Tuesday Morning Hot Links

We here at Astros County took Sunday night off in the same way the bullpen did. Regardless, here we go. The Astros...took the night off, again. Houston had seven hits, all singles, and only had three PAs with runners in scoring position for a 6-0 loss to Oakland. It's Houston's 5th straight loss and they're now 4.5 back of Oakland and only 2.0 ahead of [squints] Seattle. Been a rough week.

*Last night was the first time the Astros have been shut out with no extra-base hits since June 27, 2019 against Pittsburgh. It was ugly.

*1-5 in the lineup: 3x19, 1K:1BB

  6-9 in the lineup: 4x14, 3K:0BB

Carlos Correa had two of the Astros seven hits. He's hitting .301/.367/.441 in 2020.

7-9 in the lineup last night (Diaz, Toro, Garneau) are hitting .179, .154, .174, respectively. 

*Cristian Javier:

It's been a tough stretch for us, but we have to keep positive. We have to keep focused on doing our jobs and make sure we turn this thing around.

*Dusty:

We can't look behind us, we have to look ahead. Nothing lasts forever. I think we have another streak of five games and we reeled off eight in a row. You can't be afraid of somebody overtaking you from behind, there's nothing you can do but play the game you're playing.

* Jose Altuve has yet to resume baseball activities. Lance McCullers was placed on the IL, Josh Reddick is day-to-day. Chris Devenski and Blake Taylor were placed on the IL. Humberto Castellanos and Chase De Jong were activated. This is, of course, insane. At least Alex Bregman will be activated from the IL today.

Blake Taylor hid his elbow soreness from the Astros. Dusty:

He had hidden it and was trying to medicate himself because as a young player, he was afraid to go in and get treatment. He was afraid of being sent out, like a lot of young guys, that's in the back of their minds no matter how well they're doing. We could tell something was wrong. His velocity was good but his location was bad.

*In ESPN's Power Rankings, the #10 Astros just need to get healthy.

*Jake Kaplan: Four trends to watch as the Astros play their final 20, well, 19 now, games of the season.

*Playoff Odds, July 25:

Win AL West: 66.2%

Finish 2nd: 21.8%

Make Playoffs: 95.5%

Win World Series: 13.7%

Playoff Odds, September 8:

Win AL West: 8.1%

Finish 2nd: 84.9%

Make Playoffs: 94.2%

Win World Series: 5.9%

*Josh Reddick hit ten years of service time and is now Hall of Fame-eligible.

*Vice: The Algorithm in the Armchair.

*Outside: Check out this $10 mosquito magnet.

*A Musical Selection: