As of Wednesday, the Houston Astros completed 25% of their 2017 Major League Baseball regular season. The club is the holder of two key achievements over that period.
One, the team has been the best in all of baseball and second it is the franchise’s best start in history.
Both trends continued on Wednesday as the American League West leading Astros won their ninth game in their past 10 games played, defeating the plummeting Miami Marlins 3-0 completing a sweep of their three-game series on the road at Marlins Park.
Its pace is three games ahead of its 2015 pace. The Astros’ .707 winning percentage is the best in all of baseball far ahead of the .658 mark by the Washington Nationals.
The 3-0 win on Wednesday moved the Astros run differential after 41 games to +61, which is also the best in baseball.
The win on Wednesday featured what has become the team’s winning formula of great pitching and very timely hitting from star players at the top of their lineup.
Pitcher Lance McCullers, who with the win moved to 4-1, extended his streak of scoreless innings to 17 straight as he scattered three hits while striking out three over six innings. In the process, he lowered his ERA to 2.65.
At the same time, a double and a pair of triples from Jose Altuve and two RBIs from George Springer were all the Astros needed. Springer has 24 RBIs which is tops amongst leadoff hitters in the AL.
Houston relievers Ken Giles, Will Harris and Chris Devenski preserved McCullers shutout as the team lowered its ERA to just 3.41, which is the best in the AL and equaled that of the Los Angeles Dodgers for tops in baseball.
Houston now sits 8 ½ games in front of the second place Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels. The win on Wednesday ended Houston’s 7-game road trip at 6-1. Thursday is a day of rest for the AL West leaders before they begin a home stand of 10-games on Friday starting with the Cleveland Indians followed by the Detroit Tigers and concluding with the Baltimore Orioles.
Houston’s manager A.J. Hinch said the just ended road trip was very successful and will help them as they enter their home stand.
