We’ve seen so much Astros playoff heroics over the last seven years that we feel cheated that our hometown boys weren’t lucky yesterday.

Instead of a game-winning home run like Yordan did in Game 1 of the 2022 ALDS, Jason Heyward’s supposed walk-off double was hit a foot too deep, ending the game. So instead of our first baseman making the miracle catch and winning the game like in the 2022 World Series, it was the other guys’ first baseman who saved the game for the other team.

Baseball.

But overall, the Tigers were superior to the Astros, and that’s simply why they won. Tarik Skubal beat Framber Valdez. Given last year’s playoffs, is Valdez a playoff choker? What happened to his praised things? Yesterday he was at pitching batting practice. Will this be a pattern for Valdez as the playoffs continue for the Astros? If so, the team probably won’t get very far.

But if the Astros’ pitching, particularly young Hunter Brown’s starting pitching, and offense don’t perform better than yesterday, talk of advancing in the playoffs will be a moot point.

Here are the lineups:

Considering Jordan won’t be able to compete, I wonder if he’s at number five in the lineup instead of number three. If Yordan hits a single, it will probably take three singles and/or walks to score him. It’s better for Alvarez to hit behind the guys on base to knock them in than to clog the bases.

Just a thought.

Speaking of on-base guys. Did you notice Yainer Diaz issued a nine-pitch walk yesterday? This is a real evolution in his approach to batting.

In general, the Astros haven’t made Skubal work enough. They would have performed better against the Tigers’ bullpen, and that bullpen is also relatively fresh for today’s game.

Go Stros.

Here is a link to the playoff TV schedule.