Sunday Morning Hot Links

*Hahahahahahahaha. The Astros threw a combined no-hitter against the Mariners in Aaron Sanchez's Astros debut and got seven extra-base hits for a 9-0 demolition of Seattle. Houston is 72-40. The lead on Oakland is still 8.5 games. There are 50 regular season games left.

Record, after 112 games:
2019: 72-40
2018: 71-41
2017: 71-41

The 2017 Astros went 11-17 in August. I don't think that'll happen to this team.At this point the Astros will need to 32-18 to reach 104 wins and set a franchise record. That's a .640 winning percentage down the stretch. Given that their win% right now is .642, it's doable.

Houston is 15-7 since the All-Star Break.

Game Notes

*You have to go back all the way to July 12 to find the last time the Mariners were no-hit.

*It's the first time since August 21, 2015 that the Astros have thrown a no-hitter, when Former Astros Great Mike F. Fiers did it against the Dodgers. It's the 12th time in franchise history that they've recorded a no-hitter. They're 11-1 in games in which they do not allow a hit. On April 23, 1964 the Reds beat the Astros 1-0 because starting pitcher Ken Johnson and Nellie Fox committed two infield errors in the top of the 9th and Pete Rose scored the winning run.

*MLB.com has the facts & figures from the no-no.

*Aaron Sanchez was brilliant: 6IP, 0H/0ER, 6K:2BB. Sanchez's previous career-long with 0H allowed? 2IP, on August 30, 2014. Last night was his first win in 17 consecutive starts.

ESPN:
Sanchez threw his curve on 30.4% of his pitches, the highest curveball percentage of his career with a minimum of two batters faced according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Scott Servais:
He certainly wasn't dominating anybody coming into the game, so we expected to do a lot more against him and just weren't able to get it done.

Hinch:
I don't carry the burden of the early-season losses for him because he wasn't with us. I am proud of him for containing his energy and containing his excitement...I feel so good for him because he was able to channel that inner energy that he has and deliver a huge start. He really did step onto this team and provide a great first impression.

Sanchez's last three starts: 16.2IP, 11H/5ER, 22K:2BB. 2.70 ERA /  0.78 WHIP. Sanchez:
It's hard to come to a team and feel like you can contribute right away when they're already so good. So for tonight to end the way it did, these guys coming in behind me and doing their part, too...I'm so happy.

Sanchez is the 2nd pitcher in MLB history to be part of a combined no-hitter in his first start with a new team.

Devenski:
When I saw Vogelbach hit it in the air and Redd catch it and everyone came running at me, it was pretty cool...I kind of looked up when I was walking in from the bullpen and saw a 0 up there. I had to step off the mound and take a step back and gather myself. Going out there and being able to finish this, with these groups of guys, is something that's going to live on forever. I'm happy to be a part of it.

*Seattle's Mallex Smith:
It's kind of embarrassing. But it's baseball. It's sports, you know. Sometimes the dice roll your way, sometimes not.

Seattle started the season 13-2. They're 34-64 since.

*Hinch, on the Astros' seeming ability to turn pitchers around:
We don't have magic dust. There's a lot of people in the organization that go to work to try to find the one thing that can unlock people's potential.

Aha! But there's this from Hinch, as well:
I want to credit Aaron Sanchez more than I credit the magic dust we sometimes sprinkle on these guys. 

There is absolutely a jar of Magic Dust.

Gerrit Cole wasn't terribly thrilled with some fans who were leaving in the 9th Inning:
I just don't think everybody was aware of what was going on. I certainly wouldn't leave. But if you want to leave, you can leave. I'm not telling you to stay or leave, I just hope that you know that it was a no-hitter.

*Will Harris: 1IP, 0H/0ER, 0K:1BB.
Joe Biagini: 1IP, 0H/0ER, 1K:1BB
Chris Devenski: 1IP, 0H/0ER, 1K:0BB

Chandler Rome: How the bullpen locked down the no-hitter.

*2-6 in the lineup (Altuve-Brantley-Bregman-Yordan-Correa): 11x25 / 8 RBI with four doubles, a triple, and a home run.

*Michael Brantley was 3x5 with two doubles and 4RBI. He's hitting .320/.379/.516 with a career-high in OPS. It's his 11th 3+ hit game of the season.

*Astros hitters have recorded at least three hits in a game 70 times this season:
Brantley: 11
Gurriel: 10
Altuve: 9
Springer: 8
Bregman: 7
Reddick: 6
Correa: 5
Yordan: 4
Marisnick: 3
White: 3
Chirinos: 1
Kemp: 1
Mayfield: 1
Straw: 1

*Jose Altuve was 2x5 with his 18th home run of the year. On June 20 his OPS was .769. It's now .907. Over those 35 games he's hitting .373/.417/.633. He has a 1.212 OPS since the All-Star Break.

*Bregman, Yordan, and Correa each had two hits.

If you're a GM and the Astros call asking to trade for one your players, and you don't know why they want said player, you should immediately hang up the phone and figure out what you're not seeing.

— Jared Diamond (@jareddiamond) August 3, 2019

Other Astros News

*The Astros had a successful inaugural Hall of Fame class last night. Shoutout to Mike Acosta. J.R. Richard:
I cannot explain the feeling that's going through me right now. I'm just appreciative to be here with such a bunch of great guys. To have played with those guys has been a true pleasure and honor. And I'm so happy for the franchise and how it's grown.

*The pairing of Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke is extremely rare in MLB history, writes Andrew Simon. Simon:
It's not just that the Astros have two likely future Hall of Famers. It's that they have them at a time when both pitchers are both so highly accomplished already (60+ WAR, Cy Young Awards), and still highly effective.

*There are three pitchers in MLB with 140+ IP thrown and a WHIP under 1.00: Verlander, Cole, Greinke.

*This recent story in The Athletic breaks down just how Aaron Sanchez had a 6.07 ERA.

*July AL Player of the Month: Yuli Gurriel
July AL Pitcher of the Month: Gerrit Cole. The last pitcher to win back-to-back Pitcher of the Month awards was Blake Snell, who later won the AL Cy Young.
July AL Rookie of the Month: Yordan Alvarez

It's the first time since June 2006 (Minnesota) that one team has swept all three awards in the same month.

*Brian T. Smith: Join the Astros, be a part of history.

*Zack Greinke is a really interesting guy with a well-documented history of social anxiety. Brian T. Smith writes that, with the Astros, Greinke can just be himself. Luhnow:
He's not a guy that seeks the limelight, and that actually works well for us here in Houston and slotting in with Verlander and Cole. He's not going to have to be the guy that's in front of the camera the whole time. But he's a competitor. The one thing I've heard about him is he's really intelligent...The GM of the Diamondbacks told me that he loves to study the draft, he loves to absorb the draft, he knows all the draft players. So I'm looking forward to having him as a special assistant.

The Astros have so many Personalities on the team: Bregman, Reddick, Correa (and Daniella, of course), Springer, Yuli. Verlander and Cole. Yordan is a serene lake at dawn. Greinke doesn't have to provide a soundbite. It's perfect. I have a fairly decent case of social anxiety, or maybe anxiety/depression in general. It manifests itself in different ways. I drink a decent amount, but I'm working on that. Hot Links, and Astros County in general, has helped. Running helps more. I didn't really feel this anxiety during the live show but I would much rather, 99% of the time, to just stay home. Maybe it's teaching/coaching that forces me to be social and caring and accommodating, and there's something to taking on the weight of 120+ students and all of their emotions and the weight of their general existence. I tell my students that if they just can't deal with the cafeteria then my room is open (provided the door stays open and I tell our hall security guard that I have a student in there - can't be too careful) for them to just sit and eat lunch. We can talk if they want, or I can get some work done while they remove themselves from a situation if they don't. I'm exhausted when I get home.

So to the Houston reporters - and I know at least a couple of you read this blog - just leave Greinke alone. He'll talk when he wants to talk. If you're reading this, do not think that Greinke is "such a weirdo." Laugh at the legitimately funny stories surrounding Greinke, but do not just chalk him up to being a head case. Because in reality, who isn't?

And if you want more insight into who Greinke actually is, I'd suggest a couple of Joe Posnanski pieces. This one, too.

*Round Rock beat Sacramento 10-9. Kyle Tucker was 2x5 with a double and his 28th home run of the year. Abraham Toro was 2x3. Alex De Goti was 2x4 with a home run and 3RBI. Brad Peacock "threw" 1.1IP, 3H/5ER, 2K:2BB in a rehab start.

*Corpus won 5-1. Colton Shaver hit a three-run home run and JJ Matijevic added another long ball.  Forrest Whitley gets the start for Corpus today.

*Cal Stevenson made his Astros org debut last night, hitting 6th for Fayetteville. He went 0x3 with an RBI and a stolen base in a 4-3 Fayetteville loss. Shawn Dubin (13th Round - 2018) threw 4.2IP, 2H/2R (0ER), 11K:1BB.

Dubin's last two starts: 9.2IP, 5H/2ER, 20K:3BB.

*Quad Cities lost to Kane County 2-1 in 10 innings. Jose Alberto Rivera and Jonathan Bermudez combined to throw 8IP, 7H/1ER, 8K:4BB. The game-winning run for Kane County was unearned.

Other Stuff

*FanGraphs' David Laurilia has really great background on Former Astros Great Corbin Martin's development all the way to Arizona.

*Patrick Sandoval is getting called up to Anaheim. Sandoval, drafted by the Astros in the 11th Round of the 2015 Draft, was traded to Anaheim in 2018 for Martin Maldonado.

*The Yankees' Edwin Encarnacion, who had hit nine home runs as a Yankee, has a right wrist fracture. The Yankees' IL takes ten minutes just to read.

*Here's an academic paper that looks at pitcher mechanics and how fatigue leads to injuries, which leads to poor pitching mechanics, which leads to...

*Back from heartbreak after missing promotion to the Premier League, my beloved Leeds United kicks off the 2019/2020 season this morning against Bristol City. They're anywhere from 3:2 to 7:4 on winning promotion this year.

*A Musical Selection:



Periodic reminder that the Hot Links Playlist is on Spotify and is now over 10 hours long.

Wait.

The Astros blew up the Trade Deadline after the 3pm Deadline acquiring Cal Stevenson, Joe Biagini, Aaron Sanchez, and - holy crap - Zack Greinke. And that's after re-acquiring Martin Maldonado earlier in the day.

The Return

Martin Maldonado. 

You know Machete.

Joe Biagini

Astros getting a guy with 88th percentile curveball spin, and elite vertical movement, but who only throws the pitch 7% of the time ... https://t.co/Arwwf5JsWY

— Andrew Simon (@AndrewSimonMLB) July 31, 2019

Looks like a Strom Special.

Biagini - a 29-year old reliever - won't be a free agent until 2023. In 50IP in 2019, he has allowed 50H/21ER, 50K:17BB, 3.78 ERA / 3.80 xFIP. He has an 81% LOB rate this season, AND his HR/9 rate has declined from 2018 to 2019.

Aaron Sanchez

Sanchez - a 27-year old righty starter - has had some, uh, issues this year, but he looks like another project for the analytics team and Strom. Sanchez is 3-14 with a 6.07 ERA belied by a 5.04 FIP and a 5.09 xFIP. In 112.1IP he has allowed 131H/76ER, with 99K:59BB. The Astros have likely seen something fixable in all of that. He won't be a free agent until 2021.

Sanchez also has three options remaining, so maybe the Astros don't bring him up immediately and instead send him to Triple-A.

Cal Stevenson

Stevenson - a 22-year old lefty-hitting outfielder - is hitting .298/.388/.393 in High-A. He was the Blue Jays' 10th Round pick in 2018, so this is just his second professional season, and his first full pro season, in baseball.

Rainier Rivas

The Astros get 18-year old Rainier Rivas from the Angels for Max Stassi, made expendable by the arrival of Martin Maldonado. Rivas was hitting .400/.512/.543 in the DSL and has come to the States in the Arizona League, where he's hitting .260/.309/.440. He's an 18-year old 6'3" 220lb lefty-hitting outfielder. That's crazy.

Raider Uceta

Uceta is the other piece in the Stassi trade. Also 18, also a lefty, Uceta has spent all of 2019 in the Arizona League, where he's hitting .278/.341/.373

Zack Greinke

Just a future Hall of Famer. Some initial thoughts on this one...

Greinke will be 36 in October, but that hasn't stopped him from putting in a career year in a career full of career years. In 141IP in 2019, Greinke has allowed 115H/45ER, 128K:18BB, 2.84 ERA / 0.94 WHIP (which leads the National League). He has a 7.11 K:BB ratio. And he's about to get deployed by the Astros' coaching staff. He's a thoughtful fella, likes analytics, so pitching under Hinch and Strom and with Verlander and Cole is probably going to work out pretty well.

The Astros are taking on $53m of the $80.5m remaining on Greinke's contract. Doing so probably precluded Arizona insisting on Kyle Tucker and/or Forrest Whitley. It gives the Astros easily the best Top 3 in all of baseball, which will of course carry over to October. This is insane.

This move also adds an immediate placeholder for Gerrit Cole's spot in the rotation after this season, when Cole is eligible for free agency. Remember that Lance McCullers, Jr. comes back in 2020, as well. So the Astros will waltz into 2020 with Verlander-Greinke-McCullers and then some Wade Miley-type guy who we don't even think about and then we look up and see he has a 2.98 ERA and then possibly Forrest Whitley, the #1 pitching prospect in baseball, who will spend September learning from Verlander, Cole, and Greinke, and then Spring Training, as well. There is no reason to be upset about this trade.

The Send-Off

The Astros are losing the following.

To Toronto: Derek Fisher. That's it. Seriously. I looked. I looked for a long time.

To Arizona: J.B. Bukauskas, Seth Beer, Corbin Martin, and Josh Rojas. If you read this blog, I don't have to give you the breakdown of who the Astros sent to Arizona, but I will try to give you a reason to not be all that broken up.

Bukauskas: He's not Forrest Whitley. The 1st Round pick in the 2017 Draft, Bukauskas has had a rough go of it. He has walked 54 batters in 85.2IP at Corpus and has a 5.25 ERA / 1.58 WHIP. At Double-A, where he is admittedly a couple of years younger than his competition.

Martin: He's not Forrest Whitley. Promising pitcher, had Tommy John surgery, and won't pitch until 2021.

Rojas: He's not Kyle Tucker. Utility guy who was really putting it together at Round Rock. Can play 2B/3B/LF and did so hitting .310/.402/.586 at Triple-A. He's 25, but was also a 26th Round pick in 2017. The Astros have Aledmys Diaz.

Beer: He's not Kyle Tucker. 1st Round pick in 2018. He's also nine months older than Yordan Alvarez.

The Astros County Summary

Are you kidding? The Astros remade the bullpen and added Zack F. Greinke and didn't lose Kyle Tucker or Forrest Whitley.

Saturday Morning Hot Links

Well that was...disappointing. Odd that it's the beginning of July and the Astros and Angels have only played three times, counting last night. Houston lost the opener of a home series for the first time since April 25, dropping the game 5-4 to Anaheim. The Astros are 55-33 with a 6.5-game lead on Oakland. There are two games remaining before the All-Star Break.

*The Astros are 7-3 in their last 10 games. The Angels broke a seven-game losing streak to Houston dating back to August 31, 2018.

*Justin Verlander stays giving up bombs. Verlander threw 7IP, 7H/4ER, 6K:1BB, 3HR allowed. That's 26 home runs allowed by Verlander in 2019. He has walked 27 batters. It's the 4th time he has allowed 3HR in a start - two have come against Anaheim, three have been since June 12. Angels manager Brad Ausmus, on Verlander:
I've seen Verlander firsthand, saw him for years. Great competitor, great pitcher and you know you're in for a battle. With that being said, I haven't come across any pitcher who's pitched in the big leagues for any length of time who's unbeatable. You will find most of them have losses. Really, the frame of mind is, yeah, it's going to be tough but nobody is unbeatable.

FACT CHECK: Brad Ausmus is correct. Most of the pitchers in MLB history do, in fact, have losses.

Verlander's current 18.7% HR/FB rate is insane, obliterating his previous career high of 11.5% in 2017. Only eight pitchers in MLB have a higher HR/FB (rate at which fly balls end up leaving the yard) rate. Gerrit Cole is 8th, at 19.1%. Verlander and Cole have a combined 5.3 fWAR. The other seven pitchers have a combined 4.8 fWAR.

Verlander:
I've got to do a better job of keeping the ball in the yard. It's been a common theme here all year really, but really the last four or five starts. I've got to figure out a way to combat this thing. 

Hinch:
He's a fly-ball pitcher, and he lives at the top of the zone. They did a good job of beating him to the spot a couple of times above the zone. There's no secret where he's going to pitch. They did a good job of having a game plan against him and executed against the high fastball...JV was all over the strike zone. He commanded the ball pretty well. You look up and you don't understand how with that stuff and that command, how the night turned for him.

McTaggart notes that Verlander's 2.98 ERA is the lowest first-half ERA of his career.

.168/.221/.386 with 26 Home Runs would be a very strange season statline for a hitter.

That's what MLB has done against Justin Verlander this season.

— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) July 6, 2019

*Hector Rondon allowed an 8th Inning homer to Mike Trout to put the Angels up 5-2.

*Michael Brantley went 4x4 with two doubles and a home run. He had four of the Astros' six hits. It's the 13th 4-hit game of Brantley's career and the first since May 3, 2018. It's just the 14th time this season that any MLB player has had three extra-base hits and only one RBI. Jack Mayfield and Yuli Gurriel have also done it this year. That has happened 35 times in franchise history, the last being Martin Maldonado (who doubled, tripled, and homered in the same game on August 19, 2018).

And the reason he only had one RBI is because the top three of Springer-Altuve-Bregman were a combined 0x11 with 2BB.

*Yuli Gurriel hit his 12th home run, going 1x4 with 3RBI. In his last 15 games Gurriel is hitting .361/.400/.787 with more home runs (7) than strikeouts (5).

*Hinch is looking at putting Wade Miley in between Verlander and Cole in the rotation. Hinch:
What order that is is going to be determined. It's going to be different. It's not going to be full forward as we expected. There's a couple of decisions that we have to make. I have the order in pencil.

I'm penciling in Max Scherzer in between Verlander and Cole, so let's see how that pans out.

Jake Kaplan says that's all well and good but the biggest question coming out of the All-Star Break: Who is SP5?

*Rough news as Corbin Martin had Tommy John Surgery on Wednesday. He'll obviously miss the rest of 2019 and most of 2020, as well. Hinch:
I care about the player. We can talk all you want about the depth and how important he is to the organization, and what it does to our pitching. But the reality is, we need to focus on him. This is a tough injury and one we know all too well with [Lance McCullers Jr.], watching him go through rehab every day.

Luhnow: Martin's injury could make acquiring a pitcher with an extra year of control "more appealing."

Related: Jon Heyman reports that Detroit's asking price for Matt Boyd is "over the top." The Astros have been "scouting Boyd hard."

Related: Marcus Stroman will not pitch this weekend, giving him extra time to recover from a left pectoral cramp.

*Here's a fantastic story from Chandler Rome about how Yordan Alvarez became an Astro, and how Alvarez was the only one in Cuba who knew the Gurriels were defecting.

*Last summer, the Astros almost traded Derek Fisher for Detroit's Nick Castellanos. So between those talks and the Verlander trade, Houston and Detroit know each other's systems pretty well.

*Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco has been diagnosed with leukemia.

*Phillies OF Odubel Herrera was suspended for the remainder of the 2019 season as a result of violating the league's domestic violence policy. MLB specifically said that Herrera was ineligible for the postseason, which was not the case for Roberto Osuna in 2018.

*Leeds United has managed to piss off perhaps their best/most important player: Pontus Jansson.

*Deadspin: The Man Who Walked His Life Away.

*The rise and fall of Takeru Kobayashi.

*A Musical Selection:

Monday Morning Hot Links

The Astros managed a sweep of the Lowly Seattle Mariners, 6-1. Houston is 53-32 with a 6.5-game lead. It's Houston's first three-game winning streak since June 2-4, when the Astros wrapped up a W5. The Astros are also 9-1 against Seattle this season, having gone 9-10 against the Mariners in 2018.

*On April 11 Seattle was 13-2. Houston was 8-5. Since:
Houston: 45-27
Seattle: 24-59.

You hate to see it.

*Division Leads as of July 1, previous years:
2019: 6.5
2018: 1.5
2017: 13.5
2016: -9.0
2015: 4.0
2014: -16.0
2013: -18.0
2012: -11.5
2011: -15.0
2010: -13.0

*Off-Day Playoff Odds

-FanGraphs (101-61): 98.7% to win the division, 32.4% to win the pennant, 19.8% to win the World Series
-FiveThirtyEight (100-62): 92% to win the division, 14% to win the World Series
-Baseball Prospectus (100-62): 97.6% to win the division, 20.1% to win the World Series

*Gerrit Cole had himself a day: 7IP, 5H/1ER, 10K:1BB. He has an AL-leading 161 strikeouts, and is nine strikeouts behind Max Scherzer for the MLB lead. Cole:
I just like to leave it out there. I just like to feel like I put in a good day's work. When you get that privilege to back out and you get the leash to go over 100 pitches you respect that. You respect the guys that have been battling for you for the previous seven innings to keep the score where it is.

Sign this man to a long-term deal.

Gerrit Cole, 10+ strikeout games, by year:
2013: 1
2014: 2
2015: 1
2016: 0
2017: 2
2018: 8
2019: 9

*Gerrit Cole gave up his 17th home run of 2019, 14 of them have been solo shots. Cole has given up 46 runs on the year, 40 of them earned. Nineteen of those runs have come on home runs (41.3%). Verlander has allowed 39 runs (38 earned) and 29 of those came off of home runs (74.4%). Hinch:
Crawford hit a ball that was arguably a ball out of the zone - upper 90s - for a homer and [Cole] settled in and was completely dominant. He executed almost flawlessly and finished his outing throwing 100. I run out of things to say about outings like this where he's in cruise control and he's executing.

*Josh James struck out the side in the 9th on 15 pitches.

*The Astros have now gone homer-less in back-to-back games for the first time since June 16/17. They were 0-2 in those games. They're now 5-17 in games where they do not hit a home run.

*Houston has gone eight straight games without striking out 10+ times. They're 5-3 in those games.

*Jose Altuve was 3x5 with an RBI. It's his 3rd 3-hit game of the year. He has gone six straight games without a GIDP. McTaggart notes that this was Altuve's 141st 3-hit game of his career, tying him with Jeff Bagwell for 2nd-most in franchise history. Craig Biggio had 225 3-hit games in his career [mind explodes]. We did not fully appreciate Craig Biggio.

*Yordan Alvarez returned to the lineup and went 2x3 with a walk, double and 3RBI. He has multi-hit games in six of the 15 complete games he has played. He has 21 RBI in 69 career PAs. Hinch:
He's a difference maker in the middle of the order when he gets pitches to hit and hits them hard. It's nice to have him back obviously. He's still not moving around great...but he made a huge impact today.

Yordan will be available off the bench in dumbass pitchers-hitting Colorado.

*Tyler White was 0x4 with 3Ks. He was 0x2 w/RISP, bringing his season total to 6x40 when batting with runners in scoring position - a .150 average. He has 15 RBI in 213 PAs in 2019.

*Max Stassi was 1x4 with a double. It's his 2nd extra-base hit of the season and his first since he hit a home run on April 20 against Southwest Texarkana.

*Myles Straw has played 12 complete games in 2019. He has gotten on base at least once in nine of those games.

*Brian McTaggart has your three takeaways from the Seattle series.

*Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, and Ryan Pressly were named to the All-Star Team, giving the Astros six representatives - most in the majors. It's the third year in a row that the Astros have had six All-Stars. Altuve will miss his first All-Star Game since 2013. It's Ryan Pressly's first All-Star nod.

*Cionel Perez went on the Minor-League IL on Sunday. So he, uh, obviously won't be starting on Tuesday at Colorado. Jose Urquidy, Corpus' Opening Day starter in 2019, is a candidate to start. Brutal to make your MLB debut at Coors Field, should that happen.

*Luhnow: Corbin Martin "isn't pitching anytime soon." He'll get a second opinion early this week.

*Kyle Tucker hit a Grand Slam in the 1st Inning and went 1x2 with 2BB in a 7-6 Round Rock win over Omaha. A.J. Reed (remember him?) was 3x4 with a home run and 2RBI. Felipe Paulino recorded his 3rd save, throwing 1IP, 2H/2ER, 1K:0BB.

*Bryan De La Cruz was 3x5 with a double, homer, and 3RBI in an 11-6 Corpus loss to Amarillo. Riley Ferrell threw the final 2IP, allowing 1H/0ER, 2K:0BB.

*Jake Adams hit a grand slam as part of a 5RBI day as Fayetteville beat Myrtle Beach 8-4.

*Sunday's Quad Cities game was suspended due to rain.

*Tri-City defeated Aberdeen 5-3 thanks to 3-hit games from A.J. Lee and Luis Santana, and 2-hit games from Andres Santana and Grae Kessinger.

*The Mets DFA'd Former Astros Great Carlos Gomez.

*On Bobby Bonilla Day, check out this 2015 article from Craig Calcaterra on the worst deferred-money contracts in baseball.

*Vice: The Chilling Mystery of High-Altitude Suicides.

*Bloomberg: A raging heroin addiction fueled a former Boeing engineer's year-long, 30-bank robbery spree.

*A Musical Selection:

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

The Astros put it on the Pirates, getting help in multiple innings for the first time in quite a while. Gerrit Cole beat his former team with six strong innings, and the bullpen shut it down. Houston is 50-30 with 82 games remaining. They're 28-11 at home.

*Houston has scored 5+ runs in three straight games for the first time since May 11-14, when they did it in four straight games.

*The win against Pittsburgh snapped a four-game losing streak to NL Central teams.

*Former Pirates Great Gerrit Cole threw 6IP, 7H/1ER, 3K:2BB. It's the fewest number of strikeouts for Cole in an Astros uniform, and his fewest since June 13, 2017, when the Pirates beat Colorado. Cole's teams are 13-7 when he gets three or fewer strikeouts in a game.

*The Pirates did not hit a home run in the game. It's Cole's 5th start of the season in which he didn't allow a home run, and overall it's the Astros' 17th game in which the pitchers didn't allow a ball to leave the yard (see Reddick, Josh below). Cole:
It was unique. I remember facing these guys in Spring Training and throwing live BPs and throwing (simulated) games and coming up with some of them. There's just a lot of memories that you have. 

*The bullpen of Josh James, Will Harris, and Collin McHugh combined for 3IP, 1H/0ER, 3K:0BB. McHugh made his first appearance since going on the IL. Hinch, on McHugh:
We're going to need a bridge. I'm looking for somebody to step up - not necessarily be a right-handed specialist - but to be really good against right-handed hitters and be a weapon. We put him in the bullpen, and as much as it felt like a demotion for him, it was more about using him as a weapon in the right spots with the right hitters.

*The Astros got things started offensively with Yuli Gurriel's 2-run home run. Gurriel has now homered in back-to-back appearances for the first time since September 3/4, 2018. Gurriel had hit two home runs in his previous 162 Plate Appearances combined. Hinch, on Gurriel's homer:
Yuli's homer was a very good approach on a fastball pitcher who was pitching a little differently than he does in the National League. He threw us a lot more breaking balls than he's throwing those guys over in the National League. We had to make some adjustments because we didn't have a lot of experience facing him. Yuli hunted fastball, got fastball and kept it fair.

*Alex Bregman was a [wink] triple shy of the cycle, going 3x4 with his 22nd home run of the season. It's his first game with a double and a homer in the same game since September 5, 2018. It's his 5th 3-hit game of the year. I have a feeling that Bregman is about to go on a tear.

*Josh Reddick was 2x3 - his 25th multi-hit game of the season, matching his total of 2+ hit games in 2018. He also pulled back a home run in the 4th inning. Reddick, on the catch:
At the very last second it took a hard right turn. Kind of unexpected for me because I thought I had a good shot at it and all of the sudden I had to quick jump. And it wasn't the prettiest, cleanest of catches, but I caught it. That's all that matters.

*Yordan Alvarez hit a double. He has ten extra-base hits in his first 13 games, and has at least one XBH in nine games.

*Tyler White was 0x4, including an 0x2 w/RISP.

*Carlos Correa said that he would play if the fans voted him in to the All-Star Game. Less than five minutes later Hinch threw cold water all over that piece of bullcrap:
Unfortunately for him, I don't think it's that realistic, given the time he's had off and he hasn't played a rehab game yet. Maybe by then he's active, but unfortunately with the timing, I don't see how that's a possibility.

Within that link we find that:
-Correa is running on the field.
-Forrest Whitley - who hasn't pitched since May 23 - should begin throwing again in the next couple of weeks.

*Corbin Martin is back in Houston after experiencing what was described as a "potentially serious" elbow injury. He last pitched on Sunday.

*JJ Matijevic has been back for a few days after getting suspended for 50 games on April 30 for testing positive for a 2nd time for a drug of abuse. He hit a home run last night in a 3-2 walk-off loss for Fayetteville.

*The Astros are continuing to look at extended netting along the baselines.

*Kevin Youkilis has opened a brewery in California and, by God, if it's not called the Greek God of Hops then what are we even doing here?

*Astroball's Ben Reiter takes a look at the improbable transformation of Alex Rodriguez.

*Looking back at the last 50 years of history between Honduras and El Salvador, and the origins of "The Soccer War."

*A Musical Selection:

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

The Astros, yet again, put an absolute beatdown on the Mariners late last night by a final score of 11-5. They also broke yet another team record. This team is something else. Notes:

Kemp: 2-4, Solo HR
Chirinos: 1-4, Solo HR
Fisher: 2-4, RBI, SB
Miley: 5 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K

Full Box:

The Astros now have a double-digit lead on the division. Yeah, it's time to start clearing your schedules for October and start saving up money for playoff tickets.

We have TWO (2) articles from Astros County .com that were posted yesterday, so let's get you caught up to speed on those:

The first relates to the Astros Day 2 of the MLB Draft.

The second relates to the Astros and their insane amount of runs given up via the solo home run.

And now for things around the Web...

Framber is in and Martin is out of the Astros rotation.

Derek Fisher's offensive adjustments are very much paying off.

The Astros drafted another Stubbs.

The Yordan Alvarez call may be arriving sooner rather than later.

Speaking of Yordan, he hit another home run last night. Remember the Chandler Rome tweet at the top of this post? Funnily enough, this was also Round Rock's 100th HR of the year.

Some ELITE numbers have been put up by some of our MiLB Players of the Month for May.

The Yankees are the favorites to sign Keuchel, and how badly do the Astros want/need him?

Champion Energy has a new spokesman: it's Alex Bregman.

Scientists have discovered that ancient cats had teeth so strong that they could actually puncture a skull with a single chomp.

On This Day in Baseball History

In 1973, the Rangers passed up Hall of Famers Robin Yount and Dave Winfield to draft David Clyde with the #1 pick. Clyde was immediately pulled into a starting role for Texas and got shelled. He lasted six years in the majors with a 18-33 record.

In 1997, Alex Rodriguez became the first Mariner to hit for the cycle.

In 2002, the Coca-Cola Company Branch, Minute Maid, officially acquired the naming rights to the new Astros baseball field previously known as Enron Field.

In 2008, James Shields plunked Coco Crisp, which incited a major benches clearing brawl that led to the suspension of 8 players.

In 2015, the first switch pitcher in the modern era, Pat Venditte, made his major league debut.

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

Good morning. I ran three miles this morning, the longest I've run since April 4. I'm back, baby. And the Astros, despite missing THREE MVP CANDIDATES, continue to win - this time it was 4-2 against the Mariloliners, who are 12-36 in their last 48 games. The Astros, however, are 41-20.

*Houston is 17-5 since Jose Altuve went on the IL. 6-1 since Carlos Correa went on the IL. 10-4 since George Springer went on the IL (he was back for one game before injuring his hamstring). The Astros have a 9.0-game lead on Aren'tlington.

*The Astros' lineup from May 4 (first name) compared to the lineup last night (second name) (one month, try to keep up):

Springer / Fisher
Altuve / Bregman
Bregman / Reddick
Brantley / Gurriel
Correa / Chirinos
Reddick / White
Gurriel / Marisnick
White / Mayfield
Stassi / Straw

Both games were Astros wins.

*Houston is 4-0 at Safeco Field Wherever Seattle Plays Their Home Games Stadium in 2019. Since the beginning of the 2017 season, Houston is 18-5 at Seattle.

*Houston has played 61 games, tied for the 2nd-most in the Majors. Regard, number of games played:
63: Seattle
61: Houston, Los Angeles, Arizona
60: Philadelphia, Atlanta, Milwaukee, San Diego, Anaheim
59: Boston, Baltimore, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland, Kansas City, Oakland, New York Mets, Washington, Cincinnati
58: New York Yankees, Minnesota, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Colorado, San Francisco
57: Tampa, Arlington, Miami
56: Detroit

*The County Mountie was kind enough to take the reins for last night's interminable MLB draft, which was far too long and featured far too much Harold Reynolds. His write-ups:
1-32 Korey Lee and Korey Lee Hot Links

Luhnow, on Korey Lee:
I really feel like this is the right combination, the right package for us, and feel like he's a player that can move relatively quickly and impact our big league club in short order. Not this year, but in the next few years.

Lee:
It was a dream come true. I've been thinking about (getting drafted) my entire life, growing up around baseball and watching the game and learning the game. I couldn't be happier to be with the Houston Astros.

2-68 Grae Kessinger

Some stats from 2019:
Korey Lee: .338/.419/.626, team-high 15HR, team-high 57RBI, 42K:26BB in 198 ABs.
Grae Kessinger: .332/.427/.458, 32K:40BB.

Rounds 3-10 begin today at 12pm. We have your draft financials/updates here. Because who doesn't want to keep track of how much of Jim Crane's money teenagers get?

*The Mariners would have won that game 2-1 if it wasn't for their excellent strategy of using an opener. The Astros scored three runs in the 1st inning, something they've only done five times in 2019.

2019 Seattle Mariners baseball.

A double play ends the inning. Instead... pic.twitter.com/NWWP4Aigrq

— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) June 4, 2019

*Houston got five hits, three of them for extra bases (Bregman double, Reddick triple, Chirinos home run). It's the second time this season the Astros have won a game with five or fewer hits and at least three XBH.

*Josh Reddick got his first triple of 2019 and his first since August 7, 2018 (against San Francisco). The Astros are 7-0 when Reddick triples. Just call the Triple play, Hinch, jeez, this isn't Chinese math.

*After going through a 16-game stretch hitting .174/.350/.348 from May 9-29, Robinson Chirinos has a three-game hit streak with homers in back-to-back games, going 4x12.

*Tyler White was 0x3 with a walk. He's "hitting" .211/.303/.289. He is worth -0.6 bWAR and -0.4 fWAR. Only Yonder Alonso and Kendrys Morales have a lower fWAR among DHs with 130+ PAs. White hit more home runs in his first 18PAs of his MLB career (3) than he has in 132 PAs this season (1). And the balls are juiced! And the Astros are still 21-10 when he starts!

*Seattle's Wade LeBlanc vs Houston, 2019: 12.2IP, 11H/3ER, 7K:2BB.
Wade LeBlanc vs Literally Anyone Else, 2019: 23.2IP, 31H/20ER, 18K:7BB

*Astros pitchers walked five batters for the 6th time this season. Corbin Martin started in three of those games. Martin walked one batter in his MLB debut against the Rangers. In his last 14IP, he has walked 11 batters. He has not recorded 12 outs in three straight starts. Martin:
I was falling behind in the count. I wasn't as aggressive as I needed to be and throwing 30 pitches in the first inning, that kind of slows down the rest of my outing.

Martin BB/9, minors: 2.8
Martin BB/9, Majors: 5.6

Hinch:
When a guy throws that many pitches in that short of time, a lot of things are going wrong. It's a little bit of everything. It's not an easy league. It's not an easy league to adjust to. We've just got to keep working to try to find the solution and not get him overloaded.

Daniel Kramer notes in that last link that Martin has thrown 37.8% of his pitches while behind in the count, 2nd-highest in MLB with a minimum of 250 pitches thrown.

*Framber Valdez took over and rightly got the win, throwing 4IP, 2H/0ER, 3K:2BB. Framber's last six appearances: 11.1IP, 8H/2R (1ER), 8K:7BB.

*Tonight and tomorrow night's games start at 9:10pm Central. The next 9pm start after Wednesday is July 15.

*The Astros are seeing progress from Springer, Diaz, and Altuve, but especially Springer.

*Jack Mayfield will get some reps at 1B.

*Buster Olney: The Astros offered Dallas Keuchel a 1yr/$15m deal in Spring Training which I don't think he accepted. Could be wrong, tho.

*From The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchik: How the Houston Astros Disrupted Player Development to Become MLB's Model Franchise.

*Qatari businessman Nasser el-Khelaifi - chairman of Paris St. Germain - is in advanced talks to buy a huge stake in Leeds United. While an influx of cash would be welcome as Leeds tries to join the Premier League next season, it's problematic from a human rights standpoint and what happens if Leeds and PSG meet in the Champions League !!!2!!

*Be sure to check out this Texas Monthly interview with Okkervil River's Will Sheff.

*We are nowhere close to the limits of athletic performance.

*A Musical Selection:

Friday Morning Hot Links

Yesterday, James brought us a whopping 25 Hot Links. I have, staring at my tabs, maybe significantly less than that. The Astros didn't play last night and it seems as if people are getting tired of writing about how good the Astros are.

Your comments are gone on the website. I can post whatever I want without any repercussions. 😈

Let's check out some odds shall we?
FiveThirtyEight- The Astros and Dodgers have the exact same odds to go to the playoffs, go to the World Series, and win the World Series.
Fangraphs - The Dodgers have a 20.3% chance to win the World Series followed by the Astros at 20.2%. We have a comfortable 99.1% chance to win the division.
Vegas - 4/1 for the Astros, 4/1 for the Dodgers.

~Forrest Whitley has been placed on the DL due to a 12.20 ERA Shoulder Fatigue.

~The Astros seem to make any pitcher relevant, this time with Wade Miley.

Chandler Rome's Astros mailbag was posted last night, which includes questions about the middle infielders, Corbin Martin, and (of course) Yordan Alvarez.

Climbing Tal's Hill ranked the top 10 best "diamonds in the rough" prospects in Astros history.

Here's something fun to look at: the Astros Prospect statlines!
Round Rock
Yordan Alvarez: .367 AVG, 20 HR, 64 RBI
Kyle Tucker: .261 AVG, 16 HR, 10 SB
Corpus Christi
Abraham Toro: .322 AVG, 9 HR, 42 RBI
Seth Beer: .331 AVG, 11 HR, 45 RBI
Cristian Javier: 39.1 IP, 50 K, 1.60 ERA
Quad Cities
Jeremy Pena: .302 AVG, 42 RBI, 15 SB
Enoli Paredes: 40 IP, 53 K, 1.58 ERA, 0.98 WHIP

Full Prospect Watch:

On This Day in Baseball History

In 1975, the Astros put up a dozen in the 8th inning to break a 3-3 tie against the Phillies.

In 1997, Ila Borders became the first woman to appear in a minor league baseball game.

In 2012, Carlos Gonzalez hit his 4th consecutive home run off of Astros pitching, becoming only the 22nd player to do so (shoutout to Lucas Harrell, David Carpenter, Xavier Cedeno, and Bud Norris, respectively).

Saturday Morning Hot Links

Good news/Bad news. Yes, the Astros won, but it looks as though George Springer will spend a decent amount of time on the IL after doing something to his hamstring. Wade Miley dealt. Pressly and Osuna are human. Houston won 4-3. They're 34-18, having played 34 games in the last 36 days. It'll be 39 games in 41 days when they have their next day off, on Thursday.

*First up, let's get to George Springer. After missing the last four games with a sore back, Springer did something to his hamstring making a sliding catch. It is being described as "significant." Springer:
It sucks, to be honest. It's hard, but I'll make it through. I've just got to support the team the best way I can.

Remember that Altuve has missed over two weeks for something they didn't think was that big of a deal. Hinch:
I'm not looking forward to the diagnosis, to be honest. It doesn't look very good. He never pulls himself out of a game like that. He was limping from the very beginning...Our best team has George Springer in the leadoff spot.

Have a nice cup of bleach and look forward to seeing Springer around the All-Star Break.

*Against Boston since the beginning of the 2017 season (postseason included), the Astros are 15-12, outscoring them 134-115. Fourteen of those games were decided by two runs or fewer.

*Anyway, on to the game, which the Astros won. Houston got four hits and one extra-base hit - Jake Marisnick's 6th home run of the year. It's the first time since September 5, 2017 that the Astros have gotten four hits, one extra-base hit, and won the game.

*Top four in the lineup (Springer-Bregman-Correa-Gurriel): 0x14, 1K:1BB.

*The Astros were 0x7 w/RISP. Reddick-White-Marisnick were a combined 0x5 w/RISP. That said, Marisnick made two great catches in center field to help seal the win. Hinch:
There's not much not to like (about Marisnick) in a game like that. When you're a bench player...you just want an opportunity. You just want a chance to show it. And he's doing great things on the field. It's pretty impressive.

Marisnick:
Anytime you get a chance to get in there and get consistent reps and see pitching consistently it makes it a little bit easier to make adjustments. When you're not playing every day and you're trying to make adjustments and make things work it's hard. So it's been nice to play every day.

*Wade Miley changed his attack plan on the Red Sox, throwing way more cutters this time. Miley: 6IP, 4H/1ER, 8K:2BB. The last time Wade Miley recorded 8+ strikeouts? June 17, 2017.

*Jackie Bradley Jr hit a home run in the 8th Inning off of Ryan Pressly, breaking his 40-game streak without allowing a run. Roberto Osuna allowed a home run in the 9th to Christian Vazquez, breaking his 18-game streak without allowing a run. It's the first time this season that the Astros have allowed a home run in the 8th and 9th innings.

*What. A. Slide. by Aledmys Diaz:

chose the red pill pic.twitter.com/Z555KPLRvR

— Calhoun (@linkcalhoun) May 25, 2019

*Asked whether Yordan Alvarez's continued presence in Round Rock is Super-Two related, Luhnow:
There is no rush, but there is a methodical plan that we're going through to make sure that when he get here we have him contribute and don't find out a month later that he wasn't ready or isn't able to play left field.

*Jake Kaplan says Corbin Martin's leash is longer thanks to McHugh's injury, though Framber might get sent back to Round Rock to stretch out. Good piece on Martin's struggles with pitch usage.

*Everyone, myself included, is kinda sorta wondering just WHAT THE HELL HAS HAPPENED TO FORREST WHITLEY. Chandler Rome, who has Access, did some digging. [Hey Siri, figure out how to get Access]. Luhnow says he might be hurt:
I think there's some arm fatigue, something in that area. There's no pain necessarily, just he's mentioned a couple times some discomfort.

At this point, it's probably better just to give him 10 days off and reset.

*The Astros' SLG is their most interesting stat.

*A.J. Hinch had to buy a bottle of wine for Gerrit Cole.

*Danny Knobler: What Verlander is doing right now, at Age 36, is unreal. Nolan Ryan comes to mind.

*Jayson Stark's Useless Info Department column is very Fun this week.

*From AstrosFuture: Go get Max Scherzer.

*FanGraphs: The cost of signing Keuchel or Kimbrel.

*Cavan Biggio made his MLB debut last night, just in case you had any hopes of holding on to any semblance of still being Young. BGO:
Obviously, it's hard to put into words. I can't tell you how exciting it is for our family and for him. He put the time and the effort and the work into it, and now to be able to be a big leaguer. We're excited about this evening.

Between the Bautista Bat Flip and Biggio, we're all okay with the Blue Jays doing well. Biggio was 0x3 with 2Ks. Lourdes Gurriel, Jr.

*Good Gesture:

Thank you to the @Astros PR team including Gene Dias, who grew up in Hanson, Mass just like my Dad. https://t.co/W45OG4f62V

— Ben Cafardo (@Ben_ESPN) May 24, 2019

*How the Fenway Sports Group built Liverpool.

*Yes, this photo of the line to summit Everest is real.

*A Musical Selection:

Friday Morning Hot Links

The Astros brought shame upon their families and split a home series with the Chicago F. White Sox, who will be Very Good soon, but that does not exempt the Astros from heaping burning coals upon their heads. Let us continue to keep in mind that the Astros did not have George Springer in the lineup, nor Jose Altuve. Houston is 33-18.

*The last time a starting pitcher threw a CGSHO against the Astros was May 2, 2018, when Luis Severino did it for the Yankees. The last time the Astros did not get an extra-base hit was April 29 in the 1-0 loss to the Twins.

*The Houston Astros' consecutive games with a home run streak ended at 19, tying a franchise record.

*In 20 games from April 26-May 17 the Astros grounded into 13 double plays. In the six games since, the Astros have grounded into 12 double plays, eight of them in the last three games. For a team that makes a lot of contact it's going to happen, but for crying out loud. Houston's 53 GIDPs are tied with the Angels for the MLB lead. 

*Hinch, on Lucas Giolito:
He was doing really anything he wanted to. He was really good, so hats off to him for coming in and throwing all of his pitches for strikes. He's changed his delivery, his arm action a little bit. He came in and really commanded the game from the very beginning.

*Corbin Martin threw just 3.1IP, 6H/4R (3ER), 3K:1BB and was actually not good. Hinch:
I was watching him, like a lot of young pitchers, carry one bad pitch into the next bad pitch into the next bad pitch. It's a learning experience for him and I know he'll be better for it.

*A bullpen of Framber, Josh James, and Chris Devenski threw 5.2IP, 5H/0ER, 8K:2BB.

*Make sure you check out Chandler Rome's latest Mailbag, covering Gerrit Cole, the lineup, Yordan, etc.

*The Astros hope that Springer is BACK in the lineup tonight against Boston. Also, there is no word yet on when Jose Altuve will begin his rehab assignment and every day that passes is just another reminder that the Astros don't owe us an explanation regarding injuries, and also do not feel obligated to.

*Kyle Tucker was 3x3 with his 13th home run and a walk. Yordan Alvarez went 0x5 with 2Ks, and Forrest Whitley allowed 6H/7ER, 1K:3BB in 2IP as Round Rock got beat by San Antonio. Forrest Whitley has a 12.21 ERA. Whitley's last five appearances: 13.1IP, 25H/25ER, 16K:10BB.

*Former OU reliever Austin Hansen (8th Round - 2018) has been converted back to a starter, but has leaned on Quad Cities pitching coach Erick Abreu as well as conversations with Clayton Kershaw and Homer Bailey while they were workout partners, and has been rewarded with 23 straight scoreless IPs.

*Colton Shaver (39th Round - 2017) has an eight-game hit streak for Fayetteville. He's 23 years old, hitting .297/.396/.490 in 40 games.

*And over at Baseball Prospectus, Our Friend Tyler Stafford has a piece on the Astros' offense, back when it was Good.

*Cavan Biggio - you might have heard of his dad - and Lourdes Gurriel, Jr - you might have heard of his brother - are getting called up by Toronto today.

*FanGraphs' Jay Jaffe: The Indians retain baggage in their lineup that was entirely foreseeable. As it stands, FanGraphs' Playoff Odds for Cleveland give them a 44.7% chance of making the playoffs. The AL Central is hot garbage, so take that for what it's worth. But damn you'd just hate to see Tyler Bauer miss the playoffs.

*Jenny Dial Creech: Baseball helps Santa Fe High School get back to normal. Related: four more school days and I will have successfully made it five years without getting shot while at work.

*Hardball Times' Alfonso Tusa: The Pianist and Satchel Paige.

*Richard Ashcroft is/was the frontman of The Verve, a band I saw live in Houston at the Aerial Theatre on August 9, 1998 (about a week before I went off to college). As you know a part of my psyche is stuck on 1990s BritPop. It is tied for 1st with Pink/Lenny Kravitz on the Worst Concert I Have Ever Attended List, mainly because their opener - Massive Attack (whom I very much enjoy/enjoyed) -  had quit the tour and instead of finding a new opener they just turned off the lights and played house music for the duration of their set. So the lights were off and everyone was waiting for anyone to show up and perform for, like, an hour. Also, The Verve was about to break up. Anyway, you probably know The Verve for their one hit song "Bittersweet Symphony." There are other really good songs on that Urban Hymns album. But Richard Ashcroft has spent the last 21 years not earning a penny off of it because there was an uncleared sample from a Rolling Stones song about which their manager sued, and won. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards got all the money from that song. Now they've given the rights back to Richard Ashcroft and The Verve.

*In yesterday's Hot Links I made referred to Brexit leader Nigel Farage as an "Actual Ass Clown," in part because of his innate stupidity and more because he was trapped on a bus because there were a number of people waiting to throw milkshakes at him. I found this to be very funny. Some of you disagreed. One comment:
Please leave your left wing politics at the door. Thanks

Another:
...Most university faculty are liberal, left-wing sad little people. I guess it bleeds down to the little public high school teachers.

I, predictably, got pretty mad about this. Then I reflected about it and I got more mad that someone actually got so enraged about me laughing at Nigel F. Farage that they wanted to leave a comment. I've been knocked On Here before for "trying to force my Lib views" (paraphrasing) on the good folk who just want to read about the World Series Champion Houston Astros. I will be more mindful about that going forward. But honestly how sad and tribal are you that you can't find something funny about a politician - on either side - being trapped in a bus so they don't get blasted by a crowd of people just waiting to throw their milkshakes at them. If it was [INSERT LIBRUL POLLATISHUN HEE-YUR] and that happened, I'd still laugh my ass off. Also, and I thank the anonymous commenter - for the first time in history - for mentioning that you are not obligated to click absolutely every link. You are also not obligated to read this blog, for what it's worth. For those of you that commented in support of me laughing at this utter douchebag, it's appreciated.

*A Musical Selection:

Sunday Morning Hot Links

The Astros won their 10th straight game thanks to dismantling Boston "starter" Hector Velasquez in the 1st inning that led to a 5-0 lead before Boston even got up to bat. Still, the game felt closer than the 7-3 final would indicate. No matter. Houston is 31-15, winners of 13 of their last 14 games. It's their second W10+ of the season.

The Astros, who improved to a Major League-best 31-15, are only the third team in Major League history to have two winning streaks of at least 10 games before June 1 of a season. The 1941 Cardinals and 1955 Dodgers also did it.

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) May 19, 2019

*As a team, they're hitting .311/.376/.587 with 24 home runs in this ten-game winning streak. As a team, the pitching staff has thrown 90IP, 54H/21R (20ER), 114K:32BB, a 2.00 ERA / 0.96 WHIP. All of this is insane.

*Hinch:
We want to keep winning as many games as we can. Obviously, it's a huge accomplishment. These guys out here, they're playing hard, they're playing well, we're playing good defense, we're pitching, we're hitting. When we play all facets like that, we have a chance to win every night.

Reddick:
I feel like this is the team to beat with us, and we have a target on our back even though we didn't make it all the way last year. I feel like other teams think that as well, because they see how dangerous we really are.

*Corbin Martin made his second career MLB start, his first road start, his first start at Fenway, his first start in a nationally-televised game. And...it went okay. He got squeezed, got frustrated, and walked a bunch of dudes. Ultimately he threw 4IP, 5H/3R (2ER), 0K:4BB.

You have to go back to Corpus, on May 19, 2018 to find the last time Corbin Martin got 2+ outs and didn't record a strikeout. July 19, 2017 was the only other time it has happened while he has been in the Astros' organization.

The last time an Astros starter did not record a strikeout was October 2, 2016, when Brady Rodgers threw 3.2IP, 5H/4ER, 0K:3BB in an 8-1 loss to Anaheim. The last time an Astros starter didn't record a strikeout in a team win was May 14, 2015 when Roberto Hernandez threw 6.1IP of 0K ball in a 6-4 win over Toronto.

Chandler Rome notes how impressive it was that Martin kept it together after a rough first inning. Martin:
I just didn't give them a reason to swing with the offspeed stuff. I wasn't landing it. They were just sitting fastball and, to that point, I was just trying to execute fastball location.

*Josh James held the game down with 3IP, 0H/0ER, 2K:1BB. He's worked through his issues from earlier in the season. Since watching his ERA balloon to 7.90 after an April 26 outing against Cleveland, James: six appearances, 10IP, 3H/0ER, 14K:4BB. 0.00 ERA / 0.70 WHIP. Hinch described James' performance last night as "incredible."

*The Red Sox were unhappy with Home Plate Umpire Jeff Nelson. The Red Sox are 1x16 w/RISP in the last two games. Maybe they should focus on that. Corbin Martin's mom is a pro when it comes to dealing with Ken Rosenthal's zone-baiting.

*Every batter in the Astros' lineup got a hit. Michael Brantley got his 3rd 3-hit game of the season. Brantley has hits in 35 of the 45 games in which he has started, and has gotten on base in 40 of the 45 games in which he has started. Since going five straight games without a hit, ending on April 5, Brantley is hitting .361/.410/.619 with 15K:12BB (161 PAs).

*Alex Cora:
[Velasquez] had Bregman 1-2 and he wasn't able to put him away. Then Brantley, he had him two strikes and wasn't able to put him away. That's what they do. They battle with two strikes and they put good swings with two strikes.

*Alex Bregman was 1x3 with two walks. He has a seven-game hitting streak in which he's hitting .281/.343/.688. It's his 5th 2BB game of the year.

*Josh Reddick hit his 4th home run of the season, and his first homer at Fenway since April 30, 2012. He's hitting .324/.372/.451 this year.

*Tyler White was 2x5 with 2RBI, his first 2+ RBI game of the year, and his first since September 11, 2018, a span of 33 games.

*Since Jose Altuve played his last full game on May 9, the Astros are 8-0.

*The update on Aledmys Diaz's hamstring is that it's a "very mild" strain. He won't play today unless it's an emergency. Diaz:
I feel better. We're going to take it day by day, and hopefully in a couple of days, I feel 100 percent. We're in a very good spot right now.

*Andrew Benintendi's walk-up song was "Houston, We Got A Problem" by country music "star" Luke Combs.

*Here's Boston.com's Chad Finn with a good piece on the Astros-Red Sox rivalry. Hinch:
There is definitely something building here. These are two very, very good teams with a knack for playing tight games. And we've already interfered with each other's plans the last couple of years.

*There's now a big ol' replica ring outside Minute Maid Park for all your Instagram needs.

*It's Wade Miley v. Chris Sale today. Here's The Athletic's Jen McCaffery on how Sale turned his season around.

*The Pirates are going to try to turn Former Astros Great J.B. Shuck into a two-way player.

*Out of the Park Baseball 20 is out on Steam. I just won my fourth straight World Series, and it wasn't even that close. Forrest Whitley and J.B. Bukauskas can't stay healthy in that game, but Carlos Correa and Kyle Tucker are baseball gods. You should buy this game and let it consume you.

*A year after the Santa Fe shooting, families continue to struggle with trauma and grief.

*A Musical Selection, with a note: While we still lived in Nashville (and before we had a kid) we would often to go concerts. I don't even remember what concerts are, but I know they're out there. Anyway, we went to go see Will Hoge - which we will do anytime he plays within 200 miles of us - and the opener came out in a purple v-neck t-shirt and a fedora and I was all, "This F. Guy." Then he played this, and we were in. Good album all around:

Saturday Morning Hot Links

Well I guess it's clear the Astros weren't playing the Angels, Royals, Rangers, or Tigers. Boston put up a valiant fight, making Gerrit Cole work, but ultimately it was the pitching staff and a clutch homer from George Springer that decided the game. The Astros have won nine straight games, twelve of their last 13. The Astros and the Dodgers both won their 30th game on the same day.

*Hinch:
Impressive win. Our pitching did really well to hang in there all the way to that last out. It was pretty exciting.

*Number of games needed to get to 30 wins, Astros:
2019: 45
2018: 48
2017: 45
2016: 64
2015: 47
2014: 67
2013: 79
2012: 72
2011: 88
2010: 77

So the 2019 and 2017 Astros have the exact same record after 45 games. But the 2017 Astros won 12 of their next 13 games after G45, so it's okay if it drops off a little, I guess.

*Houston got all three runs in the 8th inning, they're now 2-15 when beginning the 8th inning behind. The Astros are now 29-5 when scoring at least three runs in a game. They're now 5-6 when getting six hits or fewer in a game.

*Gerrit Cole struck out seven in six scoreless IPs, but the Red Sox made him work, throwing 99 pitches. It's his second scoreless outing of the season, but he has allowed two or fewer Earned Runs in six of his ten starts.

Yikes 🤔 pic.twitter.com/5M7Htu4Rqk

— Daren Willman (@darenw) May 18, 2019

*Ryan Pressly set the MLB record for consecutive scoreless appearances, with 39 dating back to August 15, 2018, breaking a tie with Craig Kimbrel. There's not a whole lot you can say about Ryan Pressly right now, dude's insane. He needed 13 pitches to record three outs. It's the 8th time this season he has needed 13 pitches or less to get three outs. He has thrown 260 pitches in 20IP in 2019, 13 pitches per inning, 4.33 pitches per out.

*George Springer hit his 17th home run. Number of PAs on his 17th home run of the season:
2014: 304
2015: N/A (he hit 16)
2016: 368
2017: 262
2018: 451
2019: 204

Springer set the franchise record for "Most HR in the First 45 Games" category, beating Lance Berkman's 2008 record of 16. Berkman would only hit 13 more home runs that season. I bet Springer beats him.

Springer told Ken Rosenthal that it "felt like a playoff game."

*In his pre-game notes, McTaggart gave updates on Corbin Martin (big fan of MLB hotels) and Jose Altuve, who is making progress but unlikely to come back after his 10 days are up. Hinch:
I'm not anticipating him making it back before the 10 days expire, which is not that big of a deal. Once we decide to put him in the IL, we want to make sure he's right. He's doing great, he's feeling better and is pain-free, and now we have to integrate the baseball stuff and see where that takes him towards the early parts of next week.

Chandler Rome writes that Altuve could go out on a rehab assignment before rejoining the team.

*Aledmys Diaz is getting an MRI on his hamstring this morning.

*Forrest Whitley, last night: 4IP, 6H/4ER, 4K:2BB. Whitley's last four appearances: 11.1IP, 19H/18ER, 15K:7BB.

Yordan was 2x4 but didn't get any homers or doubles, so clearly he's not ready.

*Royals 1B Ryan O'Hearn likes the Tequila Sunrise Astros unis the best.

*A Musical Selection:

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

The Astros hit four home runs and beat the Tigers 8-1. Houston is 27-15 and brings their Road record back to .500 at 11-11. Houston has a 6-game winning streak in which they've outscored their opponents 50-12. It's not bad. Remember that watching this team is a blessing, though this blessing has been earned by the blood and hand-wringing of 2010-2014. The win gives the Astros the best record in baseball, edging out the 27-16 Dodgers by a half-game.

*Since going 2-5 to open the season against Tampa and Arlington, Houston is 25-10.

*They have hit four home runs for the second straight game and have 31 home runs in their last 11 games. The Marlins have hit 24 home runs all season. Springer, who went 2x5:
I think that the team mentality - don't quit and pass the baton onto the next guy - is absolutely huge. It's a testament to the guys on this team. Just go out and try to win every single day no matter what happens.

*Houston struck out three times on the night, their lowest total in a game since the 7-1 win over Minnesota on April 24. They've now gone 15 straight games without striking out 10+ times. The 2018 Astros went 25 games without double-digit Ks, from June 3-June 30.

*Brad Peacock threw 5IP, 3H/1ER, 3K:4BB, with only 49 of his 88 pitches going over for strikes. It's the fourth time in his career that he has walked 4+ batters and won the game, the last coming on July 9, 2017. The Astros would go on to win the World Series. Peacock:
I didn't have my best stuff, but I grinded through it, had some great plays by the guys and they swung it today. That's all you can ask for. I was happy to get through five today. I know it could have been a lot worse.

*Hector Rondon's last ten appearances: 8.1IP, 7H/2ER, 5K:3BB. Last night was the first hit he had allowed since April 26.

*For the 9th time in 42 games this season, Astros pitchers did not allow a home run.

*Aledmys Diaz had two hits, including a home run. In the last three games, since Altuve has been out for a full game, Diaz is 5x13 with 2HR and 7RBI.

*Jake Marisnick was 2x3 with a homer, stolen base, and 2RBI. He also got flat-out drilled on the elbow in the 9th inning. We'll see how much time that costs him.

*Robinson Chirinos hit a home run and drew two walks in a game for the first time since August 3, 2011.

Look away, it's a robbery. #TakeItBack pic.twitter.com/0EVj4PBwhI

— Houston Astros (@astros) May 14, 2019

*George Springer earned a share of the AL Player of the Week honors. Sarah Langs writes that Springer has taken the next step towards super-stardom.

*Casey Harrison writes about Verlander's trip down memory lane in Detroit. Verlander:
There's some anxiousness and just a little bit of excitement. I don't think that will ever go away. It's just something that I was here for so long, just a lot of memories.

Within the link we also find that Altuve may not start rehabbing his hamstring until the middle to the end of the week. Hinch:
We don't have a target date. We're going to let his treatment plan play out and then we'll work towards getting him back up and running.

*Richard Justice notes that since Hinch moved Springer to the leadoff spot on May 24, 2016, the Astros have the best record in baseball (298-185).

*Chandler Rome: 1B Coach Don Kelly returned to Detroit, where his legend began. Kelly:
I think being a hard-nosed, blue-collar type guy resonated with the city. They appreciated it even though you don't go up and get a hit every time, but you go out there and give it everything you've got. They appreciate that. 

*Max Stassi, on Corbin Martin's debut:
I thought he did amazing. He's wise beyond his years. He's very level-headed. No highs, no lows. Obviously, he has the stuff to pitch here for a long time. It was very, very impressive.

*If Power Rankings are your thing, the Astros took #1 in USA Today's Power Ranking, as well as The Score, and The Athletic. They're 2nd in ESPN's.

*Justin Verlander and Papa John's are teaming up to save future service dogs for returning veterans. Meanwhile, Verlander sits atop the first Cy Poll of 2019 (I do not know who gets to vote on this).

*Kyle Tucker hit a triple and then stole home...

🏃‍ @KTuck30 steals home!

The No. 7 overall prospect legs out a triple, then races home for @RRExpress. (@astros)

🎞️: https://t.co/I69NiRIStG pic.twitter.com/705i1BOBVG

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) May 14, 2019

*Seth Beer leads the Carolina League with nine home runs.

*SI's Matt Martell lists the Astros as the 3rd-best fit for Madison Bumgarner.

*Seattle beat Oakland on a walkoff last night. They're 21-23. The Mariners are 5-19 against teams currently over .500.

*NY Mag: Los Angeles Fire Season is beginning again. And it will never end.

*Tracy Morgan turned the drama of his life into comedy.

*A Musical Selection: