The Astros are dream killers

The pretense of hope lasted almost five innings.

Tyler Glasnow, the resurgent right-hander tabbed to start Game 1 of the American League Division Series for the Tampa Bay Rays, was quieting the irrepressible Houston Astros, hucking gas and holding his own, insofar as one can, against counterpart Justin Verlander. He flirted with danger in the second, and then again in the third - Glasnow deftly weaseled out of that second jam by freezing Yordan Alvarez with a 99-mph heater to leave the bases loaded - but he was doing his job. Through the first four innings of Friday's best-of-five opener at Minute Maid Park, mind you, the Rays couldn't muster so much as a hit against Verlander, but at least they weren't in some insurmountable hole early. It was, ostensibly, a game.

So when Brandon Lowe poked a soft single into right field to lead off the fifth and end Verlander's no-hitter bid, the contest still scoreless, the Rays still had license to delude themselves into thinking, 'Well, hey, maybe can we actually do this thing.'

Swiftly, and mercilessly, the Astros dispelled that fantasy. That's what they do. They're dream killers.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, as if almost irritated by the mounting "drama," the Astros dealt Glasnow his inevitable fate. Josh Reddick walked on four pitches to lead off the frame. Two batters later, Jose Altuve - the former AL MVP and current stud who might be only the sixth-best position player on his team - turned on a 98-mph fastball, depositing it into the Crawford Boxes in left field and sending Glasnow to the showers with his team down 2-0.

The onslaught continued. Michael Brantley welcomed Brendan McKay with a single. Alex Bregman followed with a double. Both scored moments later when Lowe bungled a pop-up off the bat of Yuli Gurriel. And that was, for all intents and purposes, it. Any suggestion of a comeback would've been discrediting, though the Rays tried admirably to mount one late.

Ultimately, the Astros' hitters kept hitting, Verlander kept Verlandering (he allowed just the lone single over seven scoreless frames), and, eventually, after a piddling bullpen hiccup in the eighth, Houston secured a 6-2 victory that reaffirmed the sad truth about this team: the Astros are so good they're antithetical to baseball's very nature.

After all, the game's inherent democracy and infinite capacity for randomness mean that any team can win on any given day. (The Lakers can give LeBron the ball on every possession, but the Angels can't send Mike Trout to the plate more times than Luis Rengifo, you know? A dominant pitcher, meanwhile, can throw a lousy hitter something nasty and still give up a ducksnort single.) As such, even the best teams lose more than 50 times each season. Baseball is funny and weird and beautiful like that, and these truths are amplified in the small-sample theater that is the postseason. Often, in fact, the best team isn't the last one standing. In 2014, for example, the San Francisco Giants won the World Series following an 88-74 season. They weren't even the best team in their division. Once you're in the playoffs, anything is possible. Or, at least, that's the thinking.

But the Astros are disabusing us of that idea. Their championship seems preordained, and, frankly, did long before their series-opening win. Their offense is too good. (Carlos Correa, whose .926 on-base plus slugging percentage would've led the St. Louis Cardinals by more than 100 points, hit in the No. 7 spot in Houston's batting order Friday afternoon.) So, for that matter, is Verlander, who may only be the Astros' second-best pitcher. Zack Greinke, an ace on almost any other roster, sits third on their depth chart. Their bullpen is comparably deep and dominant and was largely unburdened by the toll of high-stress innings this year. To expect more than one facet of their demonstrably perfect roster to falter on the same day is wishful thinking.

Tomorrow, Gerrit Cole will start for Houston. He may not be as sharp as Verlander was in Game 1. He may be better. Either way, the outcome won't change. The Astros will win. If, by some chance, they don't, they'll win the next day. Then they'll beat the Yankees or Twins in the championship series. Then they'll win the World Series, irrespective of their opponent.

Anyone who dares to dream otherwise is destined for heartbreak.

Jonah Birenbaum is theScore's senior MLB writer. He steams a good ham. You can find him on Twitter @birenball.