HOUSTON – The ending was disappointing, but the Astros are keeping their heads up.
A 6-2 loss to the Nationals in Game 7 is not what the Astros had in mind. This team made it clear that they expected to win it all, and they had all the pieces: multiple star pitchers, a supporting bullpen and a clubhouse with unreal talent.
“Our roster is set up to where on any given night, a guy can get hot,” said Astros manager AJ Hinch a few weeks ago. We repeatedly saw that throughout the season from Altuve’s home run to clinch the AL Pennant, to Bregman’s grand slam in D.C.
“We speak about no crying in baseball and keeping your head up, but games like this are really tough to swallow,” said Josh Reddick after the Game 7 loss.
But the season is over, and that means Gerrit Cole is a free agent. “It was just a pleasure to play in the city of Houston,” said a teary-eyed Cole.
“I think we’ll all remember this team as one of the most special teams we played on,” said Jake Marisnick.
This team brought a lot of joy to Houston this season, and they’re thankful for that. A franchise-record of 107 regular-season wins is nothing short of tremendous.
“I’m just proud of this team,” said Alex Bregman. George Springer added similar comments, saying that the guys will take what they learned and bring it into the next season.
Astros fans, no doubt, are already anticipating what next year’s team will do.