Houston seeks a three-game sweep at Seattle after winning 13-2 and 6-4 the past two nights

The race for the first overall pick in 2014

1. Astros 49-96
2. Marlins 53-90
3. White Sox 58-86

The Astros have won two games in a row and attempt a three-game sweep at Seattle tonight.
While the Marlins have lost four games in a row and aren't making this thing easy for us at all.

The good news is we still have six more losses and only 17 games left to play. After we play at Seattle tonight we're done with them for the season. But then we have a winnable three-game series in Houston against the Angels. But once we finish these next 4 games we play nothing but tough games to end the season.

Our final 13 games: 3 vs. Reds, 4 at Indians, 3 at Rangers and 3 vs. Yankees.

So let's just finish these next 4 easy games and we'll be alright. Hopefully the Marlins can win a few games soon.
I'd rather not sweep Seattle tonight and maybe we can lose two out of three against the Angels.

By the way, the Astros shut down rookie Jarred Cosart for the season after his 5 shutout innings at Seattle on Monday Night. It earned him another no-decision though (shocker). He ended up with 10 starts in the big leagues, a 1-1 record, 1.95 ERA and 8 no-decisions. He pitched well enough to win 7 of those 8 no-decisions. He only had what I would call one bad start, where he gave up 4 earned runs against the Twins.

This post was edited by Madmartigan on Sep 11 2013 05:45am

Nick Franklin swings and misses and loses his grip on his bat, sending it twirling into the stands

I mean jeez. Come on Seattle Mariners. Don't get swept at home by the worst team in baseball tonight. Get a win for pride at least!

Tonight's pitching matchup: Brad Peacock (4-5, 5.62 ERA) versus Brandon Maurer (4-7, 6.85 ERA)
The Astros actually have the better pitcher on the mound, yikes, and Peacock is beyond horrible.

An Astros sweep tonight is looking very likely but I'm actually hoping the Mariners can find a way to win. But maybe the Marlins can end their losing 4-game losing streak with their rookie ace and all-star Jose Fernandez (11-6, 2.23 ERA) on the mound tonight against the Braves. Even though the Braves have a pretty good starter in Mike Minor (13-6, 3.06 ERA) pitching themselves.

I don't want to miss out on Carlos Rodon with the first overall pick next June. Until we actually clinch the first pick I'm still going to worry. I'm confident we're going to perform no better than 3-10 in our last 13 games. But we need to finish off tonight's game against the Mariners and the next three games against the Angels before I start liking our chances again.

We're still looking at anywhere from 105 to 110 losses with 17 games left to play but I could be wrong. We'll see.

Brandon Maurer (4-8, 7.18 ERA) gave up 5 earned runs in 3 innings. Astros win 6-1 to sweep the series at Seattle

The Astros out-scored the Mariners 25-7 in this three-game series on the road. Brad Peacock gave up 1 earned run in 6 innings and has won 4 of his last 5 starts. This is the first series the Astros have swept since early June when they swept a four-game series against the Angels on the road, and only the second series they have swept this season.

1. Astros 50-96
2. Marlins 54-90
3. White Sox 58-87

The Marlins beat the Braves 5-2 and ended their 4-game losing streak last night behind Jose Fernandez's strong start against the Braves which helps us out a little bit. The Marlins play the Braves today at 12:40 PM Eastern (day game). I'm expecting them to lose but we'll see what happens.

We have won three games in a row and have a winning 6-5 record in the month of September so far. But we still have 6 more losses with 16 games left to play now. The Astros have Thursday off and then host a three-game series with the Angels on Friday Night.

It's taking us longer than expected to reach 100 losses but we're about to have a difficult schedule the final two weeks of the season. We just need to get these three games against the Angels out of the way. It wouldn't shock me if we sweep this three-game series and win six games in a row. I'd rather lose two out of three games though.

Marlins are trailing 6-1 in the bottom of the 5th. They're going to lose 3 out of 4 games against the Braves as expected.

1. Astros 50-96
2. Marlins 54-91

Getting a little too close for comfort. We only have 5 more losses with 16 games left to play.

This three-game series against the Angels starting tomorrow night is huge for us. We can't afford to sweep it, in my opinion. But no reason to panic just yet. We do face Jason Vargas, Jered Weaver and Jerome Williams so the Angels have a chance to win two out of three games.

22-year-old rookie shortstop Jonathan Villar has played really well since being called up in late July.
He's hitting over .280 with good speed at the top of the lineup and he plays a stellar defense.
We may have something more than just a stopgap until Carlos Correa is called up in a couple years.

We're going to have a good 1-2 punch at the top of our lineup with Jonthan Villar and Jose Altuve going into next year. I'm hoping George Springer can become a good number three hitter for us in 2014. He'll definitely make the team out of spring training. You can slowly start to see this rebuilding roster starting to take shape, and we still have a ton of talent in the minor leagues and picking first overall in a third straight draft next June will only accelerate the process.

Matt Dominguez's grand slam in the bottom of the 5th fueled the 9-7 Astros win on Friday Night

The Astros have won 4 games in a row while the Marlins are 1-6 in their last 7 games.

The race for the first overall pick in 2014

1. Astros 51-96
2. Marlins 54-92

We only have 4 more losses with 15 games left to play. This race is starting to look interesting again.
Tonight's pitching matchup: Brett Oberholtzer (4-2, 2.65 ERA) versus Jared Weaver (9-8, 3.38 ERA)

Hopefully the Marlins can beat the Mets this afternoon and we start to drop a few games coming up.
The only thing saving us is the fact we play nothing but winning teams in our final 13 games.
After the Angels we play the Reds, Indians, Rangers and Yankees. So we won't win that much.

The Astros have a winning 7-5 record in the month of September so far. Good times ahead in 2014?

Angels beat the Astros 6-2 on Saturday Night

1. Astros 51-97
2. Marlins 55-93

Finally, our 4-game winning streak comes to an end and the Marlins split a doubleheader with the Mets, winning 3-0 and losing 3-1.

So now we are exactly 4 games worse than the Marlins with only 14 games left to play. Keep 'em coming. Two weeks left to play. One more game left with the Angels on Sunday afternoon and then a difficult 13 games to end the season against the Reds, Indians, Rangers and Yankees.

All we have to do is try our best. I doubt we're going to win many games left this season with that schedule coming up.
The first overall pick is definitely going to be ours unless the Marlins lose just about every game left this season.
The Marlins last 14 games: 1 at Mets, 3 at Phillies, 4 at Nationals, 3 vs. Phillies, 3 vs. Tigers. I doubt they'll go 0-14

Altuve needs to have another 3 steal game.

He's had a 3-hit game in three of his last five games. Making a late-season push to a .290 batting average. Back up to .284 now after he had once fell down to .271 and was struggling for a while. We're getting some good 1-2 hitting at the top of our lineup with Jonathan Villar (.288) and Jose Altuve (.284).

That good hitting and speed at the top of our lineup is going to become a real strength for the team moving forward. We need a legitimate three hitter now. I'm hoping that will be center fielder and rookie George Springer in 2014. He hit .311 with 37 home runs and 45 stolen bases in the minors this season.

The reason I want the first overall pick so badly is we can draft Carlos Rodon out of NC State in June. And then we'll have a really young, strong and talented foursome in our starting rotation for many future years: Mark Appel, Carlos Rodon, Jarred Cosart and Brett Oberholtzer. That just so happens to be a righty, lefty, righty, lefty combo as well which can keep opposing lineups off-balanced.

Starting pitching goes a long way to improving a team. We still have to fix our bullpen but we have some good pieces in place already. We already shut down Mark Appel and Jarred Cosart for the year which was the wise move to make. What will be interesting to see is if Jonathan Villar turns out to be the real deal at shortstop and we want him long term, that may mean Carlos Correa, who is a big monster out there in the minor leagues (6'4, 195 pounds and still growing), may have to make the move to third base by the time he's big league ready.

Having a lot of good young players ranging from the ages of 18 to 23 is actually pretty nice. It's always nice to have some options. It's actually been pretty fun following the Astros young talent. You get to see the blueprint of the entire team on the rise. It's a long process but it's better than spending big money in free agency and trying to buy superstars like the Angels have done the past two off-seasons -- trying to get that quick fix with Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols. It's better to grow them within the system like they did with Mike Trout, for example.