The Astros bounced back in a HUGE way Tuesday afternoon - in spite of shadows & jacket weather - to thump the Twins. Between Cristian Javier's unflappable start, Jose Abreu's home runs, and ANOTHER incredible divisional series from Yordan Alvarez, it was a thing of beauty!

Was tonight's Astros L as simple as Carlos Correa & Pablo Lopez kicking Houston's ass? Or was this all on Framber? And is Dusty Baker to blame at all?

Today certainly FELT like a Same Old Texans™ kind of loss. Following up a couple of decisive Ws against teams you're not supposed to beat with a loss to a team with no Q rating? With the game being boring to boot? Yeah...it sucks. But I think this is more an L that exposes the limitations of this team...one that is still rebuilding 3 years and 3 head coaches after moving on from Bill O'Brien.

The Houston Astros began their 2023 title defense with a 6-4 win over the Minnesota Twins. I talked about Justin Verlander's arm, Yordan Alvarez's bat, and an Astros performance SHAKIER than Hector Neris...plus a lot more.

The sloppy way the Rays shot themselves in the foot against the Rangers AND Toronto's lineup looking pop-less against Minnesota has me feeling a lot better about the Astros chances in the playoffs. Though the more I learn about them, the more the Twins worry me. Plus, I'm sick of getting THIS kind of push notification on my phone...

I love that the Texans have a pulse again. But I've got to admit, watching the Seahawks win on Monday Night Football in a bizarre beatdown [classic 'Hawks] made me miss covering the team (which I did from '19 - '21). Plus, it sure seems like the Mariners forced Cal Raleigh to apologize for his very honest statements on Sunday. If they did indeed do that, it's another sign of how the front office still doesn't get the players. And to wrap things up, I rambled about some funny Seattle Times headlines I've seen over the past couple of weeks.

The Texans DOMINATED the Steelers 30-6 thanks to Bobby Slowik and C.J. Stroud. The 24 point W was their most DECISIVE victory since a 57-14 shellacking of the Titans back in 2017! Meanwhile, the Astros won the AL West thanks to great pitching and bullpen work Friday & Saturday...not to mention some help from the Mariners and failure by the Rangers. All in all, it's a GREAT day to be a Houston sports fan!

The Detroit effing Lions look like LOCKS to win the NFC North. And it's not just because they stuffed the Packers in a locker on national TV. Plus we learned new details the dustup between Astros pitcher Hector Neris and Mariners star Julio Rodriguez.

Yes, Derek Stingley has another hamstring injury...and is likely to miss significant time. Is this someone's fault? Plus, I discussed what I saw in Thursday night football AND something that's bothering me about media these days

They needed it to keep Texas and Seattle off their ass. A massive thank you to Baltimore for pulling Kyle Bradish after 6, letting Shintaro Funijami pitch AT ALL, and throwing to Mauricio Dubon when they absolutely didn't have to. It certainly takes a lot of focus off of Dusty Baker giving Yordan Alvarez the day off...only to use him as a pinch hitter. Also, a shoutout to the Astros pitching staff, especially Cristian Javier for a lights out performance against a Baltimore team that had scored 17 runs in the 2 nights before. I'm still of the belief the Astros probably WON'T win the World Series after this one, but it's good to see they won't go down without a fight.