Astros were 15-14 in August so there's no sign Porter was costing us wins. This is similar to firing Gary Kubiak by the Texans during the end of last season. You could say the firing gave them a head start in finding a replacement or you could say it was punishment for not following orders (McNair apparently told Kubiak to keep playing Keenum and got fired for putting Schaub into games).

BTW, Fowler was still batting cleanup last night so I suspect the decision scientists want him there. The Astros played their best when Altuve and Fowler were 1-2 in the lineup but they've had Grossman or Gonzalez batting first for the past month with Altuve second and Fowler (when healthy) as clean-up.