Saturday, August 5, 2017

Saturday Morning Hot Links

And so, without George Springer, Carlos Correa, or Jose Altuve in the lineup, the Astros put up 16 on Toronto. Because of course. The Astros are 70-39. Seattle won again, so the lead is still 15 games. There are 53 games remaining.

*The Astros are 3-2 against the Blue Jays this season, but have outscored them 53-24 in those five games. Houston has scored 12+ runs in a game eleven times this season - three of them have come against the Blue Jays.

*Having scored seven runs in their previous three games, Houston scored nine runs in the 4th inning, the 3rd time this season they've had a 9+ run inning. They've had 21 innings of scoring 5+ runs or more. A season-high 15 batters came to the plate in the 4th. Their 6th 18+ hit game of the season is a franchise record.

*The Astros are the only AL team that has yet to endure at least a four-game losing streak.

*Home runs, last night:
-Yuli Gurriel (14)
-Alex Bregman (13)
-Marwin (20)
-Tyler White
-Tyler White

White was 4x5 with two home runs and 5RBI. White:
Everyone was swinging the bat. We were all seeing good pitches to hit and putting good swings on them. That's all you can do. We caught a few barrels and hit a few holes. 

Bregman:
Everybody is fired up. We've done that a couple times this year. It's just a blast. Everyone is trying to put together quality at-bats and pass the torch to the next guy.

*McTaggart notes that Yulieski Gurriel tied Hunter Pence's franchise record of 30 doubles by a rookie.

*The Astros got ten 2-out RBIs, giving them 252 2-out RBIs on the season. The Astros have scored 265 runs with two outs this season.

2-out runs, American League:

Houston: 265
Arlington: 209
Baltimore: 202
Boston: 197
Tampa Bay: 197
Detroit: 194
Yankees: 193
Cleveland: 193
Minnesota: 183
Toronto: 181
White Sox: 178
Seattle: 178
Kansas City: 170
Anaheim: 166
Oakland: 155

So yeah, the Astros have scored 56 more runs - with two outs - than the next-highest run total in the American League.

*Brad Peacock took it on the chin, allowing 9H/7ER, 6K:2BB. Some numbers:
-Peacock had allowed two home runs all season long, and allowed three last night.
-Peacock had allowed 7ER in 26IP across five appearances in July, and allowed 7ER last night.
-He became the 3rd SP in franchise history to allow 7ER and record a win (Greg Swindell - 1993; J.R. Richard - 1975)

*Joe Musgrove's last five appearances: 9IP, 6H/1ER, 10K:1BB.

*James Hoyt threw a perfect inning in the 9th.

*Former Astros Great Nori Aoki got a standing ovation last night.

*The Astros called up J.D. Davis from Fresno, replacing A.J. Reed (who went 0x6 in his short stint with the Astros). In 16 games with Fresno, Davis hit .295/.370/.623 with 5HR.

*Correa will swing a bat next week, putting him a week ahead of his recovery timeline. Correa:
Everything the doctor told me, he's really impressed with the way I've been progressing and I'm way ahead of schedule. I'm going to swing the bat a week and a half earlier than I was supposed to. I'm very happy about that. 

*Evan Gattis took the back end of Corey Dickerson's Thursday night swing to the back of the head, and says he has a concussion.

*FanGraphs: Jose Altuve's historic July and his MVP momentum.

*Jayson Stark says making a trade is harder than you think and that the Astros will have to "mash and bash" their way through the postseason, which he predicts will feature Washington vs. Houston.

*If the Astros want to make that big pitching acquisition, Justin Verlander reportedly cleared waivers and the Tigers can now trade him to any team.

*Peter Gammons wonders if the 2017 Dodgers are the 1998 Astros. And on the Trade Deadline That Wasn't, he mentions "Orioles people" who said that the Astros' offer for Zach Britton was "insulting." Gammons has a warning for the Astros:
The windows don't stay open as long as your laptops tell you

*1st Round pick J.B. Bukauskas made his pro debut, throwing 4IP, 3H/0ER, 3K:1BB in an 11-1 win over the GCL Nationals.

*Corpus' Franklin Perez retired 12 of the last 15 batters he faced, throwing 5IP, 7H/2R (1ER), 3K:0BB in a 3-2 win over Frisco. Riley Ferrell got his first save at Double-A, striking out three in 1.1IP.

*Here's a solid Hunter Atkins piece on the woman who sleeps across from Minute Maid Park.