FOLKtime - Vaše brána do světa folku

HOUSTON — One obvious benefit of a club-record-tying 12-game winning streak and 13 victories in 14 games is the positive impact it has on the standings Minkah Fitzpatrick Color Rush Jersey , something the Houston Astros could attest to before dropping the opener of a three-game set with the Kansas City Royals on Friday.

On June 5, the Astros (50-27) were the scuffling team, falling two games behind the Seattle Mariners in the American League West with a 7-1 loss, their seventh setback over 10 games. The entered this weekend 3 1/2 games ahead of the Mariners and maintained that lead Friday when Seattle lost at Boston 14-10.

Midseason standings are fluid, and it’s far too early to get enthralled by scoreboard watching.

“I think I pay attention to our team,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “I appreciate the stress that comes with whether you’re a game up or a game back or five games up or five games back. I really think we’re chasing ourselves. I think we need to play our best baseball and we’ll sort out the standings as it gets towards the later end of the season.

“I’m aware of it because I’m a baseball enthusiast; I watch the scores all the time. It’s what I do. I’m not emotionally drained when other teams go on win streaks and I’m not emotionally charged by a couple losses. I just want our team to play well.”

Right-hander Lance McCullers (8-3, 3.77 ERA) gets the start in the middle game of the series for Houston. He is 1-0 with a 2.33 ERA over four career starts against the Royals, and he recorded a no-decision in his previous outing against them after allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits and two walks with nine strikeouts over six innings in a 7-4 Astros victory on Sunday at Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals will hand the ball to right-hander Ian Kennedy (1-7, 5.31 ERA) on Saturday. Kennedy is winless over his last 13 starts, one behind Athletics right-hander Chris Bassitt for the longest active streak in the majors. He is 0-7 with a 6.12 ERA since his only win on April 7.

Kennedy is 4-1 with a 1.99 ERA over five career starts against the Astros, including 3-0 with a 0.92 ERA over three starts at Minute Maid Park.

The Royals (23-52) on Friday began transitioning veteran Alcides Escobar off shortstop, ending his string of 407 consecutive starts there by moving him to center field for the opener of their series with the Astros. Escobar finished 2-for-2 with two walks, marking the first time since Sept. 6, 2017, against the Detroit Tigers that he reached base in all four plate appearances.

Escobar, a free agent following the season, has been a mainstay at short for the Royals since 2011. Before making his first career start in center on Friday, Escobar last played that position on Aug. 2, 2010 Mike Hughes Color Rush Jersey , while with the Milwaukee Brewers, shifting in the eighth inning after starting at shortstop.

“We know that he’s athletic enough to play it and we want Mondi (22-year-old infielder Adalberto Mondesi) playing short,” Royals manager Ned Yost said of Escobar. “We just think that the time is right. We talked to the coaches about it and they feel like he’ll be fine.

“He’s really excited about the opportunity at playing multiple positions, not only center but some third and some second. He knows that his next career move is probably going to be a utility-type player on the field and he’s anxious to start showing people that he can handle it.”
Former San Diego Chargers head coach Mike McCoy has been hired as offensive coordinator at Arizona and Al Holcomb is following new Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks from Carolina to be defensive coordinator.

The Cardinals also hired Jeff Rodgers as special teams coordinator. The three hires were announced Friday, just four days after Wilks was hired to replace Bruce Arians, who retired after a franchise-record 50 victories in his five seasons in the desert.

McCoy was offensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos for five seasons (2009-12 and again in 2017). He was head coach of the Chargers from 2013 to 2016.

Holcomb was linebackers coach of the Panthers for the past five seasons. Wilks spent five seasons as secondary coach in Carolina before being named defensive coordinator there last year. Rodgers was special teams coordinator of the Chicago Bears the past three seasons.

McCoy, 45, was a hot commodity in 2013 and the Cardinals were interested in him as a head coaching candidate at the time before he chose the Chargers and the Cardinals went with Arians. McCoy’s first two San Diego teams went 9-7 but they dipped to 4-12 in 2015. He was fired after San Diego went 5-11 in 2016.

He takes over an offense that has no quarterback. General manager Steve Keim has said he will be aggressive either by free agency, trade or the draft – or any combination of the three – to find a quarterback.

McCoy has experience in several offensive schemes and Wilks, whose coaching background is entirely on the defensive side of the ball, has made it clear he wants a strong running game.

”Someone mentioned a pass-happy league, which I agree it is,” Wilks said at his news conference Tuesday. ”But, I still believe this: You have to have a foundation of running the football. As a defensive coordinator, there’s nothing more demoralizing to a team than being able to run the ball. I mean, you’re talking about taking the air out of an individual. So, that’s going to be our premise. When you look at some of the premier running backs in the National Football League, we have one right here in (David) Johnson.”

Johnson, who led the NFL in yards from scrimmage and touchdowns in 2016 Marcus Davenport Color Rush Jersey , broke a wrist in the 2017 opener and missed the remainder of last season.

In 2011, with McCoy as offensive coordinator, the Broncos led the NFL with a franchise-record 2,362 yards rushing.

McCoy was an assistant at Carolina for nine seasons before going to Denver. He was a quarterback at Long Beach State and Utah. He was on the practice squad at Green Bay and San Francisco and played in NFL Europe and the Canadian Football League before beginning his coaching career.

Holcomb, 47, helped develop one of the NFL’s best linebacking duos in Carolina with Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis.

He inherits what has been a strong defense anchored by All-Pro outside linebacker Chandler Jones, who led the league in sacks, and perennial Pro Bowl cornerback Patrick Peterson.

James Bettcher, who served as defensive coordinator for four seasons under Arians after Todd Bowles left for the New York Jets, was hired Friday as defensive coordinator for the New York Giants under new head coach Pat Shurmur.

With Holcomb overseeing the linebacker corps, the Panthers finished third in the NFL in sacks, seventh in overall defense and third in run defense. The Panthers were the only team in the NFL not to allow a player to rush for 100 yards. Under Bettcher last season, Arizona was sixth in overall defense.

Rodgers, 40, has 17 years of coaching experience, 14 with special teams in the NFL. Special teams have often been a problem for the Cardinals in the Arians years.

—