Astros not hanging their heads despite falling out of first place
Tuesday night was a difficult one for the Houston Astros, as they fell to the Texas Rangers in another tense, hard-fought battle. In the process, the Rangers leap-frogged the Astros in the division, and enter play Wednesday with a half-game lead.
Despite dropping the first two games of this big series, the Astros were resolute afterward that the two tough defeats haven't crushed their spirits. In fact, they sounded as motivated as ever to get back out there and turn the tide around, so to speak.
They have ace Dallas Keuchel pitching on Wednesday night, and as he told Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle he isn't attaching unnecessary weight to the start: “Absolutely not. Just because it’s middle of September doesn’t mean it’s do-or-die. … We’ll have to figure something out."
Keuchel, of course, has been in Houston long enough to remember the really rough times, so a little adversity in the final month is preferable to sustained losing. “I’ve been through 100-loss seasons, so nothing really is as bad as that. We’re playing quality ball on the road. …Hats off to them for getting the job done," he told Drellich.
Manager A.J. Hinch said his club will be 'ready to play' Wednesday, noting that their 'world's not coming to an end' due to these two losses. He expanded further to Drellich: “We’re in it. We’re having a hard time getting to the finish line on the right side of these on a couple occasions. We’ll pick ourselves up.”
With 17 games remaining, and a handful of more contests with the Rangers lined up, the Astros should have a solid chance to reclaim first place in the West if they're able to remedy the issues that have plagued them so far in this current series.
