Saturday Morning Hot Links

The Defending World Champion Houston Astros were able to squeak out a 2-1 win over the juggernaut 46-win Baltimore Orioles. I guess. Houston is 101-58 and needs to go 2-1 (doubleheader today) to set the franchise record for wins in a season.

*Houston is 19-5 in September, 33-17 since August 1. One more win sets a season high for most wins in a calendar month. Most wins in a calendar month, Astros, 2015-18:

22: May 2017
20: September 2017
19: September 2018, June 2018
18: April 2018, June 2016

*Josh Reddick hit his 17th home run of the season. Four of his last seven hits have been home runs.

*Carlos Correa was 0x3 with a walk and a GIDP. Since coming off the DL, Correa is "hitting" .172/.257/.219. It has been 99 Plate Appearances since his last home run. I'd have a hard time putting Correa on the playoff roster at this point.

That GIDP tied the 2000 Astros with 154 GIDPs - most in franchise history. Let's see if they can make history today!

*If the Astros don't commit five errors in the next three games, they'll set a franchise record for the lowest number of errors in a season.

*Tyler White was 0x4 with 2Ks. It's his first consecutive hitless-game streak since July 9-10.

*Gerrit Cole ended his regular season with 6IP, 5H/1ER, 4K:1BB. His season ERA is 2.88, with 276 strikeouts in 200.1IP. He has now thrown 200IP in three of his last four seasons. Some stats:

-Cole's 12.4 K/9 leads the league.
-276 strikeouts are the most for an Astros pitcher since Justin Verlander's 280 in 2018 and are 5th in franchise history.
-6.424 Hits/9 are 8th in franchise history, and the lowest for an Astros pitcher since 1986.
-Cole allowed 0-1ER in 12 of his 32 starts
-Cole threw a Quality Start in 20 of his 32 starts

Cole:
I thought it was a great body of work. I thought a lot of the personal numbers reflect how well we've played as a team this year. Certainly the innings mark for sure.

Hinch:
He exceeded really anything we could have hoped for. It's not easy to get to 200 innings, it's not easy to post every time and give the quality he did - the strikeout numbers, the low hit total...It's one thing to have expectations and another thing to step up and do it when everyone expects it.

*Tony Sipp, Collin McHugh, and Roberto Osuna combined for 3IP, 1H/0ER, 3K:0BB.

*Hinch, on the Astros as he and the coaching staff plan the postseason roster:
This is the deepest team most of these guys have played on. They're realists when they understand this is a hard team to crack. I've said that to them in a team meeting. You have to be real with them. They look around and see the numbers and what's possible. 

*Chandler Rome writes about Maldonado's caught stealing rate and the effect it has on the other team.

*Looks like for the 3rd time in four years I won't be attending a playoff game in Houston, as tickets sold out in five minutes.

*Jenny Dial Creech talked to a domestic abuse victim about the Osuna trade, two months later.

*Speaking of domestic abuse, FanGraphs' Sheryl Ring on Addison Russell and what constitutes evidence.

*Less than a week away from the ALDS, Cleveland.com asks how Astros pitchers will attack Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez.

*Jim Callis has a cool article on new Astros strikeout masters in the Instructional League. Notes on 2nd Round pick Jayson Schroeder, 6th Rounder R.J. Freure, 12th Round pick Mark Moclair, 14th Rounder J.P. France, and July signing Manny Ramirez.

*Important Base Ball matches today:
-St. Louis vs. Chicago. For the Cardinals, a loss or a Dodgers win eliminates them.
-Milwaukee vs. Detroit. The Brewers have clinched a playoff spot, but are only a game behind the Cubs.
-LA vs San Francisco. The Dodgers are a game behind the already-clinched Rockies, who could win their first division title.

I want chaos. Give me tie-breaker games on Monday.

*There is absolutely nothing of value under the Astros in Jon Heyman's "Inside Baseball(-Reference)" column.

*SI.com notes that 2018 Marwin was exactly league-average.

*An oral history of Rounders.

*A musical selection: