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Luke Morrow
Hey y', all, it's Kelly Clarkson with Wayfair. Ever order furniture online and wonder what if? Like, what if it doesn't fit? A little to the left? No, wait. Yep.
Seth Payne
Should have gone with Wayfair.
Luke Morrow
Or what if it doesn't hold up? That sofa was four days old. Should have ordered from Wayfair. Or what if it's that material that makes that noise? It was a sofa, I swear.
Seth Payne
With Wayfair, there's no what if.
Luke Morrow
Just style you love, quality you can trust, and furniture that actually fits your life. Visit wayfair.com or download the Wayfair app
Sean Pendergast
Wayfair Every style, Every Home Messi Fans Lowe's Messy halftime event hits July 19th that's coming up fast. So now's a really good time to become a Milos Rewards or Milos Pro Rewards member. Join for free and get access to exclusive messy moments and epic surprises. Let's just say halftime's looking different this year. Make sure to follow Lowes on TikTok and tune in to the Lowe's Messy halftime event on July 19. Members get more at Lowe's loyalty programs subject to terms and conditions. Visit lowe's.com terms for details.
Luke Morrow
Subject to change Presented by T Mobile, the official wireless partner of Odyssey Sports. With an awesome network and great savings, there's never been a better time to join T Mobile. Visit your neighborhood store to make the switch. Today, Sports Radio 610 presents Seth Payne and Sean Pendergast.
Seth Payne
We coming to eighth time. Let's get the work in man. Let's go.
Sean Pendergast
Great day.
Seth Payne
Great day. Oh, give me some juice. Slamming. Oh yeah, let's do it.
Luke Morrow
Happy Tuesday. Good morning. Welcome onto Payne and Pendergast. I'm Luke Morrow, in for Sean alongside Seth Payne. Appreciate you starting the morning with us. Can join the conversation throughout the the next four hours. 713-572-4610. Or in the YouTube and Twitch chats, of course. Seth, how we doing on this Tuesday?
Seth Payne
I'm good. I'm a little put out. Yeah, frankly, put out that our visitors are still here. These are these visitors from around the world that previously loved us, that now they're just going to keep playing this tournament, this World cup tournament, even though the US Isn't relevant any longer.
Luke Morrow
Right. It becomes a little awkward. It's like when you throw a party but your guests, you don't want to like kick out the guests. Or let's say a couple, a husband and wife throwing a party and the husband's had enough. Or the wife and they actually like Go to the bedroom to go lay down and go to sleep. But the guests don't take the hint. And they're still hanging out the house, and you don't want to be too rude to kick them out. And you're like, the party's over. We're done. Why are you still here? Go home.
Seth Payne
There's a bunch of people lingering about the BUC EE's like, okay. They're all. They're sending out social media videos a few weeks ago. Oh, Buc ee's is so big. I cannot believe it. And now they're just. Now they're fat like us. And they're just. They're. They're lingering around the slushy machine. Three weeks in America, and I am so fat. Yes. I have diabetes.
Luke Morrow
Right.
Seth Payne
And I don't. I do not know anymore.
Luke Morrow
Yeah, everyone was all excited. They were like, ooh, Taco Bell. All these different fast food places, which obviously are in other countries, but not as often. And they're a little different here. Yes, to your point. Right. Eat that for a few weeks and then see how you feel about that establishment. Or just about, you know, just how you feel in general.
Seth Payne
Yeah, I feel this morning, honestly, I feel like I went on a fast food binge, you know, like back in the old days when I'd hit a Whataburger and then, oh, look, there's a Taco Bell right next to the Whataburger. And, hey, why not McDonald's for old times sake? Let's just do it all. Let's do it big today. That's how. And then the next day, you feel kind of sluggish and empty and you hate yourself a little bit. That's how I feel right now. After. After watching the World cup and after watching the Astros, really. Let's. Let's call it what it is. After watching Mike Burroughs for. For. For three innings. That's all he needed, really, was three innings out of Burroughs to figure out where that was going last night.
Luke Morrow
Right. And that's part of my problem with Joe Espada. And I've defended Espada throughout. I like Joe Espada. I think many Astro fans are too unfair to him. But my issue with him and a lot of baseball managers, I don't like that this is a thing in baseball. But they just keep running him out there within a game. I'm not even talking about, like, should Burrow still be getting starts once he's out there last night and he coughs up a 61 lead, do we need to put him back out there in the fifth inning and not get anybody up in the bullpen until the Nationals already took the lead. And I think the bases were loaded, too, by the time they pulled them. You shouldn't leave a guy in long enough to allow 10 runs. And too often managers like a spot last night do it because they just, we got to get some innings. It's a long season. We don't want to burn out the bullpen. But I think especially for the Astros, you're not in a place right now where you can, like, mess around with games. You got to try to win these games. And the fact that we can leave in a guy to give up 10 runs, to me especially Mike Burrows, who we've seen it before, is unacceptable.
Seth Payne
Mike Burroughs, for what it's worth, like, I don't know for what it's worth. He's, he's an innings eater. I think that's what it's spotic he can't divorce himself from. Even after Burrows horrendous performances. Sometimes they'll say, well, he gave us, you know, he gave us six innings. Like, right, gave you six innings and allowed in a nine ERA clip on any given night. So I, I, I've tried to give birth, I've tried to give a spot a little bit of a break when it comes to the way managers starting pitching, because, A, he's just, he's had too many guys like Burroughs to have to deal with. But then, B, he's had to balance the demands on the relief staff, and there's just, if you start looking two and three days out, it can get, it can get a little, it can get hairy real quick. I mean, at some point you just gotta, at some point you just got to hope that your. One of your starting pitchers doesn't have the second worst ERA in all of baseball. And yet there you are with. How about his expected era? This is what, this is what annoyed me last night is like Burrows citing bad luck. You know, this is a quote. I'm in the zone. I'm not afraid to make those guys swing. You get beat a couple times a game. If it's right at someone, then it's going to be a great start. If it finds a way from them, a way away from them or, or fence. That's when some runs come. You can't be perfect. All right? Your expected ERA is 4.64. You know, it's just, you're not. No, you're like, just because you've had a little bad luck, especially early in the season. It doesn't diminish the fact that you have not been pitching well. I, I don't mind pitchers citing bad luck at times just because they got to keep their brains right. You know, they can't, they can't totally just feel like they suck. And yet there, there seems to be some need to depend on or lean on the analytics with Mike Burroughs when anybody can see with their damn eyes, oh, no, you had a little bit of bad luck.
Luke Morrow
Yeah.
Seth Payne
Only 10 of those, only seven of those runs were chalked up to you.
Sean Pendergast
Okay.
Seth Payne
You got a break on three of those runs that scored. No, no, you're not. No, you're not citing bad luck by any stretch of luck or by the traditional stats or anything. You're a horrible pitcher this year. And Dana Brown traded young prospects who just haven't done anything yet. But still, it's endemic to so many of the lackluster additions they made in the last couple of years.
Luke Morrow
Yeah, it is. And it's hard to cite bad luck. I get it over a small sample size, but, you know, like Parcels would say, you create your own luck. When we're talking half a season in now, beyond half the mid, you know, we're beyond the midway point and you have the second worst ERA in the American League, it's hard to say, like, ah, it's just been a really unlucky three months that's too large of a sample size to fall back on luck. And to your point, he's second in ERA amongst qualified pitchers and he may. Who pitches tonight, he hasn't thrown enough innings, but he has an even higher era. So that's where I struggle to fully buy in, where 40% of your starting rotation, statistically, they're two of like the three worst starters that teams are running out there in the American League right now, and they're still getting starts.
Seth Payne
And you go up against a team like the Nationals, hey. 500 baseball team, but. But they've got one of the best offenses in baseball. And if we, we talked yesterday and I've talked a bunch of times about how, man, just like you had in the previous couple seasons when the Astros made a push into playoff contention, like real bonafide playoff contention, you've got a win streak somewhere along the way or you have a stretch where you win 10 out of 12 games or what have you. And even though they won a bunch of, a bunch of series in a row, I mean, that, that one real big push, it's hard to envision when you've got guys like Burrows and Imai that are just going to throw a wrench into any kind of streak or a run you can get on.
Luke Morrow
Right. People are going to say, like in the playoffs, you know, you don't. You're not going to need them. They're not going to start. But we got to get to the playoffs. But we got to get to the playoffs first. Right? And then we can dump those guys and only worry about three starters.
Seth Payne
Well, go. If you have a four man rotation in the playoffs, though, that's the problem. One of them is still going to be Burrows or Imai at this point, depending on what happens with Javier and how they decide to use him. I mean, I don't know how many more Burroughs starts you need like that before they start really thinking, okay, it's time for Javier to stretch out into a starter. I mean, maybe it starts after last night.
Luke Morrow
Right? I know. And for those, by the way, I sort of buried the lead, so to speak. I mean, Burrows is the lead, but if you're just waking up with us. The Astros lost the opener last night. 1211 was the final. They were up 61 and then allowed 11 unanswered runs to the Nationals, tried to fight back, but went 1, 2, 3 in the ninth inning, lose by one, and now they're 45 and 48. So, you know, kind of two steps forward, one step back, as we were just saying, because of this, this rotation. Burrows now leads the league in losses. He leads the league and earned runs allowed. He is third in most homers allowed. And one of the guys in front of him pitches at a minor league stadium for the A's. So that's with an asterisk.
Seth Payne
It's gonna be tough for him to climb up. You know, that's.
Luke Morrow
He's trying to. He's trying his hardest.
Seth Payne
The Astros have any games left in Oakland or in Sacramento?
Luke Morrow
Yeah, we'll see if Burroughs has to start out there. We all belong outside. We're drawn to nature. Whether it's the recorded sounds of the ocean we doze off to or the succulents that adorn our homes. Nature makes all of our lives, well, better. Despite all this, we often go about our busy lives removed from it. But the outdoors is closer than we realize. With Alltrails, you can discover trails nearby and explore confidently with offline maps and on trail navigation. Download the free app today and make the most of your summer with Alltrails.
Seth Payne
It's Charles Barkley here with Wayfair, and let me tell you, game day is serious business at my house. If I'm grilling, chilling and watching hoops, my outdoor setup better be ready to play. That's where Wayfair wins. From patio seating and umbrellas to grills and grill accessories, Wayfair's got it all and it shows up fast. I'm talking fast and easy delivery. So level up your grill game and your outdoor chill game and head to Wayfarer.com to get your outdoor space ready for the season.
Luke Morrow
Wayfarer Every style, Every home
Sean Pendergast
Messy Fans Lowe's Messy halftime event hits July 19th. That's coming up fast, so now's a really good time to become a Mylo's Rewards or a Mylo's Pro Rewards member. Join for free and get access to exclusive messy moments and epic surprises. Let's just say halftime's looking different this year. Make sure to follow Lowes on TikTok and tune in to the lows Messy halftime event on July 19th. Members get more at Lowe's Loyalty programs subject to terms and conditions. Visit lowe's.com terms for details.
Luke Morrow
Subject to change so I tried to do some research and find what was the last playoff team that had two starting pitchers, both with ERAs over six. And my qualifier was 15 or more starts. So that they actually were pitching for a majority of the season. Yeah, I only found one team in the history of the wild card era, which goes back to, I believe, 94. So the last, you know, 32 years, I found one team that actually made the playoffs with two starting pitchers having ERAs over six. And funny enough, it was actually a team that won the World Series, the 2006 Cardinals. Oh, and they kind of remind me of the Astros in the sense of they only had 83 wins that year, so they were hardly over.500. They were in what statistically or historically is the worst national league of all time. 2006, the National League had the lowest winning percentage the this year, the American League has the lowest winning percentage in the history of the American League. It might only take 83 wins for the Astros to get to the playoffs. Yeah, and somehow the Cardinals still found a way to win a World Series that year. By the way, their scouting director at that time, Jeff Luno.
Seth Payne
Oh, that's right. Yeah.
Luke Morrow
But here's the thing. For the Cardinals, it's amazing that they won the World Series that year. I don't remember this being the case, but they had four different starting pitchers with ERAs over five. I don't know how they won the World Series, obviously with a great offense, you know, with Albert Pujols. But the thing with the Cardinals was that they actually made some changes. Mark Mulder had an ERA of seven. He only made 17 starts. You know, Jeff Weaver had an ERA over five, only made 15 starts, so on and so forth. But when you look at this now, like, burrows were approaching 20 starts. So it begs the question, like, when are the Astros going to make those changes to try to save their season? Sort of like the 2006 cardinals.
Seth Payne
Did they. One of the. One of the trades they had made that year was for Jorge Sosa, the pitcher, and he ended up with a. It's not like he was a revelation for the Cardinals or anything. He had a 5.28 ERA with the Cardinals that year. So I do. Yeah. I was impressed when I saw that you cited the 2006 Cardinals. I thought that you just pulled that off the top of your dome. Like, oh, that was. Yeah. Oh, yeah. This reminds me of the 2006 Cardinals. That's the first thing that popped into my brain.
Luke Morrow
Yes.
Seth Payne
I think this is where, again, the peril of saying the same thing over and over again. I mean, last year, I was kind of. I was one of those dopes that was saying, hey, your deadline acquisitions are the guys you have coming back from the il. Yeah. Don't you guys realize how glorious it'll be when all these guys come back from the il? And now I can't say that for the second year in a row, especially when it's okay. I. We'll see exactly how they end up using Javier. Javier is back, but he's in the bullpen, and we'll see. I mean, Lance McCullers, great. Will, like, I have no idea even how to address whether to get excited or intrigued BY A Lance McCullers return to major league action. Blanco and Wozneski are the other two guys that they'll come back. And then I feel like the entire second half of the season becomes like an extended spring training where you're trying to figure out exactly what you can get out of Blanco, what you can get out of Wisneski. And there's not that much time by the time they get up there to really just ramp them up and know what you have with them.
Luke Morrow
Yeah, it's. And that's why, look, I get the reports that the Astros are in on all these starting pitchers, Sonny Gray, you know, Scuba. I just don't think they have the pieces to bring in. They might be able to bring in somebody, but not the big fish of the trade deadline this year.
Seth Payne
Yeah. So I think it honestly, and we talked about this yesterday. So much of it is for them to be a team that really scares people. It's going to have to be with Pena and Christian Walker really being in their best element in the second half of the season. I mean, look, and you had, look, Christian Walker leads off with a near home run double in the, at the beginning of last night's game. And you saw that they had the output, you know, they scored the runs. They, they just, they, they. Which is funny because they haven't really given Burroughs a whole lot of run support. And you can see why, why bother? It doesn't matter. You can score double digit runs and he's not going to get a win.
Luke Morrow
You're right. That's deflating. You build a 61 lead, you score 11 runs on the road and you don't even win the game.
Seth Payne
I would say that's where if I'm a batter for that team, I'm like, I'm skipping the amphetamines tonight. You know, Burroughs up there. Now, I don't need any, I don't need any of my truck stop meth to try to win a game here with this guy out on the mound.
Luke Morrow
Yeah, that's right.
Seth Payne
That's why they don't get any run support.
Luke Morrow
And the funny thing too about the Astros is like it was the back of their batting order too, that did the most of the damage where you had Bryce Matthews and Shoemake and Yner had a homer and Cam Smith had a good night. It was the second half of the guys. And I said yesterday, like the Nationals, one of the best lineups, terrible pitching staff, maybe the worst bullpen in baseball. They almost coughed up that game last night. So you're going to get opportunities as hitters for the Astros, but man, you have Burrows and tonight, imei, we'll see.
Seth Payne
Yeah, that's what no, we got. He might, he's been awesome except for the times when he's really, really, really bad. He's, he's, he's the most bipolar of guys right now. And we've, we've just, we've been so tantalized by his undefinable slider that I just, I have to believe and hope that he's just going to figure out exactly how to rein it in, be appropriately aggressive and that somehow we'll be talking about Imai with a little bit more stability or confidence over the course of the next month or two. Speaking. That's, I mean that's, that's a huge wild. That's the other One, I think a realistic wildcard on the offensive side, I would say Parades and Walker. And then a realistic wild card defensively would be that Imai. We see it, we know that, we know what he's capable of. It's just a matter of just really nailing it in. And maybe that ends up being one of the big stories of the second half.
Luke Morrow
You got to have one of those guys. You can't. Well, maybe you can. The 2006 Cardinals probably did it, but they're the only example. That's the outlier. You typically can't be a playoff team when you have two of the worst, two of the three worst starting pitchers in the league in your rotation. So one of those guys needs to step up.
Seth Payne
How'd you filter for all that? Would you. How'd you go through and figure all that out?
Luke Morrow
I just. I. I just used AI.
Seth Payne
Yeah. Oh, did you? Yeah. No, it's a good. It's a good way to get you the head start and go down the there.
Luke Morrow
I mean, there is a way, like if you have baseball reference. Stat head, I think it's called. You can.
Seth Payne
Yeah. Yeah. Sad head is. Yeah.
Luke Morrow
I would have filtered what I filtered on AI was two pitchers, a playoff team, two pitchers with ERAs over six and both with 15 plus starts. Yeah, I think stat head, I think you have to pay for that. I don't know.
Seth Payne
You do?
Sean Pendergast
Yeah.
Luke Morrow
Okay, so I'm. I love stats, I love baseball, but I'm not paying for like a stat service. So I don't say you pay for
Seth Payne
stat head and you get a lot of value for your dollar. But the problem is you cannot calculate how much time you. You lost in productivity when you realize, like, oh, I've been on stat head for four hours looking at the dumbest, most arcane thing, you know, pictures whose names ended in vowels that were born before 1970. You do whatever the hell you want, but it's a time suck.
Luke Morrow
Yeah, I get it. That's part of the reason why I don't want to entrap myself and pay for that subscription.
Seth Payne
If you put. For me, if you put chat into thinking mode, into deep thinking mode, then it tends to be pretty accurate with a lot of statistical stuff. I get into my most trouble just when I simply think I'm going to go old school and Google something. But then Gemini spits out. Spits out its AI answer, and it's. It's just horrendous. Like, Google has turned into a nightmare. It'll tell you the dumbest crap that ever was it's just so easily that sometimes you know it off the top of your head. Sometimes you're like, that doesn't look right. And you do a little minimal fact check and it's ridiculously wrong.
Luke Morrow
I know it.
Seth Payne
I guess that's how they're trying to force us into the. Into the paid AI. They make the free stuff. That's. But that's not how freemium supposed to work. Freemium supposed to be pretty good. And then you pay for the. Oh, wow, we're gonna have the slam dunk. I'll pay for premium, but with Gemini, it's just. It sucks. It's awful.
Luke Morrow
I. Yeah, I pay for Claude.
Seth Payne
Yeah. Programmer.
Luke Morrow
Yeah, a little bit, yes. That's what I do. I use. I pay for Claude, but I really only use Claude code. And then I use still my free chat GPT to do my research.
Seth Payne
Yeah.
Luke Morrow
And that's the one where I do catch. It's my stubbornness. I guess I should just use Claude. I'm paying for it. But ChatGPT seems more like a better research engine to me.
Seth Payne
What do you code?
Luke Morrow
I don't code, so I use. I just use it. I use Claude code to really do anything on my computer. It has access to. It's kind of scary, but has access to everything, like all the files and everything. It can send emails for me. And then I use another app called. I think it's called Ghost Whisperer, where you could just talk to it and just say like, you know, Claude, send an email to Joe Smith telling him I'm gonna be late to lunch today, whatever it is, and he'll just go and do it.
Seth Payne
So it'll do that and it can access your texting and everything.
Luke Morrow
I gave. I've given it. Yeah, scary.
Seth Payne
Yeah.
Luke Morrow
I might regret it, but I gave. I've given it access to my.
Seth Payne
Ah, screw it. We're all gonna die someday. So what is it in a gulag somewhere, perhaps run by computer overlords? Probably. But still, I. Okay, so you just. So Claude can basically act like a personal assistant.
Luke Morrow
Exactly. That's what I'm using. Just using it for efficiency to really help me with anything. Yeah, okay.
Seth Payne
Yeah, I tried. I thought I was going to learn programming for a little bit. I spent about three hours and then I quit when I couldn't. I just couldn't figure out the most basic of things I'm going to have to go to. Like, I might have to take like an in person class with somebody on to learn how to code.
Luke Morrow
I've had.
Seth Payne
I couldn't I didn't know how to copy and paste the code to make it actually work. So, like, that's the level of boomerism we're dealing with. So, I mean, I know how to copy and paste, obviously, but to actually get it to do anything, it's completely lost. I need. I need a Gen Z to come in and help me with this stuff.
Luke Morrow
That part I can do, but I can't create. I have somebody create the things for me that I want Claude to do, and then I do the. I just do the copy and pasting, and then I have it set up to automate things for me or just expedite things. So, yeah, so I'm. I'm not quite there, but it's just like, you know, when I tell people I live in West U, it's just like projecting something that I'm not. I'm a Claude coder over here, but really, I have somebody else doing it.
Seth Payne
Yeah. I'm gonna start calling you a startup founder. That's all you have to say. Call yourself a. Get yourself a little llc and we'll. We'll, you know, make you CEO.
Luke Morrow
Yeah.
Seth Payne
And we'll come up with something to build people out of millions of dollars.
Luke Morrow
Yeah, perfect. That's. Hey, that's why I like sitting in with you in these mornings.
Seth Payne
Talk about potentialities and such.
Luke Morrow
Yeah, we're already. We're up and. Hey, Baseball Talk On Sports Radio 610 is presented by Xfinity Score, the most reliable Wi Fi 1 price, 5 years guaranteed. Xfinity. Imagine that. We'll continue to talk about the Outros all morning, of course, but coming up, more Kevin Durant trade rumors. We got to talk about that next here. Payne and Pendergast,
Sean Pendergast
Messi fans. Lowe's messy halftime event hits July 19th. That's coming up fast. So now's a really good time to become a Milos Rewards or Milos Pro Rewards member. Join for free and get access to exclusive messy moments and epic surprises. Let's just say halftime's looking different this year. Make sure to follow Lowes on TikTok and tune in to the Lowe's Messi halftime event on July 19. Members get more at Lowe's loyalty programs subject to terms and conditions. Visit lowe's.com terms for details. Subject to change.
Luke Morrow
Presented by T Mobile, the official wireless partner of Odyssey Sports. With an awesome network and great savings, there's never been a better time to join T Mobile. Visit your neighborhood store to make the switch today from high school baseball to the men's NCAA College World Series to MLB and all the way to the National Baseball hall of Fame. How will you make Your mark in MLB? The show 26 available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series XS and Nintendo Switch. Rated E for everyone. Officially licensed by MLB Players, Inc.
Seth Payne
Would you look at that.
Luke Morrow
It's time for some of our favorite Snapple reelfacts. Real fact 1433 Toe wrestling is a competitive sport. Real fact 732 the chicken is the closest living relative of the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Rio back 1599aman once ate an entire airplane. Yowch.
Sean Pendergast
Did he have any hot sauce? Yeah.
Luke Morrow
So anyways, this has been a refreshing break. Brought to you by Snapple Real Tea Real Juice with Snap. Cindy Refres How We Made youe Mother is the How I Met yout Mother rewatch podcast with me, Josh Radner and series co creator Craig Thomas. Follow How We Made youe Mother wherever you get your podcasts.
This episode focuses on the Houston Astros’ devastating 12–11 loss to the Washington Nationals, zeroing in on the Astros’ ongoing pitching struggles—especially within their starting rotation. Seth Payne, joined by guest co-host Luke Morrow (in for Sean Pendergast), break down manager Joe Espada’s decision-making, Mike Burrows’ disastrous outing, and the historical context of the Astros’ pitching woes. The hosts wrestle with whether Houston’s season can be salvaged and how rare it is for teams to succeed with such poor rotation depth, spiced up with their signature mix of humor and pointed critique.
“Should Burrow still be getting starts once he’s out there last night and coughs up a 6–1 lead, do we need to put him back out there in the fifth inning and not get anybody up in the bullpen until the Nationals already took the lead?” (03:46)
“I'm in the zone. I'm not afraid to make those guys swing... You get beat a couple times a game. If it's right at someone it's going to be a great start. If it finds a way away from them or fence, that's when some runs come. You can't be perfect.” (05:27)
“Your expected ERA is 4.64... You're a horrible pitcher this year.” (06:45–07:13)
“At some point you just gotta hope that one of your starting pitchers doesn't have the second worst ERA in all of baseball.” (04:48)
“If I'm a batter for that team, I'm skipping the amphetamines tonight... I don't need any of my truck stop meth to try to win a game here with this guy out on the mound.” (16:07)
Tone: Honest, frustrated, sharp, but laced with humor and real fandom.
This episode is a must-listen for Astros fans grappling with the troubling reality behind the team’s latest loss and what it means for October hopes.