"First to 50" Spot the Differences Game

HAPPY FRIDAY!! You know what it means.

Anyway! Slow down, relax, forget about your real world responsibilities for a minute or two and enjoy a round of "Spot the Differences"! 

I usually will post these on Fridays, so come back again next week!

PHOTO REQUEST: If you attend an Astros game or event and take a cool photo, send it to me at elleeeeemm@yahoo.com to be considered for a future differences game. Please keep in mind that, to me, all Astros photos are great, but in order for one to be selected for a game, it must be clear, have detail enough for me to alter ten things and please, no personal photos. Credit will of course be given to the photographer. Thanks!

Lastly, I have included more differences for your finding pleasure. Can you find all 10? - Leigh

GO ASTROS!!

            

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Friday Morning Hot Links

Off-Day! Gonna make this quick as I'm in the hotel lobby drinking coffee as quickly as I can before my wife and daughter wake up. Also, I have tightness in my throwing elbow and I'm nervous as can be that I'll need Tommy Blog surgery.

*MLB.com's David Adler writes that Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole are dominating because of their four-seam fastballs, and how the Astros are having them throw them. Verlander:
Just because you throw hard doesn't mean you have our profile. [Cole] is somebody who has good four-seam hop, and that plays well. You can't lump everybody in and say, 'Oh, OK, you throw hard, you should throw fastballs at the top of the zone.' It doesn't work like that. But [the Astros] identified him very similarly to what they did with me - like, 'You're basically doing guys favors trying to throw them two-seamers at the bottom of the zone.

*Brian McTaggart says the most pressing question for the Astros is whether or not the rotation can keep up this workload. The Astros' rotation has recorded 18 outs in nine straight games, and in 61 games overall this season. I'm not going to compare that to the rest of the division, or league, because I don't have that much time. But that's, uh, that's a lot. Houston's bullpen has thrown 208.1IP in 2018, ranking 2nd-fewest in MLB (Cleveland's bullpen has thrown 196IP, but has also played three fewer games than the Astros). AL West bullpen innings:

Houston: 208.1
Seattle: 241
Upper Oak Cliff: 262.2
Oakland: 265.1
Anaheim: 280.1

*To that point, here's an AP story explaining how the Royals are hoping to "expose the Astros vulnerable bullpen." ... ?

*Jake Kaplan in The Athletic: The time Charlie Morton moonlighted as a wedding singer.

*Brian T. Smith writes that Luhnow has managed to balance the present with the future.

*Check MK Bower in Forbes on Luhnow's commitment to sustained success.

*Tim Kurkjian went on a San Diego radio station to say that the Padres should be expecting calls from Houston and Cleveland about lefty reliever Brad Hand.

*Down in Fresno, where Frankie Tuesday hasn't pitched since April 29, there's an update from Chandler Rome in which we find that Martes' elbow has him shut down likely until late July or August.

Next APB is for J.B. Bukauskas.

Off-Day Playoff Odds Check

FanGraphs (105-57): Win Division: 98.5%; Make Playoffs: 99.9%; Win World Series: 25.4%
FiveThirtyEight (106-56):  Win Division: 92%; Make Playoffs: 99%; Win World Series: 26%
Baseball Prospectus (102-60): Win Division: 95.5%; Make Playoffs: 99%; Win World Series: 16.9%

*Congratulations to the now-engaged Josh Reddick. Sorry, ladies (or guys, whatever, live your truth), that American flag Speedo is now taken.

*Fresno straight shut down Albuquerque with an 8-0 win last night. Cy Sneed threw his first CGSHO, 9IP, 2H/0ER, 11K:2BB. Kyle Tucker was 3x5 with 2RBI and his 10th home run of the season.

*Congratulations to Corpus' Randy Cesar, who set the Texas League record last night with a hit in 38 straight games.

*And if you missed getting a ring on Wednesday night, go down to Corpus on Sunday and get one there.

*Listen to My Buddy Patrick's debut radio gig with The Shift on 610.

I just need to tweet this so it’s saved somewhere forever. 🤷🏼‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/ojTY5LSzbX

— 🅗🅔🅐🅣🅗🅔🅡 (@crushcitylove) June 21, 2018

Thursday Morning Hot Links

So here's the deal: today my kid, my wife, and I leave for our first vacation in, like, three years. We were supposed to go to Corpus for our anniversary last Labor Day Weekend. You know what happened: Hurricane Harvey. We ended up repurposing those hotel points to tourist hotspot Temple, Texas. It was fine, but it wasn't Corpus. That said, we're headed to the mountains. Given that it's currently 4:45am and I'm very much awake, I don't foresee an issue where there are no Hot Links over the next eight days. But still, I'm tired of being awake at 4:45am. If I can sleep, I'mma sleep.

*I'll be at the Rockies/Marlins (thanks, Baseball Gods) game on Saturday. I guess I shouldn't be snarky about having to watch the morally-bankrupt trash can of an organization Marlins in order to cross Coors Field off my list - there are only, like, three good NL teams, so my chances weren't that high. I'm going to catch Charlie Blackmon in a bear trap and shave him bald.

*The Houston Astros did the Good Thing against the Rays last night, winning 5-1 on the back of some back to back to back power and solid pitching. Houston is 50-26. They are now apparently 1-15 at home. Not a typo. The Astros have a three-game lead for the first time since May 25. They're 14-4 in June. They're the first team to 50 wins.

The Astros are the 5th reigning World Series champion in the divisional era (since 1969) to be the 1st team to 50 wins. None of the previous 4 repeated as champs (via @EliasSports)

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 21, 2018

*When the 2017 Astros won their 50th game - in Game 74 - they had a 12.5-game lead. By that point 14 pitchers had recorded a win: Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers, Brad Peacock, Chris Devenski, Joe Musgrove, Will Harris, Charlie Morton, Michael Feliz, Luke Gregerson, James Hoyt, Ken Giles, Mike Fiers, Francis Martes, and David Paulino. The 2018 Astros have had 12 pitchers record a win.

*Charlie F. Morton threw 6IP, 2H/1R (0ER), 4K:4BB. It's Morton's 11th Quality Start in 15 outings.

That said, it's Morton's third straight start of 4+ BB. His last three starts: 15.2IP, 7H/6R (4ER), 17K:14BB. Morton:
Usually, if I get ahead quick, I get a little tempo going and I'm aggressive in the zone, and things usually work out. But I make a bad pitch or two, and then I lose the batter. I try to get back into my timing and delivery, and repeating my delivery. That's been a struggle for a few starts now.

*Brad Peacock, Chris Devenski, and Ken Giles combined for 3IP, 2H/0ER, 3K:1BB. Giles allowed a hit and a walk in the 9th.

*The Astros hit four home runs and enjoyed back-to-back-to-back jacks (Springer-Bregman-Altuve) in the 6th inning. It's their 3rd 4HR game of the year. They're 8-2 when they hit 3+ home runs. It's the first time Houston has hit three consecutive home runs since Miguel Tejada, Lance Berkman, and Carlos Lee did it on May 2, 2008. Bregman:
It was awesome to get the place rocking. Springer, big swing, gets us going, and then we kind of just fed off George right there, Jose and I. Pretty cool when that happens. I've never been a part of something like that before. It was fun.

*Every Astro in the lineup had at least one hit. Altuve was 3x4 with two solo home runs and 2RBI - his 10th 3+ hit game of the year and the fourth multi-homer game (third regular season game) of his career. He last hit 2+ home runs in Game 1 of the ALDS against the Red Sox, and the Astros would go on to win the World Series. His last 2HR regular season game was July 24, 2016. Altuve's 2nd home run was 112.3mph off the bat, the hardest ball he's hit in the Statcast Era.

Altuve, on coming back after a day off:
It felt good. It's always good to sit down and think about how you feel. And I came back strong today.

The world would be a better place if we all just got the day off, sat down, and thought about how we feel.

*Hinch:
The way the game was going, you start thinking about manufacturing runs, you start thinking about how you're going to pull out a close win. It felt like the game was going to be kind of a make-or-break type of game on who could come up with the big hit. In a span of a few pitches...what energy got put back into the building, and also our team.

*Josh Reddick has a hit in eight of his nine starts since returning from the DL.

*Tony Kemp got himself an RBI single in the 7th last night (in which he was thrown out trying to get to second). Kemp has 26 hits in 2018 - seven of them for extra-bases - in 97 PAs. Jake Marisnick has 23 hits - nine for extra-bases - in 136 PAs.

*Proceeds from the Hugs For Homers shirt will go to the Astros Youth Academy. Here's Chandler Rome on the Hugs For Homers thing.

*The Ringer's Zach Kram: Oh yeah, the Astros have the best lineup in baseball, too.

*Jeff Luhnow says the Nationals' acquisition of Kelvin Herrera "doesn't affect" the Astros. Luhnow:
What we're going to look at is 'Who are we likely to face in the postseason? Who are the hitters, and do we have the pitchers who match up well with those hitters? And who are the pitchers and do we have the right lineup to match up against those pitchers?' If we think there is an opportunity to improve either of those by acquiring a player from another team that's available, we're going to have to look at it.

So I guess Luhnow isn't going to invoke Prima Nocta and take Mike Trout from the Angels before the deadline.

*Craig Hlavaty wrote about doing The Wave, and ya boy is quoted. (Don't do The Wave).

*Randy Cesar tied the Texas League, which has been around for oh only 130 years, record with a hit in his 37th consecutive game. The last 37-game hit streak in the Texas League was back in 1969. Manager Omar Lopez:
This is a big day for him and I'm happy for him. Because it's not easy. It seems like it could be easy but it's not. And he's been having a tremendous year, and hopefully he can carry out the rest of the season like that. 

The Hooks just went 7-0 on a road trip.

*Seth Beer went 2x5 and Tri-City put up a 7-spot in the 3rd inning for an 11-5 win over Aberdeen. Brady Rodgers made his debut rehab start as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery. He threw 37 pitches in 2IP, 3H/4ER, 3K:1BB.

*6th Round pick R.J. Freure signed for just over $111,000 over the slot. Updated draft financials are here.

*Read this Jesse Spector piece on what it's like to get DFA'd.

*New York scored the final five runs of the game, including two in the bottom of the 9th, to walk it off against Seattle. The Mariners are three games back, 18 games over .500 with a +15 run differential.

*A rabid bobcat attacked a woman, who strangled it to death, quietly, so as not to wake up her granddaughter. Be the boss you want to see in the world.

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

Oh great the Badstros are back, just like we all knew. Winning streak is snapped at 12. Houston is 49-26, 20-15 at Minute Maid Park.

*It was Justin Verlander's 400th career start, and he threw 6.2IP, 6H/1ER, 10K:1BB, and allowed a 2nd inning C.J. Cron home run. It was Verlander's first 10+ K game since May 1. Verlander has now thrown 14 straight Quality Starts and has three starts of double-digit strikeouts with one or zero walks.

*Verlander's 122 pitches were the most in a regular season game since 2014.

*The Astros are 10-6 in Verlander's starts. In those six losses Houston has scored a total of seven runs.

*Run Support, Astros' rotation, 2018:
Cole: 6.22 runs/game
McCullers: 5.70
Morton: 5.34
Keuchel: 5.14
Verlander: 3.99

*Houston pitchers have double-digit strikeouts in 44 of their 75 games (58.7%). The 2017 Astros got 10+ Ks in 84 of their 162 regular season games (51.9%).

#Rays manager Kevin Cash on #Astros manager AJ Hinch giving Jose Altuve the night off: “Thank God.” #TBRvsHOU

— MoiseKapenda Bower (@moisekapenda) June 19, 2018

*Rays starter Blake Snell allowed just three hits, but walked seven batters. The Astros were 1x6 w/RISP. It was the 6th time this season the Astros drew seven walks in a game. Somehow they're 3-3 in those games. Hinch:
Snell's nasty. Look at the league and look at the numbers, the entire league is having a hard time hitting him when he's in the strike zone. 

*The Astros had the bases loaded in the first with one out and did not score. Carlos Gomez - proving that a broken clock is right twice a day - threw out George Springer trying to score from 3B on Evan Gattis' flyout.

-Houston had runners on 1st and 3rd with two outs in the 6th, and did not score. And had runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs in the 9th, and did not score.

*After homering in eleven straight games, the Astros have now gone back-to-back games without a home run for the first time since May 14-15. Houston is 10-12 in games when they don't hit a home run.

*Alex Bregman was 1x2 with 2BB. He was 40K:44BB on the season. George Springer led the 2017 Astros with 64 walks. The last Astro to have more walks than strikeouts in a season was Carlos Lee who, in 66 games (276 PAs) in 2012, drew 19 walks and struck out 17 times. The last player to do it with over 300 PAs in a season was Jeff Keppinger, who posted a 36K:51BB ratio in 575 PAs in 2010.

The Athletic's Eno Sarris: Bregman is on the cusp of stardom. Lots of good, hard math in this one to back it up.

*Carlos Correa was 0x3 with 2K:1BB.
Correa, Away, 2018: .328/.401/.552
Correa, Home, 2018: .203/.299/.424

*Marwin Gonzalez was ejected in the 4th inning after striking out on three pitches. AP:
Gonzalez argued with home plate umpire Pat Hoberg before throwing his bat and helmet and being tossed. He kept barking at Hoberg after the ejection and continued yelling at him until third base coach Gary Pettis pulled him away and pushed him toward the dugout.

Tony Kemp replaced Marwin in LF an Altuve pinch-hit for Kemp in the 9th inning.

*Beyond the Box Score's Patrick Brennan: The 2018 Astros might be the best team in the history of modern baseball.

*A.J. Hinch isn't getting caught up in all this "history" talk:
It's nice when you put things in perspective over time, and we'll recognize what a championship was like last year or what some of these streaks are like this year or what a rotation we have. I don't want to rush to judge history until I'm old and realize exactly what it means.

*Get this Hugs For Homers shirt and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Astros Youth Foundation.

*Carlos Gomez was 0x3 with a strikeout (and two outfield assists) to drop his season slash line to .190/.265/.333. Of 81 MLB outfielders with a minimum of 200 plate appearances, Carlos Gomez's -0.6 fWAR ranks 80th. From 2016-2018, Gomez has hit .231/.307/.402 for a 90 OPS+.

*Joe Smith is working his way back from elbow discomfort and is on track to rejoin the team for the next homestand. Smith:
If I feel good tomorrow, we'll walk in and play catch again and keep on going. Hopefully I can join this group because they're rolling right now and it seems like a lot of fun.

*If you've ever wanted to see Dallas Keuchel naked, here's your chance. Those Free Agent dollars aren't going to make themselves.

*SI.com's Jon Tayler: The Astros are the best team in baseball. Tayler:
Is there a weak spot anywhere on the Astros? If there is, it's pretty easily papered over by the superstars who are performing so far above average that they mask the deficiencies of those struggling. That's bad news for everybody else in the AL, particularly the Mariners, who trail Houston by two games in the West despite going 29-15 since the start of May.

*Jose Altuve is still currently projected to be the only Astros position player starting for the AL All-Star Team. Here's where the Astros stand, relative to the position leader:
Gurriel: -267,803
Correa: -212,766
Bregman: -483,118
McCann: -276,823
Springer: -549,555
Marwin: -760,676
Reddick: -783,038

*Watch this episode of Jayson Stark's Baseball Stories, featuring Jeff Luhnow.

*Check out this Mike Feinsand podcast with Astros Senior Director of Baseball Operations Brandon Taubman.

*Speaking of podcasts, check out this Alex Bregman spot with Friend of Astros County Mike Oz.

*Kyle Tucker was 3x4 with a walk in a 5-3 Fresno win over Round Rock that completed a four-game sweep. Tucker has a 9-game hitting streak in which he's 19x39 with 5K:4BB. Brock Dykxhoorn threw 7IP, 4H/2ER, 8K:0BB. Fresno outscored Round Rock - the Rangers' temporary Triple-A affiliate - 26-8 in the four-game set. Fresno is 44-27, 6.5 games up in the Pacific Northern Division, while Round Rock is 30-41, 12.5 games back of Memphis in the American Southern Division.

*Corpus beat San Antonio 9-6 last night and Randy Cesar's 9th inning infield single extended his hitting streak to 36 games. Yordan Alvarez, since returning from the DL: 7x15, 2HR, 8RBI.

*Bob Nightengale has an in-depth piece on the Royals' decision to trade star closer Kelvin Herrera to the Nationals in the middle of June. Not gonna lie: I wanted Kelvin Herrera in Houston.

*Giants reliever Hunter Strickland blew a save Monday night. Then he punched a door. And broke his hand. And now he's out for 6-8 weeks.

*New Yorker: Looking for life on a Flat Earth.

Round 18 of chemo: $15,000
Ticket to game: $25
Dollar Dog: $1
Seeing the defending champ @astros while beating cancer: Priceless. pic.twitter.com/l4uY7fBm9N

— Daniel Begnaud (@DanBeg1) June 19, 2018

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

I'm old enough to remember when the Astros lost. Actually, they lost Game 6 of the World Series and then didn't lose ever again. Win streak is at a franchise-tying record twelve games, set in 2004 and 1999. Houston is 49-25. Never forget that Tampa Bay hosted the Astros in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. We're cool with Tampa Bay.

*Houston had been 0-18 when trailing in the bottom of the 9th. It was their first walk-off win since the famous 1-0 Padres "Eric Hosmer infield fly" play back on April 7. Houston has scored 5+ runs in 11 of the 12 games in the win streak.

*The Astros' comeback from 4-0 is the largest deficit overcome this season.

*Alex Bregman delivered the walk-off blow. Bregman:
Altuve told me...that he's not bringing his bat or batting gloves to the on-deck circle, so I better get the job done. 

Hinch:
You do it as often as Alex has done it, we know it's going to be a good at-bat. Whether it ends in our favor or not is baseball, but he's a guy we want up there. 

*Gerrit Cole was surprisingly off: 7IP, 3H/4ER, 8K:5BB. The five walks are a career-high, and he had walked five batters in his previous two starts (13IP) combined, though he sent 13 of the last 14 batters he faced back to the dugout.

*In the last week George Springer is 3x26, hitting .115/.233/.115.

*Both of Gurriel's hits came with runners in scoring position and he is now hitting .472/.483/.566 w/RISP.

*The big news of the day prior to Bregman's heroics was that the Astros have promoted Jeff Luhnow to God-Emperor through 2023. Luhnow:
You look all around baseball, and you've got organizations that were successful in the last five years that are now having to rethink everything. We don't want to be them...Personally it's satisfying to have accomplished what we did and to have the vote of confidence from Jim to keep me around for a few years.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Jeff Gordon: And then there's the Cardinals.

*Houston sent down Reymin Guduan.

*Corpus won the 1st Half title behind a strong start from Forrest Whitley oh and also by scoring 12 runs.

*I gotta go.

Monday Morning Hot Links

In a stunning betrayal, I guess my body is back to waking up at 5:30am no matter what. The Astros rallied late to extend their winning streak to 11 games, matching their best streak from 2017 and is one short of the franchise record of 12, set in 2004.

*The Astros are 48-25, 1.5 up on Seattle. They went 10-0 on the road trip, outscoring their opponents 74-35, a +39 run differential (incidentally, the Astros' run differential in their last ten games is 17 runs better than the Mariners' run differential for the season). Houston's ten wins in their last ten road games is better than Baltimore's nine road wins all season. The Astros have scored 246 runs on the road this season; Baltimore has scored 248 runs total.

*ESPN notes that Houston's 10-0 road trip is the 6th such road trip in the last 65 seasons. The 11-game win streak is tied for the 5th-longest by a defending World Series champ in the last 80 years.

*Hunter Atkins: If only the Astros could hit at home like they do on the road. Atkins notes the lack of gaps in the outfield at Minute Maid, thanks to the Crawford Boxes. Springer:
The Crawford Boxes create a positioning where you don't have to play left field. You essentially have an extra defender - that's the wall.

*The Astros are 11-5 against the AL Central and have not yet played the Tigers.

*Houston is outscoring opponents 135-77 in the 7th inning and later. They have 19 comeback wins.

*Houston has hit a home run in eleven straight games, and 22 of their last 23, thanks to Carlos Correa's 8th inning home run.

*Evan Gattis was 3x4 with an RBI. 7-8-9 in the lineup (Gattis-Marwin-McCann) went a combined 6x11 with 3RBI.

*George Springer was 0x5 with two GIDPs. The Astros GIDPd four times yesterday, a season-high and their most since August 7, 2014. Houston had four GIDPs in a single game three times in 2014 and went 0-3.

*Tyler White hit a pinch-hit double for his first MLB hit of the season.

*Lance McCullers: 6IP, 6H/4R (2ER), 9K:2BB. The nine strikeouts are his most since April 17, and tie his total strikeouts in his last two starts combined.

*Tony Sipp, Ken Giles, and Hector Rondon threw 3IP, 0H/0ER, 2K:2BB.

Sipp has not allowed a run since May 7, a span of 13 appearances.
Giles enjoyed his first 3-out clean appearance (0H/0BB) since May 9.
Rondon has not allowed a run since May 13, a span of 13 appearances.

*Mike Moustakas and Danny Duffy were ejected in the 3rd inning by umpire Mike Tumpane thanks to Marwin's throw to the plate that got Moustakas. Duffy:
We all thought (Moustakas) was safe. Maybe I'm seeing it with biased eyes and there wasn't enough to overturn it....We were pretty much all in shock. But we get punched by replay all the time. I'm personally tired of getting punched by Tumpane. I think we all are. And I think it needs to be looked at. I'm not saying there's bias there but I'm sure it will go back to whoever it needs to go back to.

Duffy set a record for the most times saying "punked" in a paragraph since 2005.

*A.J. Hinch doesn't mind some of the Astros' aggressive base-running mistakes.

*Bill Brown will fill in for Steve Sparks for this series against the Rays.

*New dads on the Astros and Royals reflected on their first Father's Day.

*The Rays are going to use Ryne Stanek as an opener for tonight's game against the Astros.

*Corpus beat San Antonio 8-6 yesterday, and whoever wins tonight will claim the first-half division crown and an automatic playoff spot.

*The Mariners start a 10-game road trip against Boston, New York, and Baltimore.

*Celebrating Mexico fans set off earthquake sensors after their deciding goal against Germany yesterday.

Sunday Morning Hot Links

Happy Father's Day! On Mother's Day I wrote a little thing about how Mother's Day isn't the easiest of days for a lot of people, for a variety of reasons. I suppose Father's Day has a few of the same characteristics. There's an awful lot of people who, for whatever reason, didn't have a father growing up. Or maybe you had a father, but you wished he was literally anyone else. Maybe today is your first Father's Day without your father. Whatever the reason, if today brings you sadness instead of joy, I'm truly sorry. And then there's Antonio Cromartie...

*It was so hot in Kansas City yesterday that Max Stassi and Yuli Gurriel had to be treated for dehydration.

*The Astros' win streak reached 10 games, their longest winning streak since winning 11 in a row from May 25 - June 5, 2017. Longest winning streaks, Astros history (Minute Maid Era):

12 games: 2004
11 games: 2017
10 games: 2018, 2015
9 games: 2006
8 games: 2008
7 games: 2016, 2014, 2010, 2005, 2003, 2002
6 games: 2013 (Ed. Note: I can't remember the 2013 Astros winning six games overall, much less in a row), 2000
5 games: 2012, 2007, 2001
4 games: 2011, 2009

They're 9-0 on this 10-game road trip, the best road trip in franchise history.

*Hinch:
I'm really happy with how consistently the guys are showing up and expecting to win, and then going out and doing it. We're a hard team to beat right now.

*Bregman:
What we do is we come here and show up and play hard every day, and that's it. We compete every at-bat, and winning streak, no winning streak, it doesn't matter to anybody in here besides the fact we compete every pitch, play our brand of baseball, and we know that if we do that, we'll have deja vu from what we did last year.

*Dallas Keuchel threw 6IP, 6H/2R (0ER), 5K:1BB. Keuchel's 60 Game Score is his best since May 13, when he threw a 78 against the Ramgers. Keuchel has allowed two extra-base hits to his last 66 batters dating back to the 3HR Seattle start on June 5. Keuchel:
I don't usually toot my own horn, but there was a few I could tell the shape out of my hand were back to normal movement. If we can keep that going, it's going to be a totally different ballgame.

*Brad Peacock, Will Harris, and Chris Devenski combined for 3IP, 0H/0ER, 7K:0BB.

*Marwin Gonzalez was 3x4 with two runs scored. After a 2x20 stretch, Marwin was hitting .164/.277/.273 on April 16. Since then he's hitting .288/.346/.448.
Marwin's multi-hit games, June: 6
Marwin's 0-1 hit games, June: 5

*Jose Altuve was 1x3 with 2BB and 2RBI.
Jose Altuve, home, 2018: .264/.317/.333 (.650 OPS)
Jose Altuve, road, 2018: .395/.447/.568 (1.015 OPS)

On this road trip, Altuve is hitting. .371/.463/.543 with 2K:6BB.

*Alex Bregman was 2x4 with 4RBI after hitting a 3-run home run in the 9th. Five of his 10 home runs in 2018 have come in June. He has a 27-game on-base streak.

*Max Stassi was 2x4 with a 3-run home run. It was the 10th home run of his career. Among 41 MLB catchers with a minimum of 100 PAs, Stassi's .512 SLG ranks 2nd behind J.T. Realmuto's .546 SLG.

Brian T. Smith: Max Stassi is finally making himself at home in the Houston lineup.

*Carlos Correa was 0x5 and committed his 2nd error of the season. It was Correa's 2nd 0x5 game of 2018.

*Did you see the latest Spot The Differences?

*Brian McTaggart writes that Yuli Gurriel has been playing Gold Glove-level defense at 1B, and is perfect in 21 chances of scooping the ball out of the dirt. Hinch:
He's the best in the league at picking balls, at least the most successful, I know that. His athleticism from being on the left side of the diamond his whole life has translated well to first base. 

*Interesting story from John Harper of the New York Daily News: Following the 2015 season the Astros made a strong push to sign Yoenis Cespedes, and offered a similar deal to the 4yr/$110m he ended up choosing with the Mets. The Astros wouldn't include a no-trade clause, the Mets did. The Astros won the World Series in 2017.

*Rob Manfred - an adult robot toddler who doesn't know when to get the hell out of the way and just tugs at your pants wanting more of something - acknowledged during the Owner's Meetings that the competition committee is in the discussion-analysis phase of looking at making some defensive shifts illegal. That doesn't sit well with Hinch:
I don't think the problem is the shift, I think the problem is the commitment to trying to beat it. You have guys that don't want to hit the ball the other way, then we're going to continue to shift. We've never had an offsides in baseball - that would be rare, that would be weird. 

Related, from Deadspin: The Astros' four-man outfield is spreading.

Also related: Rob Manfred wants to fix attendance. Here's my four-step plan to improve MLB attendance:
1. Lift blackout rules so people can watch regional home games.
2. Start games earlier so highly-impressionable kids can see the end of the damn playoff games. I guarantee you every kid under the age of 14 who was allowed to stay up for the end of World Series Game 5 is now a lifelong baseball fan and has now watched 40 games this season trying to chase that dragon.
3. A 24-ounce Montejo doesn't cost $13 anymore. It's now $5.
4. Kill A.J. Pierzynski.

In all honesty, organizations need to realize that how they run their team will impact their attendance.  Houston has had 33 home games and drawn 1,165,990 fans - an average of 35,333 fans, and up from the 29,675 fans they average in 2017. They're about 500,000 fans (or 17-ish home games) away from matching their 2013 home attendance marks.

Through games of last night, the ten teams with the worst attendance are:
1. Miami: 10,268 fans/game
2. Tampa Bay: 13,414
3. Oakland: 15,354
4. Pittsburgh: 16,748
5. Chicago White Sox: 17,095
6. Cincinnati: 18,746
7. Cleveland: 19,829
8. Baltimore: 19,986
9. Kansas City: 20,440
10. Detroit: 21,165

Those teams are a combined 119 games under .500. I don't know what Cleveland's problem is other than that their home attendance was rough in April, when it was freezing across the northern part of the United States and Cleveland's river was still on fire but also covered in ice, somehow, yet has rebounded with the temperature. Miami is a disaster of a franchise, Tampa Bay and Oakland have terrible stadiums, Pittsburgh has a gorgeous stadium but is also rebuilding. Chicago does not have a gorgeous stadium but are rebuilding. Cincinnati is rebuilding. Baltimore is a train-wreck of a team this year, and Kansas City and Detroit are rebuilding, as well. It doesn't take a rocket mathematician to realize there's a correlation.

I'm not in favor of instituting a salary floor, but teams have to recognize that when they play a Quad-A roster, they're going to get minor-league attendance.

*Nick Cafardo says the Astros are still keeping tabs on Orioles closer Zach Britton, who is now recovered from an achilles injury.

*Fresno pitcher Trent Thornton threw 7.2 hitless innings and ended up with 8IP, 1H/0ER, 3K:2BB in a 6-1 Fresno win over Future Triple-A Affiliate Round Rock. Thornton:
That was a lot of fun. To get within four outs, it would have been nice to finish it. I hung a curve ball, and Noonan got it. Our defense was outstanding. The guys bailed me out of several tight spots.

Myles Straw was 3x5 with a single, double, and a triple in his Triple-A debut and stole his 36th base of the season. Kyle Tucker was 1x3 with a walk and 2RBI.

*The Corpus/Midland game got rained out with one out short of an official game, negating Yordan Alvarez's 2-run home run in his first game back since May 6.

*Here's a reminder that 2017 1st Round pick J.B. Bukauskas has only made two starts in 2018 and has not pitched since April 24.

*Quad Cities beat Burlington 2-1 to win the 1st Half division title and clinch a Midwest League post-season berth.

*The Ringer: An oral history of The Gaslight Anthem's "The '59 Sound."

*This dude's crazy-ass girlfriend wrecked his career and now owes him $375,000.