Hopefully this will be my last sports blog on D2jsp. All my other blog entries just faded away due to inactivity. In case none of you know who I am my name is Ryan and I'm just a passionate person that enjoys a lot of different things. Mainly sports, celebrity gossip, YouTube music and prank videos, movies, TV shows and PC gaming.

On this particular post I just wanted to discuss the Houston Astros. Winning the 2017 World Series was a dream come true for me as a lifetime Houstonian and a sports fan in general. That meant the world to me and honestly if I died today I can do so with a huge smile on my face. I couldn't stop crying tears of joy all the way from last October and November, until April of this year when the 2018 MLB season had started.

It's difficult for me to discuss too much right now in full details, as I look back and reminiscence, because there were a lot of difficult things going on during that time due to Hurricane Harvey. Nearly a full year later and my life is just now getting back to normalcy again. Baseball was just a small part of bringing some joy to many people in this city including myself.

This 2018 Astros season has been filled with many key injuries to several star players like Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve, George Springer and Lance McCullers Jr. As well as starting catcher Brian McCann. But despite all that the Astros remain in first place in the AL West with a 73-44 record as I type this on August 11. That's good enough for a 4.5 game lead over Oakland and 6 game lead over Seattle.

Even though the Boston Red Sox appear to be an unstoppable force and an offensive juggernaut, not to mention the best team in baseball this season, I'm very confident if the Houston Astros are healthy when the 2018 MLB Playoffs start in early October they'll have a good chance to repeat as 2018 World Series champions.

The good news is Carlos Correa just returned after missing 1.5 months, Jose Altuve is a week away from a return and George Springer should only miss two more weeks. McCullers Jr. and McCann are both aiming for a mid September return. So we'll have to wait and see what type of Houston Astros team we'll see come October. I expect it to be a motivated and healthy team that is peaking at the right time.

Like I said last year when the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cleveland Indians were dominating the 2017 regular season, none of that mattered to me because I knew every team was going to have a 0-0 record in the playoffs. And even though the Astros had the third best regular-season record last year they still won the 2017 World Series. Not the Dodgers or Indians. I feel the same way about the Red Sox this year. Kudos to them for winning a ton of regular-season games in 2018 but none of that will matter in the postseason. The Astros will start off with a clean slate just like them.

Thank you for your precious time if you came in here to read my boring blog. I'm going to try and make it more exciting over time. I'll try to discuss the Houston Rockets and Houston Texans during the upcoming days. I may not blog a lot anymore but I'll try to remain active this time around.

And lastly I just wanted to mention that I miss everybody in the Sports Coliseum. The basketball, baseball and football sub-forums were a big part of my life from 2009 to 2015. Once my grandfather passed away in December of 2015 (he was my best friend also), I started to slowly disappear from there because we would always watch sports together. I don't know when I'll return but I do miss everybody even those that didn't like me. Now a days I mostly post in General Chat and the Donor Forum.

And for the TL:DR people that I know are lurking out there on D2jsp right now...
I have nothing but love inside my heart. My birthday is on Wednesday and I'm only getting older.
All I want to find in my life is a little bit of happiness. Some days are better than others.

The injury-plagued Astros have a disappointing 9-11 record post all star break. They were just swept in a four-game series by the Seattle Mariners and have now lost eight games in a row at home which included being swept by the lowly Texas Rangers. A team that is buried in last place. In fact, the last game the Houston Astros had won at home was on July 14 against the Detroit Tigers. It's now August 12 and nearly a full month later. Hopefully the Astros can win their next home game on Tuesday Night against the Rockies. They need relax and enjoy the day off tomorrow. There's no point in doing anything else.

The good news is the Astros are still holding on to first place in the AL West and they have an amazing 41-18 record on the road this year. And after the two home games against the Rockies on Tuesday and Wednesday Night, the Astros will start a nine-game road trip: 3 at Oakland, 3 at Seattle and 3 at Anaheim. Jose Altuve will likely return at some point during that road trip.

Jose Altuve, George Springer, Brian McCann and Lance McCullers Jr. will eventually return. Some sooner than others. I still see some light at the end of the tunnel. And if the Astros repeat as 2018 World Series champions that's all that matters. All of this recent adversity will just toughen them up for another deep October run.

It was good to see Carlos Correa return this past series. Naturally he's a little rusty at the plate after not playing in an MLB game since late June. He did flash a lot of great defense with the glove and displayed excellent range, a strong arm and incredible quickness in the field. That back pain looks non existent which is a good sign. He also notched an RBI single in his last at-bat in today's game. He's going to become an all-star player again. When Correa is playing at the top of his game there isn't a better shortstop in the game.

I'm not overly worried about the first place Houston Astros right now. We're beat up and we're struggling to win games at home. We're also the defending World Series champions. There's still a ton of talent on this team when healthy. I'm not going to panic and I'm going to remain patient as they continue to get some key players back from the disabled list.

Last time I checked, you can't win a World Series in August... Thank goodness for that.
If that were true then the Dodgers or Indians would have won the World Series last year.
So I wouldn't just hand over the 2018 World Series title to the Boston Red Sox just yet.
I still think the Houston Astros are going to recapture their swagger and mojo when it counts the most.

The Astros haven't won a home game in over a month. July 14 vs. the Tigers was our last home win. After the loss last night that's now nine straight losses at home. Our lead in the AL West is pretty much over. The Athletics are 1 game behind and the Mariners are 4 games behind.

But today is my birthday and I'm going to attend tonight's game. I'm going to bring the Houston Astros some good luck as they finally win a home game for the first time in over a month. Gerrit Cole is pitching and I expect him to dominate. With another day off tomorrow it would be nice to be on the winning side again.

There is some good news. George Springer is expected to return for Friday's road opener against the Athletics. Like I mentioned before the Astros are still 41-18 on the road. They can re-gain control of the AL West if they play well on this upcoming road trip against the Athletics, Mariners and Angels.

Jose Altuve, Brian McCann, Chris Devenski (Devo) and Lance McCullers. Jr. will all return soon enough. September should look a lot better for the Astros if they can just finish off the last two weeks of August playing some good baseball again. It's all about hanging on for dear life right now the way it seems.

I'm not going to panic but I do feel more anxious than usual right now! Sorry for not discussing the Houston Rockets and Houston Texans on this blog so far. I plan to do so once their seasons are closer to starting. I'm truly focused on the Houston Astros right now as they try to repeat as 2018 World Series champions. This daunting quest has been made more difficult because all of the injuries but I do see some help on the way.

A little adversity and challenge is a good thing sometimes: The Houston Astros have their backs against the wall. How will they respond? People are starting to call last year's 2017 World Series championship a fluke. Those same people are ready to hand over the 2018 World Series title to the Boston Red Sox and it's only mid August. We'll see what happens. I'll be at the game tonight and we can only turn things around one game at a time. Go Astros!

I had a great time watching the Astros beat the Rockies 12-1 last night. They finally won a home game for the first time in over a month and they did so by hitting five home runs. Evan Gattis and Tyler White both hit two home runs apiece. Yuli Gurriel added another homer and Carlos Correa smashed a three-run double down the third base line.

Gerrit Cole has been having the best season of his career in terms of strikeouts and pure dominance. He added 12 more strikeouts in only six innings pitched. He's now 11-5 with a 2.71 ERA. But like Justin Verlander his overall record doesn't show how great he's been because he has numerous no-decisions (nine of them) because a lack of run support. Charlie Morton currently has the team lead in wins (12-3, 2.88 ERA) and he has 8 no-decisions himself.

But nobody is really concerned about the individual stats. All the Houston Astros care about is repeating as 2018 World Series champions. As long as they're healthy and playing well they'll be tough to beat once the playoffs start in October. During this recent six-game home stand the Astros only scored 14 runs in the first five games combined. Scoring 12 runs in one game was nice to see. The defending World Series champions still have a fighting pulse after all. They increased their AL West division lead to two games over the Oakland Athletics.

The Astros have today off but they start a huge 9 game road trip on Friday Night at Oakland. They'll have a chance to widen their AL West division lead by beating the Athletics and Mariners head to head. The Astros have an MLB best 41-18 road record and George Springer is going to make his return to the Astros lineup on Friday Night. It won't be much longer until Jose Altuve and Brian McCann also return. All of these healthy additions will bolster what can become a dangerous Astros lineup again.

The Houston Astros will be unstoppable once their offense starts to score a lot of runs like they did last night, because their starting pitching has been phenomenal all season long and their bullpen is pretty good as well. I can't wait to see that star studded lineup featuring Springer, Bregman, Altuve and Correa at the top of the batting order. That one through four is the best in all of baseball.

That is why you never panic during a long 162-game season. You may go through a terrible slump and deal with numerous injuries to some of your best players. But if the goal is to win the World Series you just need to do whatever it takes to make the playoffs and have a healthy team going into October. That's most important. If you end up winning the World Series nobody is going to care how many regular-season games you had won.

I still feel like the Houston Astros are yet to play their best baseball in 2018. Out of all the first place teams in every division race they may be the only team that you can say that about. Mostly because of the notable injuries and inconsistencies on offense. If the Astros can peak at the right time they'll become the most dangerous team out there when the games start to become a lot more meaningful.

After losing two out of three at Oakland and winning two out of three at Seattle, the Houston Astros are trying to salvage a successful nine game road trip this weekend at Anaheim. The Astros will have Dallas Keuchel, Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole scheduled to pitch against the Angels. Hopefully the Astros can sweep the Angels and end this current West Coast road trip with a solid 6-3 record.

At the moment, the AL West division title is still up for grabs so the Astros have to play at a high level despite so many of their best players being in and out of the lineup. This 2018 season has been filled with many key injuries, but I'm so proud of this year's team for never giving up and putting themselves in a good position to make the playoffs and defend their 2017 World Series title.

Soon the Houston Astros will have a healthy team with nobody on the disabled list.
Just in time for a strong finish to the regular season and an amazing playoff run yet again.

The AL West standings as we head into August 24, 2018
The Astros have a 1.5 game lead: 2 up in the loss column.

Astros 77-50
Athletics 76-52 (1.5)
Mariners 72-56 (5.5)

And the Astros also have a 5.5 game lead (6 up in the loss column) over the Mariners.
That's important because that symbolizes the second wild-card spot in the American League.

Obviously it would be better for the Astros to win the AL West but it's nice to have a fallback option.
As long as the Astros make the playoffs they'll be ready to defend their World Series title.

The Astros only have 35 games left to play this season. So it's going to be an exciting finish!

I feel really confident in this year's team but I try not to allow each game, win or lose, to dictate my emotions.
Winning back-to-back World Series titles isn't easy. A healthy Astros team will definitely have a good chance.

The defending World Series champion Houston Astros are starting to play with a lot more urgency and focus as they aim for five wins in a row and a sweep over the Los Angeles Angels later today. Dallas Keuchel and Justin Verlander had no trouble breezing through the Angels talented lineup with a 9-3 and 8-3 win during the past two ballgames.

Despite last year's World Series MVP George Springer still being out with a sore quadriceps muscle and a sprained thumb, Tony Kemp (hitting.283 with a .367 on-base %) has filled in admirably starting in center field. Nothing has really slowed down a re-surging Astros offense that is starting to score runs aplenty after they struggled to score runs for most of the summer. Obviously the recent return of superstars Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa has greatly aided the offensive production. When the Astros had three of their best players on the disabled list it just wasn't a good offensive team.

Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Marwin Gonzalez, Tyler White, Yuli Gurriel, Josh Reddick and Martin Maldonado have all been picking up the offensive slack in recent games. And defensively the Astros are as good as any team in baseball with a .988 team fielding percentage. Only the Arizona Diamondbacks (.990) have a better team fielding percentage this year. When healthy the Astros practically have six gold glovers on their roster if you include starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel and newly acquired catcher Martin Maldonado. I strongly feel that Springer, Bregman, Altuve and Correa can all win the gold glove award during any given year. Certainly they're all talented enough.

The back end of the Astros bullpen has been pretty good with Hector Rondon and Roberto Osuna solidifying any late-inning lead. Brad Peacock and Collin McHugh have been reliable in relief all year long. Former all-star relievers Will Harris and Chris Devenski (currently on a rehab assignment) are also capable of pitching lights out when you least expect it. The Astros should have a very deep bullpen heading into the playoffs, especially when you consider they can also use a couple starting pitchers out of the bullpen like they did last year.

The Astros remain 1.5 games ahead of the Oakland Athletics for first place in the AL West and 5.5 games ahead of the Seattle Mariners for the second wild-card spot in the American League with 33 games left to play this season. Manager A.J. Hinch has decided to make a pitching change for today's game, electing to start the rookie Framber Valdez instead of all-star Gerrit Cole. It was Valdez that tossed 4.1 scoreless innings and picked up a win during his Major League debut while coming out of the bullpen against the Mariners earlier in the week.

Tomorrow night the Houston Astros start an epic three-game series against the Oakland Athletics here in Houston. Gerrit Cole, Charlie Morton and Dallas Keuchel are scheduled to pitch against the Athletics. The winner of that series will likely win the 2018 AL West division title, and the loser of that series will likely clinch the second wild-card spot in the American League. That being said I wouldn't rule out the Seattle Mariners just yet. They're still lingering around I guess.

Everybody is too busy crowning the Boston Red Sox or praising the Yankees, Athletics and Indians.
I love how nobody is even talking about the Houston Astros as the playoffs draw a little closer.

I'm starting to feel really excited about the Houston Astros quest to repeat as 2018 World Series champions!
Yes, it's been a difficult road this year but it will taste all the more sweeter if this team can pull it off again.