The Astros have a better record than the Red Sox and Rays - MLB

Here’s where the team that has lost 100+ games for three straight years stands compared to the defending World Champions and a Tampa Bay team which has averaged 91.6 wins over the past six seasons:

Houston Astros: 29-36, .446 winning pct.
Boston Red Sox: 28-35, .444 winning pct.
Tampa Bay Rays: 24-41, .369 winning pct.

This comes as the Rays have skidded, the Red Sox have, with the exception of one nice week, skidded pretty badly themselves and as the Astros have won 12 of their last 16. So yes, we’re seeing the Astros at their absolute best and the Sox and Rays at their worst.

Personally, I think the Sox are a clearly better team than either of them in terms of talent and potential for the rest of the season and I would be utterly shocked if they don’t finish with a significantly better record than Houston does. But man, it’s weird and kinda neat to see stuff like this. At least if you’re not a Red Sox fan.

CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a blister on the index finger of his right throwing hand.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the timetable for Syndergaard’s return is unknown despite the 15-day designation.

“The physical, the mental, the emotional part, as he’s talked about, has taken a toll on him,” Roberts said. “So, the ability to get him away from this. He left today to go back to Los Angeles to kind of get back to normalcy.”

Syndergaard allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, raising his ERA to 7.16.

Syndergaard (1-4) has surrendered at least five runs in three straight starts.

Syndergaard has been trying to return to the player he was before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for the better part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Roberts said Syndergaard will need at least “a few weeks” to both heal and get away from baseball and “reset.”

“I think searching and not being comfortable with where he was at in the moment is certainly evident in performance,” Roberts said. “So hopefully this time away will provide more clarity on who he is right now as a pitcher.

“Trying to perform when you’re searching at this level is extremely difficult. I applaud him from not running from it, but it’s still very difficult. Hopefully it can be a tale of two stories, two halves when he does come back.”