They say history has a strange way of repeating itself. If that is true, then some Astros fans need to be putting in for vacation days from work in October for the World Series parade in downtown Houston. The Astros became the first team to reach 70-wins in the American League this year after defeating the Cleveland Indians on last Thursday. They are currently on pace to go over 100 wins for the third straight year and would be the first team since the 2002-04 Yankees to do so. Having won 14 of their last 17 games and 8-2 in their last 10, they also hold a very sizeable lead in the AL West at 8.5.

The temperature isn’t the only thing that is hot in Houston these days. Manager A.J. Hinch can easily roll out a scorching lineup that can get you a plethora of home runs (6) like they did on Friday against the Seattle Mariners in a 10-2 blowout victory. He then sends out his newly acquired fifth starter Aaron Sanchez who had not won a game with his former team (Toronto) to blaze the Mariners in a game that would eventually end in the first no-hitter for the Astros since 2015 against the Dodgers.

Yes. Life is very good for the home team right now, but they understand the magnitude of the situation when it comes to winning another World Series.

“One of the things we pride ourselves on is preparation, and I think this series (Mariners), and leading up to this series it’s been excellent,” said Hinch.

Houston has one of the best lineups in baseball from top to bottom including a pitching staff that ranks number one in most statistical categories in Major League Baseball. Three of those players were recognized by MLB last month for their accomplishments on the field. It marked the first time in Astros history that they have had three winners in the same month with RHP Gerrit Cole (Pitcher), 1B Yuli Gurriel (Player), and OF Yordan Alvarez (Rookie).

No pitcher dominated the month of July like Cole. He went 4-0 with a 1.85 ERA and held opponents to a .174 batting average while striking out 51 to lead all AL starters. His 200th strikeout of the season came in just 133.1 innings pitched. Only Hall of Fame pitcher Randy Johnson did it quicker at 130.2 innings.

At 13-5 and a ML-best 216 strikeouts, Cole has placed himself in the conversation along with his teammate (Verlander) as solid Cy Young candidate. He also became the first Astros pitcher since former LHP Dallas Keuchel did it in 2015 (April-May) to earn back-to-back Pitcher of the Month honors (June-July).

Gurriel, who had an MLB leading 18-game hitting streak last month, won his first monthly award in his career. He is the first Astros player since 3B Alex Bregman (June 2018) to win Player of the Month. No bat was hotter than Yuli’s. Houston’s utility infielder hit .398 with 12 HR and 31 RBI. In July, he led the AL in total bases (82) and hits (39) and was second in slugging pct. (.837).

Astros manager AJ Hinch told the media back in June that he had run out of words to describe how good his rookie outfielder Yordan Alvarez is. If the rookie keeps punishing MLB ballparks, Hinch may have to start using the dictionary app on his phone to come up with more complimentary words.

The 22-year-old won back-to-back AL Rookie of the Month honors in July. His .333 batting average along with five HR and 15 RBI led all AL rookies as he also had 47 total bases for the month. His 35th RBI on July 22nd established a Major League record for the most RBI through players first 30 games breaking the record set by future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols (34) back in 2001. Since being called up from the Astros Triple A system, Alvarez has ranked second in the AL in on-base pct. (.421), fourth in slugging pct., sixth in RBI and seventh in batting avg.

At 73-40, the Astros have put the rest of the Major League teams on notice that they plan to live up to their 2019 mantra of, “Taking It Back.”