Everything is eventual, but that doesn't mean anything's inevitable.
The news Friday night wasn't all bad for the Astros. Sure, they lost for just the fourth time this season when leading after seven innings. Sure, Danny Valencia hit a couple of home runs. And sure, that's five straight losses and nine in their 11 games.
But at least the Rangers lost to the Mariners!
So the Astros didn't lose any more ground to the Rangers in the West. Which is ... something.
Here's something else. It's too early to suggest the Astros are in the middle of a historic collapse. But it's looking that way. So fans might take solace in this: Many of the great collapses included a forgotten comeback at the end.
In 1951, the Dodgers blew that huge lead over the Giants down the stretch. But they did win their last two regular-season games to force the pennant playoff (which they lost, and it's only fair to point out that the Dodgers didn't so much as blow their big lead as the Giants got insanely hot and took it).
In 1964, the Phillies lost 10 straight to blow that big lead in late September, but did win their last two games to make it close.
In 1978, the Red Sox blew that big lead over the Yankees ... then won 12 of their last 14 to force the one-game playoff with the Yankees.
And in 1995, the Angels blew a big lead in September before winning their last five games to force the one-game playoff with the Mariners.
Which they did lose. The Red Sox and the Dodgers lost their playoffs, too, while the Phillies finished one game behind the Cardinals, no playoff necessary.
So that's not good news at all.
My point is that most teams with big leads built those big leads because they were actually pretty good. And if you're pretty good, eventually you'll get out of your funk. It's just a question of how long that takes. And time's running out on the Astros.
