* Maybe the Astros aren't boring anymore? They beat the Rockies, 2-1, and pushed their winning streak to five games. Greinke was phenomenal, breezing through eight scoreless innings. Myles Straw, a late add to the lineup after Springer was scratched with right wrist soreness, walked it off with a liner through a five-man infield.
* Altuve is seriously struggling. He's "hitting" .168/.233/.284 and looks completely lost at the plate. I'm poking around on some numbers on him and if my child sleeps long enough today I'm going to write up a more detailed post on this.
* Tonight, Framber Valdez takes the mound in Denver. We'll see if his curveball makes the trip with him to the thin air.
* Tags wraps the winning streak up nicely:
Few could have envisioned that the Astros -- without ace starter Justin Verlander and several key relievers -- were going to be able to keep a competitive pitching staff together. And few could have imagined they'd cominate like they have in the last week.
* Hopefully Verlander can return this season. He threw off flat ground on Monday for the first time since he was shutdown with a forearm strain.
* On the flip side, Yordan Alvarez hit the IL yesterday with right knee discomfort. Baker: "I got a lot of concern for Yordan."
* Read Sam Miller any chance you get. We don't deserve him. Here he is today on how and why your favorite team is cursed.
* Not to be outdone by Joe Kelly, Lance McCullers Jr went on a podcast to talk about The Trash Cans. You can listen on Apple or Spotify. Jayson Stark also wrote a recap ($).
* Everyone likes a Power Rankings piece. Here's Michael Baumann now that we're one-third of the way through the "season." The Astros come in ninth, which seems #very generous.
