Friday night, the Houston Astros yet again defeated the Boston Red Sox in a tight one, 3-2. With the race for first place coming down to the wire the one story that needs some spotlight is the Houston’s playoff rotation. Houston is currently in the midst of a tryout for the fourth spot on the rotation, but they arguably have the best Game 1 and 2 starters heading into October.
In their last two games, the Astros have not only outscored the Red Sox 15-4, but have handled them on the mound. Funny enough, the Astros will not be showing their hand in this series, as not only Justin Verlander, but Dallas Keuchel will not be pitching.
So, the Boston Red Sox can’t beat the Astros and yet they haven’t even faced their top two aces? I’m not a genius, but if I am the Red Sox I might be hoping for the Indians to have some sort of collapse this weekend.
Thursday night saw Brad Peacock silence the bats early, and allowed the Astros offense to come out of the gates swinging. Pitching five innings and only allowing two runs Peacock cemented his phenomenal season in which he finished with a 3.00 ERA.
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If this is a sign of things to come for next weeks potential Divisional Round Series the Red Sox are going to need to do some soul searching. Coming into this series Boston was as hot as anyone, but this Astros squad has rediscovered the form that made them so destructive in the beginning of the season.
With Verlander and Keuchel set to potentially pitch the first two games next week the team is in great shape. Since his arrival in Houston, Verlander has shown he is ready to be a leader in this clubhouse going 5-0 with a 1.06 ERA, and 43 strikeouts.
As for Keuchel, he has returned to his form since being injured earlier this season. In his last 10 starts Keuchel has pitched at least 6 innings 8 times, and has pitched into the seventh inning 3 times. With matchup either consisting of the Red Sox, Twins, or Yankees this could not be better timing for Houston to have dominant pitching.
The bullpen has had its issues this season, but as of late they have silenced any and all doubts going into October. With Verlander and Keuchel providing late inning outing this could be the weapon Houston needs to make a deep playoff run.
Next: Brewers squandered opportunity
With two games remaining in the regular season, the Red Sox will still need to clinch their AL East crown. But, don’t mind the Astros, they’re just marching their way to the history books.