might win again before Texans do

Rockets and Astros might win again before Texans do
Deshaun Watson is not enough. Bob Levey/Getty Images

Last week I was pleading with Houston sports fans to stop crying. Despite the incessant crying, Houston sports fans have a lot to be happy about. The Astros just won a World Series. The Rockets are poised to make a run at another title. The Texans, on the other hand, are a different story.

Early season struggles be damned, the Astros have what it takes to be the first MLB team to repeat since the Yankees won three in a row from ’98-’00. The pitching staff is loaded. Although starter-heavy, I think the bullpen will get figured out eventually. The bats may be hit or miss for now. But a baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint. Water always finds its level, and so will the Astros’ lineup.

The Rockets dropped Game 3 against the Timberwolves, but dominated in Game 4. Game 5 on Wednesday should be the swansong for Minnesota, and a moving on ceremony for the Rockets. They will get Luc Mbah a Moute back at some point, which will add to their rotation. I’ve said it before, and I’ll continue to say so until proven wrong: this team can win an NBA title this season.

Which bring us to the Texans. This team has some serious flaws, despite giving the appearance of being a “sexy pick” to make some noise this year. They don’t have a first or second round pick in this year’s draft. Instead, they used those picks to trade out of a bad quarterback and back into a franchise quarterback. That said, none of this would be necessary had they done a better job in previous years. The free agent class they brought in only had one recognizable name/difference maker in safety Tyrann Mathieu. I’ve spoken with some credible sources who believe he may not be used as effectively here as he was in Arizona. Cornerback Aaron Colvin should provide decent depth at the position, but this unit needs more playmakers, not more role players. Moves along the offensive line may pan out, and they may not. Offensive line play is as much about talent as it is about chemistry and scheme. Senio Kelemete, Zach Fulton, and Seantrel Henderson should improve the line, but an improvement isn’t saying much considering how abysmal they were previously.

Did I mention the Texans’ two most prolific pass rushers are coming off season-ending injuries? J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus shouldn’t be expected to return to form this season. Jadeveon Clowney is a monster off the edge, but could use some help from the aforementioned duo. When a team’s pass rush isn’t up to par and its secondary can’t cover a kindergartner with a king-sized blanket, that’s a recipe for disaster. This defense “fell from top 10 to not mentioned at all” to borrow a line from Jay Z.

That said, I firmly believe the Astros and Rockets will win championships again before the Texans win one. The Texans are in no shape to contend at the moment, and don’t have the necessary tools to build a winner this offseason. Maybe after the next couple offseasons, provided they use their draft picks and cap space wisely, people will begin to take the Texans seriously as a contender. Until then, the only hope in Houston sports for titles will lie in the Astros and Rockets.  

 

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The Astros beat the Dodgers, 5-1. Photo by Harry How/Getty Images.

Christian Walker, Yainer Diaz and Jose Altuve each homered, Ryan Gusto threw six strong innings, and the Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 on Sunday to complete their first three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium since May 9-11, 2008.

The Astros scored the go-ahead run in the sixth when No. 9 batter Zack Short capped an eight-pitch at-bat by drawing a two-out bases-loaded walk off reliever Will Klein (1-1) for a 2-1 lead.

 

Walker and Diaz opened the eighth with homers off Dodgers closer Tanner Scott for a 4-1 lead.

 

And Altuve added a solo shot in the ninth off Anthony Banda, as the Astros improved to a major league-best 24-8 since June 1.

 

Gusto (6-3) wasn’t dominant, allowing one run and four hits and striking out one, but he held the top four Dodgers batters — Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Andy Pages — to two singles in 12 at-bats.

Bennett Sousa, Bryan King and Bryan Abreu each threw scoreless innings of relief for Houston.

The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the second, an inning that began with Michael Conforto’s walk and Hyeseong Kim’s single. Conforto took third on Miguel Rojas’ double play grounder and scored on Dalton Rushing’s RBI double.

Houston tied the score 1-1 in the third when Short singled, took third on Isaac Paredes’ double and scored on Altuve’s sacrifice fly, a ball that Dodgers right fielder Esteury Ruiz caught while leaping into the screen in foul territory.

Dodgers right-hander Emmet Sheehan, recalled from Triple-A to make his second big-league start in his return from Tommy John surgery, gave up one run and five hits in five innings, striking out four and walking one.

Key moment

The Dodgers threatened off reliever King in the eighth when Rushing singled and took second on Betts’ two-out single, but Astros center fielder Taylor Trammell, who entered for defensive purposes in the sixth, raced in to make a sliding catch of Freeman’s 104-mph liner to preserve a 4-1 lead.

Key stat

Walker, who entered with a major league-best 1.203 career OPS in Dodger Stadium, is batting .349 (53 for 152) with 21 homers and 38 RBIs in 45 games in Chavez Ravine.

Up next

Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (8-6, 2.51 ERA) will face Brewers right-hander Freddy Peralta (9-4, 2.91 ERA) Monday in Milwaukee.

Astros left-hander Colton Gordon (3-1, 4.37 ERA) will face Guardians right-hander Tanner Bibee (4-9, 4.20 ERA) Monday in Houston.

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