Astros win 10 in a row

Around baseball, so many were quick to write off the Astros trip to the World Series as a run of luck. Even as they picked off competitors one by one in 2021, they were not given their due as a great side. After losing Carlos Correa to the Twins in the off-season, it looked to many as if the Astros were finished in 2022.

Then the season started and Houston got off to a sluggish start. Smug looks all around. Great hitting? Let’s talk about the Angels. Best pitching? Dodgers are clearly in the top spot. The Astros were quietly put away.

But then something started happening. The Astros started to win. First a few games, then a series sweep, and now they have completed ten wins in a row, including three sweeps, to go a half a game up on the Angels. There is no denying it, the Houston Astros are a great team.

In facing the Minnesota Twins, they won the first game in emphatic style 11-3 and took the second game 5-0. On Friday, they start a road series against the Nationals, who are currently sitting dead last.

Houston’s ride to the Fall Classic last season was largely on the back of their hitting. Dusty Baker would be cunning in his use of a limited bullpen, just enough to keep the Astros within reach so that their explosive bats could bring the late runs into play. But in 2022, something different is under way. The Astros are pitching extremely well.

Over their ten game win streak, they have allowed only 11 runs. That is impressive, for any team. In their first 53 seasons, the Astros managed to put together eight double digit win streaks. The current one is their seventh in the last eight seasons.

Yankee fans hate the Astros for the sign-stealing scandal, even though the Yankees were doing the same thing. Whatever. The Dodgers dismiss the Astros as lucky and shine the light on their own stellar bullpen. But there is no escaping the facts. The Astros are the hottest team in baseball right now. And that situation, like it or not, is likely to continue.