Former Houston Astros Star Climbs Baseball History as Member of Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals beat the New York Yankees in Game 2 of the ALDS on Monday night as Yuli Gurriel moved up a historic list in playoff history.The Kansas City Royals evened up the best-of-five series with the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series on Monday night by winning 4-2 at Yankee Stadium.
The Royals scored all of their runs in the fourth inning, which backed a start from left-hander Cole Ragans. The All-Star went just 4.0 innings, giving up one run on three hits. He walked four and struck out five as he dealt with spotty control. Four relievers combined to finish out the game, giving up just one more run the rest of the way.
Offensively, Salvador Perez hit his first home run of the postseason and first baseman Yuli Gurriel went 1-for-4.
That hit moved Gurriel up a prestigious list in playoff history, according to Cuban Baseball Insider Francys Romero:The 40-year-old Gurriel is in his eighth different postseason with the Houston Astros and Royals. He helped the Astros win the World Series in both 2017 and 2022 and is a lifetime .265 postseason hitter. Gurriel’s run in Houston came to an end after the 2023 season and he signed with the Atlanta Braves, who put him in Triple-A. After the Royals suffered an injury to Vinnie Pasquantino in August, the Royals traded for Gurriel, who has been an integral part of the team.
With Kansas City, he hit .241 over 18 games. He had six RBI and offers a veteran presence in the lineup.
Game 3 of the series is Wednesday night.
Follow Fastball On SI on social media
Continue to follow our Fastball On SI coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following us on Twitter @FastballFN.
Published 15 Hours Ago
Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS
Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of ‘The Payoff Pitch’ podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.
Home
/
History
You might also like
FanNation
Privacy Policy
Cookie Policy
Takedown Policy
Terms and Conditions
SI Accessibility Statement
© 2024 ABG-SI LLC – SPORTS ILLUSTRATED IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ABG-SI LLC. – All Rights Reserved. The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only. All betting content is intended for an audience ages 21+. All advice, including picks and predictions, is based on individual commentators’ opinions and not that of Minute Media or its related brands. All picks and predictions are suggestions only. No one should expect to make money from the picks and predictions discussed on this website. For more information, please read our Legal Disclaimer. Gambling content intended for 21+. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER.
Astros Icon Craig Biggio Embraces St. Thomas Family During Hall of Fame Celebration.The inevitable result of a big league career fueled by an insatiable drive with equal off-the-field devotion to family and faith.
The first home-grown Houston Astro voted into the hallowed National Baseball Hall of Fame just 12 months removed from tying the record for the closest rejection in ballot history.
Craig Biggio reveled in the supreme satisfaction of the moment. The rush followed by reflection.
He then paused in the tsunami swirl of emotions to contact someone who couldn’t have been further removed from his two-decade climb to his sport’s Mount Everest.He reached out for a relationship that didn’t take firm root until after his Astros retirement … when he suddenly (if not stunningly) accepted the head baseball coaching position at St. Thomas, where his sons, Conor ‘11 and Cavan ‘13, were already enrolled.
Biggio knew his much-anticipated induction day in the historic hamlet of Cooperstown, New York would bring more than the treatment a transcendent athlete hopes for and deserves … more than the authentic applause and support from fans, his peers, and predecessors, his game.
Biggio knew the third Sunday in July necessitated a personal favor the president of St. Thomas could satisfy.
“Craig is not a thump-you-over-the-head Catholic,” Fr. Kevin Storey, CSB said. “But he is a wear-it-on-my-heart Catholic. Never embarrassed to discuss his faith. Always a priority in his life. In my mind, that’s the way the best Catholics live, by invitation and by example.
“Craig didn’t want to go to the local Catholic church for Sunday Mass because he knew that would have turned into a spectacle. He wanted a private setting to make sure he and (his wife) Patty and the surrounding family could be comfortable. I understood completely why and what he was asking. And it struck me how easily the Sunday devotion could have been lost in the hoopla of a day unlike any other in his life. It was an honor to be able to accommodate the Biggios, especially given all that they have meant to the St. Thomas community over the years.”
Biggio arranged for the St. Thomas president to travel to the enshrinement weekend on the Astros private charter with an entourage that included STH alumni parent Matt Kemple, Hall of Fame strikeout king Nolan Ryan, his son and Astros president Reid Ryan, a host of minority Astro owners and executives, plus assorted baseball dignitaries, such as former Astro players and managers Phil Garner and Larry Dierker.Our experts rank 2024 Arizona Fall League rosters.There is a ton that goes into constructing an Arizona Fall League roster.
Each AFL club receives prospects from five separate organizations, all with different needs and priorities. Some want their best prospects to spend time in the desert. Others primarily want formerly injured players to make up for lost at-bats and innings. And some are out to get longer looks at players headed for Rule 5 eligibility in the offseason. With those and many other considerations, you still have to fill out a roster balanced between the nine positions on the field and ample depth behind them.
After all that movement, there are always plenty of reasons to get excited everywhere across the Valley of the Sun, but even so, some AFL rosters come looking brighter than others. Below is a ranking of the most loaded Fall League rosters as the circuit gets rolling this week:Organizations: Braves, Brewers, Mariners, Marlins, Padres
Top 100 prospects: Ethan Salas, C, Padres (No. 19); Colt Emerson, SS, Mariners (No. 27); Leodalis De Vries, SS, Padres (No. 28); Cole Young, SS/2B, Mariners (No. 38)
Total Top 30 prospects: 20
You want the most loaded group in terms of Top 30 prospects? Check. You want the joint-most Top 100 prospects on a single roster? Check. You want those Top 100 prospects playing premium positions? Check, check, check. The Mariners and Padres — Peoria’s two typical talent pools — bring the big names above, and it’ll be interesting to see how the Javelinas specifically balance the shortstop position. Salas, meanwhile, is looking to bounce back from an uneven age-18 campaign at High-A, though he was showing signs of a turnaround from August onward. Drake Baldwin (Braves) and Brock Wilken (Brewers) bring plenty of power to the table as well, and this is one of the deepest pitching staffs in the Fall League, with seven arms ranked in their club’s Top 30s. In fact, none of Peoria’s five parent clubs sent fewer than three of their Top 30 prospects, highlighting just how deep the Javs will be in the coming weeks.