The dog days of summer are upon us. That time of year when the season seems never-ending, an eternal treadmill of 7:05 p.m. starts. But these games matter just like any others, and the playoff picture, particularly in the National League, is shifting in real time. Clubs that have held firm spots for months are looking dinky, whereas slow starters have begun to surge.
Here’s everything significant that happened over the weekend.
Houston was 12 games under .500 on May 8.
Its pitching rotation was an infirmary. Stalwart third baseman Alex Bregman couldn’t buy a hit. The expensive, highly vaunted bullpen was leaking runs like a styrofoam boat. Headlines such as “Is the Astros’ dynasty over?” flooded the timeline.
It appears the rumors of Houston’s death might have been greatly exaggerated.
The Astros are now seven games above .500, tied atop the AL West with the similarly surging Seattle Mariners.
The Astros stormed into historic Fenway Park over the weekend and rubbed their dirty shoes all over Boston’s carpet, sweeping the Red Sox into the dustbin. Human battering ram Yordan Alvarez went 6-for-10 over the weekend, with three long balls. Bregman, who has slowly picked his season up off the mat, added seven hits, four of the extra-base variety. On Saturday, rookie hurler Spencer Arrighetti delivered the best start of his young career, sitting down 13 Sox across seven frames.
This team remains more flawed than its previous incarnations. The three-headed bullpen monster of Josh Hader, Bryan Abreu and Ryan Pressly has been more solid than dominant. First base remains something of a weak spot. Future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander, who made a rehab start Sunday, has been sidelined by a neck issue since June 9.
Still, this blue and orange monster under the bed, this boogeyman lurking in the shadows, looks set to make a run at its eighth straight ALCS appearance.
The Mariners aren’t rolling over
Seattle’s rotation is so good, the type of group that can roll out of bed and win you a series if your lineup even shows up a little bit. In a home sweep of the Mets, Mariners starting pitchers combined to surrender just one run across 19 innings of work. The capper: a 12-1 bludgeoning on Sunday Night Baseball, marking the first time ESPN’s prime-time game was in Seattle since June 6, 2004.
Franchise face Julio Rodríguez returned Sunday from a high ankle sprain and went 0-for-5, but the rest of Seattle’s typically lethargic lineup stepped up. Catcher Cal Raleigh,…