Thursday Morning Hot Links

A quick story, one that I'm not terribly proud of (but proud enough to lead the Hot Links with): I live in Ramger Country. It's gross. I shower four times a day. Anyhow, a co-worker was giving me crap about the Astros being down 2-0. Annoying. So I hollered back, "I've watched the Astros lose more World Series in the last five years than your middle aged ass has ever seen the Rangers play in." Might have ended it with, "Bitch." I'm not sure. I was a little Ragey. 

Anyhow, the Astros won 8-5 to make the series 2-1. Michael Brantley:

They eliminated the big inning for the first two games against us. So we had a nice crooked number to put up on the board. But at the same time, it's a great offense over there. We had to keep scoring. We continued to keep pressure on...and we have to continue to do that throughout the entire series.

Bregman:

I thought we did a heck of a lot better job passing the torch to the next guy.

FanGraphs: Houston 37.9 - 62.1 Six Flags.

Houston has won 17 of their last 20 road games. They're 3-0 on the road in the 2023 postseason. 

*Five Astros runs scored with two outs. 

*Jose Altuve's PAs, Game 3:

1st Inning: 100.7mph off the bat, flyout to dead center. A homer in 13/30 parks.

3rd Inning: 104.4mph off the bat, homer. A homer in 30/30 parks.

5th Inning: 102.4mph off the bat, flyout to dead center. A homer in 12/30 parks.

That would have been 3HR in 3PAs if the game was played at Wrigley, Cincinnati, whatever the White Sox call their field, Angel Stadium, Dodger Stadium, Milwaukee, or Oakland.

It was Altuve's 25th postseason home run of his career. He needs four more to tie Manny Ramirez for the most all-time. Altuve:

Down in the series 0-2, it feels like we had no choice but to win tonight. 

*Yordan Alvarez: 2x4, 2RBI. He has 10RBI in the 2023 postseason. The Astros have scored 32 runs in the 2023 postseason. It was the third game out of seven in the 2023 postseason that Yordan didn't hit a home run, but...

Alvarez's 6th Inning flyball that was robbed by Leody Taveras had a 1.000 xBA and would have been a home run in 22 out of 30 ballparks. 

*Kyle Tucker hit 6th in the order for the first time since June 11, 2022 and went 0x1, 3BB. It was the 7th 3BB game of his career, and just the 3rd multi-BB postseason game of his career. He also got a double, his 3rd hit of the 2023 postseason, and his first XBH since ALDS G1. 

*Mauricio Dubon had three hits for the 12th time in his career and the 7th time in 2023. He's 6x12 in the 2023 postseason and got his first career postseason RBI. Dubon:

I was telling somebody today that, yeah, I got smarter, I got a little stronger. But my ability hasn't changed. For me, it was a matter of getting a chance. And the Astros gave me a chance to get out there and show people what I can do.

*Martin Maldonado was 2x4 with 2RBI - the 3rd 2-hit game of his postseason career, and 2nd of the 2023 postseason. It was his first postseason RBI since Game 1 of the 2022 World Series. 

Maldonado, on his AB vs Scherzer:

He can throw any pitch any count. Because he bounces a slider doesn't mean he doesn't come back with another slider. So I was trying to see something up, just to put a good swing on it.

*Alex Bregman hit a ball in the 9th (stop me if you've heard this before) that Leody Taveras caught against the wall. It would have been a home run in 18 out of 30 ballparks. 

*Cristian Javier: 5.2IP, 3H/2ER, 3K:1BB.

Four career postseason starts: 22IP, 5H/2ER, 26K:1BB, 0.82 ERA / 0.27 WHIP.

How Cristian Javier re-found his fastball.

*Hector Neris gave up a single and a home run to make it moderately interesting, the 3rd homer he's allowed in the 2023 postseason. 

*Bryan Abreu allowed his first earned run since July 15 - a streak of 32 games / 33IP

*Ryan Pressly has converted his 14 of his last 14 save opportunities in the postseason. 

Four of Six Flags' runs came courtesy of 2-out 2-run homers by #8 hitter Carl Josh Jung. All five Ramger runs were with two outs. 

*Michael Brantley's shoulder survived his enormous catch.

*It's Game(s) 4 Hero Jose Urquidy vs. Andrew Heaney tonight in Game 4. 

*ESPN: How the Astros-Ramgers rivalry defines the state of Texas.

*BBC: How I rewired my brain in six weeks.

*Odes to the Texas Indie Bookstores.

*A Musical Selection, in which I discover that I really like French-Canadian Synth-Pop Girls:

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

What can you say? Roadstros showed up, as usual (for 2023), Cristian Javier showed up. Houston took a 2-1 lead and needs to win one of the next two to advance to play Six Flags for the AL Pennant. 

*FanGraphs: Houston 77.8 - 22.2 Minnesota

*Houston is 7-3 in potential series-clinching games since 2020. The Astros push the Twins to the brink of elimination.

*Cristian Javier was unreal, again: 5IP, 1H/0ER, 9K:5BB. The walks were stupid, don't worry about them. Maybe we'll get to them in a bit.

Javier, postseason appearances, career: 15GP, 37.2IP, 15H/8ER, 57K:21BB, X.XX ERA / 0.96 WHIP.

Javier, postseason starts, career: 3GS, 16.1IP, 2H/0ER, 23K:10BB. 0.00 ERA / 0.73 WHIP.

Javier, on the Twins fans counting down the pitch clock as a way to try to frustrate him:

I did notice it, and when I did, I used it in my favor. At that point, I stopped paying attention to the clock because they were counting and just paid attention to the catcher. 

Full and complete list of pitchers with three consecutive scoreless postseason starts of 5+ IP: 

4: Whitey Ford (1960-61)

3: Cristian Javier (2022-23)

3: Madison Bumbarner (2014-16)

3: Kenny Rogers (2006)

3: Christy MF Mathewson (1905)

Full and complete list of pitchers with back-to-back postseason starts of 5+ IP and 0-1 hits allowed:

1. Cristian Javier

Martin Maldonado, on Javier:

The only way you can rattle him is if you punch him.

Yordan, on Javier:

It's incredible. Obviously, nobody's surprised about what he does in the playoffs. I know in the regular season he was a little bit up and down. But now it's the real Cristian Javier. 

*Twins SP Sonny Gray had allowed 8HR in 184IP - his 0.4 HR/9 led the League. Gray had given up 2HR in 26.1 career postseason innings thrown. Gray had not allowed 2HR in a game since September 24, 2021.

Yet, there he was, serving up homers to Jose Abreu and Alex Bregman - accounting for all four of his charged earned runs. 

*Jose Abreu hit two home runs in Game 3. He had one 2HR game in all of 2023 (September 6, against Six Flags). Granted, it was only the 10th postseason game of his career, but Abreu's 2HR/5RBI game improved his postseason numbers from 1HR/6RBI in the previous nine games combined. He had not homered in a postseason game since his first career postseason game, in G1 of the 2020 Wild Card Round.

*Alex Bregman was 2x5 with a homer and 2RBI - his 16th career home run and 49th career RBI in the postseason. The 49 RBI move Bregman past Reggie Jackson into sole possession of 9th place in MLB Postseason history, one behind Jose Altuve, who is in 8th with 50. 

Bregman's 16 postseason homers are the 3rd-most by anybody who played even an inning at 3B (Pujols, 19; and Jim Thome, 17), and the most by anyone who only played 3B in MLB history.

*Yordan Alvarez was 3x5 with two doubles and a home run. It was the 5th 3+ hit postseason game for Yordan's career. Yordan has a home run in four straight postseason games - only the 11th time in MLB history that's happened. 4+ postseason game homer streaks:

6: Daniel Murphy (NYM), 2015

5: Giancarlo Stanton (NYY), 2020; George Springer (HOU), 2017/18; Carlos Beltran (HOU), 2004

4: Yordan Alvarez (HOU), 2022/23; Evan Longoria (TB), 2008; Jim Thome (CLE), 1998/99); Juan Gonzales (6FL), 1996; Jeffrey Leonard (SF), 1987; Reggie Jackson (NYY), 1977; Lou Gehrig (NYY), 1928-1932.

Reggie Jackson who, with Yordan, are the only players to have six extra-base hits with at least three homers in any three-game postseason span:

He's a force, buddy. He's nice to have on your side. 

To have two doubles and a homer in a postseason game has been done 31 times, with Jeremy Pena's 2022 ALCS G1 coming as the last time it's happened.

*57 MLB players in history have hit 10+ career postseason home runs. Six of them have played with the Astros (Altuve, Beltran, Correa, Springer, Bregman, Yordan).

*Martin Maldonado was 2x4. It's his 2nd 2-hit postseason game, 2019 ALDS G2 being the first. Yesterday was his 16th multi-hit game of 2023, and the first since September 25 against Seattle. Yainer Diaz is 0x6 with 4K:0BB in the 2023 ALDS. 

*Jose Urquidy will start G4 this evening. Twice before in Urquidy's career, he wanted to quit.

*The AL East's three playoff teams (Baltimore, Tampa, Toronto), who went a combined 289-197 in the regular season, went 0-7 in the 2023 Postseason.

*This Day in Astros Postseason History:

2022: Yordan hits a walk-off moonshot off Robbie Ray.

2015: Dallas Keuchel and the Astros win Game 3 of the ALDS to take a 2-1 series lead.

2004: Roy Oswalt gets the win and Jeff Bagwell actually homers in a postseason game as the Astros win NLDS G5, and the Astros actually win a series, over the Braves.

*What To Watch, October 11:

Braves @ Phillies: 4:07pm Central

Canadiens @ Maple Leafs: 6pm

Astros @ Twins: 6:07pm 

Sam Houston @ New Mexico State: 8pm

Dodgers @ D'Backs: 8:07pm

*The gorgeous, eternal guitar tone of Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun."

*Is it cheaper to make your own granola?

*The Mississippi River is losing its fight with the ocean.

*A Musical Selection:

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

The Houston Astros came crashing back to earth after their one (1) win in Seattle and were sloppy as hell, from all accounts (I had to be out of town from about 3:30-11pm yesterday so mercifully I didn't watch a minute of the game). Houston lost 6-2. They're 86-72. There are four games remaining.

*AL Playoff Picture:

1. Baltimore (98-59)

2. Grand Prairie (88-69)

3. Minnesota (84-73)

4. Tampa (96-62)

5. Toronto (87-70)

6. Houston (86-72)

7. Seattle (85-72): +0.5

*AL West Division / Postseason Odds:

FanGraphs:

Grand Prairie: 86.9% / 97.1%

Houston: 6.6% / 58.6%

Seattle: 6.5% / 49.2%

Baseball-Reference:

Grand Prairie: 78.3% / 98.0%

Seattle: 14.0% / 42.5%

Houston: 7.7% / 63.7%

The Game, For Some Reason

*AL West Records, Sept 1-present:

Grand Prairie: 13-11

Oakland: 9-14

Houston: 9-14

Seattle: 9-15

Anaheim: 7-17

*Houston has lost 10 of its last 14 games. Their opponents in those 14 games: v Oakland, at Kansas City, v Baltimore, v Kansas City, at Seattle.

*The Astros committed three errors (Altuve, Bregman, Tucker). The Astros have allowed eight unearned runs in their last eleven games. Dusty:

We had (Kirby) on the ropes in the first inning and then we had another bases loaded and nobody out, and we just got one run out of it. We didn't play real well tonight. We kind of threw the ball around and then we didn't back up the bases a couple of times. We didn't play well.

*Houston got 10 hits last night, but only scored two runs, mainly thanks to going 2x13 with runners in scoring position. Jose Abreu was 0x3 w/RISP, Yordan and Yainer were 0x2 w/RISP. 

*Last night was the 7th time in 2023 the Astros had 10+ hits and lost. Four of those games have come in September. It's the 3rd time in 2023 that the Astros recorded 10+ hits, scored two or fewer runs, and lost. 

*Jose Altuve and Jeremy Pena had three hits each. It was the 14th 3-hit game of Altuve's 2023 season, and the 9th of Pena's season. Neither of them scored a run last night. Altuve, on the series finale:

Probably the biggest game of the year. Gotta win. Gotta go out there and score more runs than them and win the game, win the series.

*Yordan went 0x5. It was the 33rd time in 478 games he had at least five Plate Appearances and no hits. 

*Chas McCormick was plunked in his large of the back by a 99mph fastball from Ariel Munoz (I know his name is Andres, I stand by it). It was his 5th HBP to 205 batters faced in 2023. Four of those HBPs have come in September. Dusty: 

I'm tired of our guys getting hit. It makes guys a lot bolder when they don't have to hit. 

The Astros' 72 HBPs are the 6th-highest in the League. Yordan (13) and Chas (11) have worn it the most in 2023. 

*Cristian Javier didn't live up to the tone Verlander set: 4.2IP, 3H/4R (3ER), 6K:3BB. He needed 91 pitches to not get through the 5th Inning. 

*And so was Rafael Montero, who allowed three hits and a walk without recording an out.

*Bennett Sousa threw 1.1IP, 0H/0ER, 2K:0BB. In four appearances for the Astros in 2023, Sousa: 5.1IP, 0H/0ER, 7K:0BB.

*Whoever wins tonight's game will be in the third and final Wild Card spot heading into the last series of the season. 

*The Athletic: Welcome to the "Gold-Plated" Villages the Premier League's elite call home.

*Hello, Nightmare Fuel.

*What To Watch, September 27:

Manchester City @ Newcastle United: 2pm Central

Senators @ Canadiens: 6pm

Yankees @ Blue Jays: 6:07pm

Dynamo @ Inter Miami: 7:30pm

Rangers @ Angels: 8:38pm

Astros @ Mariners: 8:40pm

*A Musical Selection:

Thursday Morning Hot Links

The Astros pulled off a literal miracle by winning a game at Minute Maid Park. Houston is 39-39 at home, 85-68 overall. There are nine games remaining, and only three at home. If the Astros don't win the series against the Royals, they'll finish below .500 at home for the first time since 2014. 

*AL West:

1. Houston (85-68): -

2. Seattle (84-68): +0.5

3. Caddo Mills (84-68): +0.5

According to the Wonderful Sarah Langs, this is the first time since divisional play began (1969) that three teams have been within half a game of each other with less than ten games to play.

*AL Playoff Picture: Postseason Odds via FanGraphs:

1. Baltimore (95-57): 100.0%

2. Houston (85-68): 91.0%

3. Minnesota (81-72): 100.0%

4. Tampa (93-60): 100.0%

5. Toronto (85-67): 83.9%

6. Caddo Mills (84-68): 64.7%

7. Seattle (84-68): 60.3%

*AL West Division Odds:

FanGraphs:

Houston: 53.1%

Seattle: 29.5%

Caddo Mills: 17.4%

*Dana Brown, pre-game:

Fear not. The bats are here. The pitching's good enough. We're going to win the division.

*Buster Olney: The Astros will be tough to beat in October...if they get there.

*Houston has won one of their last one games. They are 4-8 at MMP in September. They went 16-17 against the AL East in 2023. 

*Houston has now won the last game of the series in five straight series. They lost the first two games in three straight, and four of their last five series. Dusty:

That's a big win. Obviously, you're going to see that team in the postseason. So that's a big win for us. But we've got another big series coming up against Kansas City and we need to take advantage of the opportunity and put up some more wins at home. 

More Dusty:

We needed this win. From now on, the mindset is 'Win every game.' We started today like this, so let's finish together here.

*It's the 46th time the Astros have been held to two or fewer runs this season. They're 4-42 in those games, now. The 2022 Astros were held to two or fewer runs in just 45 of their games last season. Miniscule. 

*Baltimore's Kyle Bradish vs Houston, career: 22.2IP, 6H/0ER, 25K:4BB. 0.00 ERA / 0.44 WHIP. I want no part of Kyle Bradish, or his pitching partner Rich Sturnip lol. 

*The Astros were 2x10 with runners in scoring position in yesterday's game - 8x35 over the three-game series. Although Mauricio Big Nuts Dubon came through with the walk-off, the first of his career (I think? B-Ref is being a little weird this morning).

*Watch Kyle Tucker lollygag this grounder. 

*Dusty sat Yordan for the game. There were reasons, I guess.

*The only other thing worth talking about is Cristian Javier: 5IP: 3H/1ER, 11K:2BB. It's the 6th 10+ strikeout game of his career, the most strikeouts since he made 11 Angels walk back to the dugout on May 10. It's the first time that he didn't give up a homer in an outing since July 22. Has Javier figured it out?

*Ryan Pressly deservedly got the win, throwing nine pitches - eight for strikes - and not allowing a hit or a walk. Chandler Rome wrote about how he had become too slider-happy, and he was going to be less so.

*Michael Brantley was unavailable - not even to pinch-hit - for a third straight game. 

*Oakland vs. the A's: The Inside Story of How It All Went South.

*After giving up nine goals in their first six games across all competitions, Leeds United have now taken three clean sheets in a row, yesterday a 0-0 draw at Hull City. 

*Wired: Life as a 21st century trucker.

*Texas Monthly: Dreaming of a move to Colorado? Four expats tell the good, the bad, and the ugly.

*Gregg Doyel: How a 100-year old bat connected a family.

*What to Watch, September 21:

Liverpool @ LASK Linz: 11:45am Central

Marseille @ Ajax: 2pm 

Blue Jays @ Yankees: 6:05pm

Georgia State @ Coastal Carolina: 6:30pm

Giants @ 49ers: 7:15pm

*A Musical Selection:

Saturday Morning Hot Links

Jiminy Christmas. [slams balls in car door]. Mercifully I was in Austin at a concert with my family, and wasn't subjected to a minute of this sludge. Houston lost to the GDKC Royals 4-2, the most devastating loss to Kansas City in franchise history. This only serves as a reminder of the temporary nature of life itself. Houston is 83-65, prevented from extending their tenuous division lead by the 47-101 Royals. Eat at Arby's. Seattle and East White Settlement lost. Houston has a 0.5-game lead on East White Settlement, and a 1.5-game lead on Seattle.

*AL Playoff Picture:

1. Baltimore (91-56)

2. Houston (83-65)

3. Minnesota (78-70)

4. Tampa Bay (92-57)

5. East White Settlement (82-65)

6. Seattle (81-66)

7. Toronto (81-67) +0.5

Since the Astros/Rangers series wrapped up, Houston is 1-3 while East White Settlement is 4-1.

*AL West Division Odds (Postseason Odds):

FanGraphs:

Houston: 60.9% (94.9%)

Seattle: 20.0% (72.7%)

East White Settlement: 19.1% (83.8%)

B-Ref:

Houston: 53.9% (91.8%)

East White Settlement: 26.4% (82.7%)

Seattle: 19.7% (66.2%)

*Remaining schedule, opponent home/away records factored in, AL West:

Houston: .476 (opponents are 175-193 when playing at home/on road)

East White Settlement: .518 (189-176)

Seattle: .527 (192-172) 

All of these projections are predicated on each team's remaining schedule. Houston has the most favorable schedule of the three AL West teams in the race, but it's not going to matter if they continue losing games to the worst teams in the American League - like losing three of their last four to Kansas City and Oakland, the only two 100-loss teams in baseball. 

*Houston has played a last-place team seven times in September (Yankees, A's, Royals). They're 1-6 in those games. It would be just swell if the Astros of Houston could figure it out, sooner than later. Dusty:

These clubs can beat you too. They are big league players. These are missed opportunities, but these guys [the Royals, presumably] get up for us, everyone gets up for us. We've got to get even further up for them and we've got five more big games with them.

So I guess I was right. 

*Since scoring 12 runs to take the series from the Padres on Sunday, the Astros have scored 10 runs total in four games since. They've scored two or fewer runs in three of their last four games. Maybe it's Kansas City's batter's eye.

*Astros Home Runs, by series, September:

vs NYY (0-3): 3

@ EWS (3-0): 16

v SD (2-1): 2

v OAK (1-2): 3

@ KC (0-1): 1

In other words, Houston hit 16 homers in three games at East White Settlement. They hit 9 homers in the 10 other games this calendar month.

*Last night's loss to Kansas City snapped an eight-game road winning streak.

*Cristian Javier wasn't terrible: 5IP, 5H/3R (2ER), 6K:1BB, 2HR. But the homers are an issue. Cristian Javier gave up nine home runs in his first 15 starts of 2023 (83IP), and 16 homers in his last 13 starts (63.1IP). Dusty:

His outing was pretty good. Other than the home run balls, that's what's been plaguing him all year so we've got to figure that out.

[squints] Yes, please do that. 

*After getting at least one hit in 13 of 14 games from August 26-September 10, Alex Bregman is 1x14 in his last four games. The one hit was a home run against Oakland. 

Bregman GIDPd twice last night - his 20th and 21st GIDP of the 2023 season. It's the 5th time he GIDPd twice in a game in his career. 

*Since going 3x5 with 3HR against East White Settlement on September 5, Jose Altuve is hitting .161/278/.258.

*Since returning from the IL on August 23, Jose Abreu is hitting .254/.329/.540. Eight of his 16 hits have been for extra-bases (three doubles, five homers). It's a welcome turn of events and, while I wouldn't bat him any higher than 7th, having Brantley behind him worked last night. 

*How in the hell is Zack Greinke 1-15 this season?

*I have grown weary of thinking about this game.

*Shohei? Ohtani? His locker is empty? 

*Why Chaim Bloom is out in Boston, and who's to blame for it.

*Wired: The underground history of Russia's most ingenious hacker group.

*What To Watch, September 16:

LSU @ Miss State: 11am

Newcastle @ Brentford: 11:30am

Red Sox @ Blue Jays: 2:07pm

OU @ Tulsa: 2:30pm

Rangers @ Guardians: 5:10pm

Rays @ Orioles: 6:05pm

Astros @ Royals: 6:10pm

Dodgers @ Mariners: 8:40pm

Colorado State @ Colorado: 9:00pm

*A Musical Selection.

Sunday Morning Hot Links

I was unaware the Astros were allowed to win at home. And by God, Cristian Javier was seemingly determined to continue that streak. Anyhow. Astros win. Mariners lose. Rangers and Blue Jays win. Houston is 81-62 and have won one of their last one home games. 

*Updated AL Playoff Picture:

1. Baltimore

2. Houston

3. Minnesota

4. Tampa

5. Seattle

6. Toronto

-

7. Duncanville: +1.5

*AL West Division Odds (Change from yesterday)

FanGraphs:

Houston: 66.1% (+3.4%)

Seattle: 29.1% (-4.9%)

Duncanville: 4.8% (+1.5%)

Baseball-Reference:

Houston: 76.3% (+14.1%)

Seattle: 18.8% (-13.2%)

Duncanville: 4.9% (-0.9%)

NL Wild Card Race:

Philadelphia: +4

Chicago: +1

Arizona: -

Miami: +1

Cincinnati/San Francisco: +2.5

The Game:

*The Astros' seven runs was the most in a home game since beating Boston 7-3 on August 22 - a span of seven games. Games with the following runs scored, Minute Maid Park, 2023 (and their record):

0: 2 (0-2)

1: 13 (0-13)

2: 10 (2-8)

3: 8 (3-5)

4: 5 (4-1) 

5: 7 (4-3)

6: 8 (6-2)

7: 7 (6-1)

8: 3 (3-0)

9: 3 (3-0)

10: 2 (2-0)

11: 2 (2-0)

17: 1 (1-0)

Houston is 5-28 when they score three or fewer runs at Minute Maid Park. Ten of Houston's 11 highest run totals in a game have come on the road in 2023. Also note that they have scored three or fewer runs in 33 of the Astros' 71 home games in 2023. 

*Yordan Alvarez was 2x3 with a walk, 2RBI, and his 26th home run of the season. He has a 17-game on-base streak, and since going 0x4 on August 19 in a 10-3 loss to Seattle, Yordan: .403/.542/.710, 4 doubles / 5 homers, 6K:17BB.

*Kyle Tucker was 1x4 with a 2-run double, his first extra-base hit since September 1. His 101 RBI on the season are six shy of his career-high of 107, set in 2021. Tucker:

It's cool. Obviously, you can't get there unless guys in front of you are getting on base and giving you opportunities. I think it's more of that happening rather than me driving them in. I'm fortunate enough to have a lot of high on-base guys in front of me and they've been doing a good job of that all year.

Tucker needs four home runs and four stolen bases to join Jeff Bagwell as the franchise's only 30HR/30SB/100RBI members.

He has 26 home runs, 32 doubles, and 101 RBI. It's the 25th such season by 13 Astros hitters. Your 25+ HR, 30+ doubles, 100+ RBI Astros:

Jeff Bagwell: 7 (1994, 1996-2001)

Lance Berkman: 4 (2001, 2002, 2004, 2008)

Alex Bregman: 2 (2018-2019)

Moises Alou: 2 (1998, 2001)

Carlos Lee: 2 (2007, 2009)

Kyle Tucker: 1 (2023)

Yordan Alvarez: 1 (2021)

Yuli Gurriel: 1 (2019)

Morgan Ensberg: 1 (2005)

Jeff Kent: 1 (2004)

Richard Hidalgo: 1 (2000)

Carl Everett: 1 (1999)

Glenn Davis: 1 (1986)

*A back-to-back of Brown and Javier continues to hamstring the bullpen, seeing as how neither of them remembers how to get 15+ outs. Urquidy limited the damage last night, but that's 9.2IP thrown by the bullpen this series already. 

*Javier, by outs, 2022:

0 out: .410 OPS-against

1 out: .521 OPS-against

2 outs: .723 OPS-against

Javier, by outs, 2023:

0 out: .728 OPS-against

1 out: .804 OPS-against

2 outs: .731 OPS-against

Javier needed 82 pitches to get 12 outs. He has walked 3+ batters in four straight starts. On June 15 Javier threw six shutout innings against the Nationals - his 14th start of the season.

Javier's 1st 14 starts:80.2IP, 65H/26ER, 76K:19BB, 2.90 ERA / 1.04 WHIP.

Javier's last 13 starts, 60.2IP, 64H/49ER, 56K:35BB, 7.27 ERA / 1.63 WHIP.

Javier has been *this* pitcher for as long as he was *that* pitcher in 2023. 

*Kendall Graveman: 0.2IP, 3H/1ER, 0K:1BB. Graveman has allowed an earned run in back-to-back outings for the first time since Aug 3/5, 2023...his first two games back with the Astros. 

*How susceptible have the Astros been to the run game?

*How Jose Altuve turned back the clock to MVP form.

*How Maldonado and Yainer formed a mentor-mentee relationship.

*You see USMNT 3 - 0 Uzbekistan and think, "Oh good." I see USMNT 3 - 0 Uzbekistan and think "so we scored two goals in stoppage time huh."

What To Watch, September 10:

Texans @ Ravens: 12pm Central

Marlins @ Phillies: 12:05pm 

Mariners @ Rays: 12:10pm 

Royals @ Blue Jays: 12:37pm

Padres @ Astros: 1:10pm

Diamondbacks @ Cubs: 1:20pm

A's @ Rangers: 1:35pm

*A Musical Selection:

Thursday Morning Hot Links

They did it. They eclipsed the 2017 Harvey Revenge Series, beating the absolute piss out of the Pride-less Rangers in three straight games. Houston is 80-61, the first AL West team to reach 80 wins (an accomplishment the 2023 A's should achieve no later than July 2024). 

*The Astros have won eight of their last eleven games. They're 20-8 in road games since the All-Star Break. The last MLB team to score 39+ runs in three consecutive games was...the Houston Astros, all the way back from August 26-28, 2023. 

*10.3% of the Rangers' home losses in 2023 came in the last 72 hours. Dusty:

It really wasn't about making a statement. It was more about winning games and trying to get into first place. You love to see your offense come alive like that. We got some good pitching performances. We played an excellent series.

Bruce Bochy:

Obviously, it was not a good series, wasn't a lot we did well. We just didn't execute pitches, left a lot up throughout the series and we paid for it...They put it to us, and there's no getting around that. 

The Rangers had never given up 16+ home runs in a three-game span before. 

*AL Playoff Picture:

1. Baltimore (88-51)

2. Houston (80-61)

3. Minnesota (73-67)

4. Tampa (85-55)

5. Seattle (78-61)

6. Toronto (77-63)

- 

7. Pantego +0.5 (76-63)

8. Boston +5.0 (72-68)

If MLB just seeded the teams with the six best records in the AL, Minnesota would be 3.5 games back of Pantego, in 8th. 

*AL West Odds (and change since yesterday):

FanGraphs:

Houston: 67.2% (+2.7%)

Seattle: 28.3% (+1.9%)

Pantego: 4.5% (-4.6%)

Baseball-Reference:

Houston: 67.9% (+6.0%)

Seattle: 25.8% (-0.8%)

Pantego: 6.3% (-5.2%)

The Game

The Astros eclipsed the Harvey Revenge Series of September 2017. In that series, the Astros collected 37 runs on 46 hits - 11 doubles and six home runs. This series, the Astros collected 39 runs on 50 hits - seven doubles and 16 home runs.

The 16 home runs in three games are the 2nd-most in a 3-game span in MLB history, behind the 19 that the 2020 Yankees hit against Toronto in September 2020. Only four other teams hit 16 home runs in a three-game series: the 2023 Astros (just now), the 2019 Nationals, 2019 Yankees, and 1977 Red Sox. The 2023 Astros and 2019 Yankees were the only ones to do it on the road against the same opponent. 

*Most runs in a game, single-team, Globe Life Field's history:

1. 18 - by Pantego vs Oakland: Apr 22, 2023

2. 16 - by Pantego vs Philadelphia: April 1, 2023; by Pantego vs Seattle: June 3, 2023; by Los Angeles vs Pantego, July 22, 2023; 

5. 15 - by Pantego vs New York, April 30, 2023; by Houston vs Pantego, September 13, 2021

7. 14 - by Houston vs Pantego, Sept. 4, 2023; by Oakland vs Pantego, July 12, 2022; by San Diego vs Pantego, August 17, 2020.

10. 13 - by Houston vs Pantego, Sept. 5, 2023; by Pantego vs Colorado, May 21, 2023; by Pantego vs Houston, August 29, 2021; by Oakland by Pantego, June 22, 2021. 

*Jose Abreu was 2x3 with a grand slam and a 3-run homer. The three-run shot left his bat at 113.3mph, his hardest-hit ball of 2023. His 7RBI tie a career-high, also set at Minnesota on September 4, 2016 and against Detroit on September 12, 2020. It's the 20th multi-HR game of his career. Abreu:

If there's one person here that gets impressed by what this team can do, it's me because I'm new here. I think that this organization, these guys, when the lights are shining bright, they know how to handle things, they know how to do things well. I'm just very grateful to be part of this, as well. 

*Yordan Alvarez was 1x3 with 2BB, 2RBI, and his 25th homer of the year. Since the beginning of the 2021 season, Yordan is hitting a home run every 16.5 Plate Appearances.

*Michael Brantley was 2x3 with a homer and 2RBI. Brantley has played in six games in 2023, three of them have been 2-hit games. 

*Chas McCormick managed to talk his way into a PA in a blowout and responded by hitting his 20th home run of the season. He had an RBI in all three games of the Rangers series. McCormick has an eight-game hit streak in which he's hitting .375/.432/.563. He has a hit in 10 of his last 11 games. 

Chas McCormick has 384 PAs. Only four centerfielders have a higher fWAR than McCormick's 3.8 fWAR:

1. Julio Rodriguez: 5.5 fWAR (612 PAs).

2. Corbin Carroll: 5.2 fWAR (552 PAs).

3. Luis Robert, Jr.: 5.1 fWAR (538 PAs).

4. Cody Bellinger: 4.2 fWAR (463 PAs).

Chas McCormick leads all MLB CFs with a 147 wRC+. Please find a way to play this man every day.

*Jeremy Pena was 2x6 with a double. It's his 4th straight multi-hit game. Since August 1, Pena is hitting .339/.413/.449.

*Justin Verlander: 7IP, 4H/2R (1ER), 6K:1BB. It's the 133rd start of Verlander's career in which he has thrown at least 7IP and been charged with 0-1 Earned Runs. It's the 31st time he's done it in an Astros jersey. Verlander:

As a starting pitcher, your job is to carry the momentum. Our offense made it pretty easy on us this series. 

Verlander vs. Scherzer last night was the first time that opposing starting pitchers had 3,000 career strikeouts since Schilling vs Clemens on September 16, 2007.

Other Stuff

*Chandler Rome has a pretty electrifying piece in The Athletic, in which it is learned that the front office shares the fans' frustration with the number of Chas-less lineups. Rome:

This week, four people with knowledge of the team's inner workings said that McCormick's weight has become a talking point for Baker. 

Chas:

I like being this heavy. I guess if I was a little lighter it'd be easier, bit easier to move a little bitter. I feel stronger. I feel healthier. I feel I can do more being at 220. Usually I'm at 216. When I'm 210, I'm too light. I was 214 last year, I think, and I felt too light again. I kind of like being where I'm at right now, at 220. 

It's weird. 

*The Ringer: The AL West is MLB's last great hope for an interesting division race.

*Check out this rundown of the Astros' farm system, on ApolloHOU.

*MLB.com's "One Player On Each Team With Something To Prove in 2023" features Cristian Javier.

*Washington Post: The biggest match-fixing network in Tennis is out of an apartment in Brussels.

*The Guardian: The Inside Story of the Unravelling of Liz Truss' Premiership.

*Outside: Walking in the Footsteps of Legends: 10 Amazing Historical Hikes.

What To Watch, September 7, 2023:

The Astros and Rangers are off.

Euro 2024 Qualifying: Ireland at France: 1:45pm Central.

Mariners @ Rays: 5:40pm Central

Murray State @ Louisville: 6:30pm Central

*A Musical Selection:

Monday Morning Hot Links

I'm trying to come up with a crazier two games for the Astros than what we just saw between Saturday and Sunday...and I got nothing. The Astros win a wild one 9-8 to take the series in Anaheim. Houston is 52-42, still three games back because the Rangers swept the useless-ass Guardians. The Astros are 7-5 in July.

*Houston is 7-3 against Anaheim this season. The Astros have not lost a series in Anaheim since April 4-6, 2021. 

*The Astros were 3x17 w/RISP on Sunday night. 

*The Astros were down 3-1 in the top of the 7th, the Angels had a 97.9% win expectancy, then scored eight of the final nine runs of the game. Dusty:

They broke our hearts last night, and we broke their hearts today.

*Houston hit five home runs in a single game for the 3rd time this season. Houston scored five runs on three two-out homers. The Astros are 8-0 when hitting 3+ homers in a game. 

*Alex Bregman is BACK had a nice game, going 4x5 with a crucial home run and a walk. It was his first 4-hit game since August 18, 2022. Bregman, June 16-July 16: 25 games, .260/.351/.440, 14K:14BB. Bregman:

We have winning players. [Saturday] night, Grae throws a ball away. It happens all the time in this game. Comes back today, big double off the wall and has a huge at-bat in the 9th inning to get the tying run on base. Up and down the lineup, it's guys that know how to compete and do the little things right. When we do the little things right, we're damn hard to beat.

*Kyle Tucker was 4x5 with a walk, as well. Since Yordan went out with an oblique, Tucker: .350/.439/.581, 17K:18BB. Oh, and he saved the game with a diving catch to end it in the 9th. Tucker:

It was a hard-fought, back-and-forth game. They kept bouncing back and we kept doing the same. We had a lot of big hits and nice defensive plays. It was good to win the series.

Chandler Rome, on the "criminally underrated" Kyle Tucker. 

*Chas McCormick hit two homers, bringing his season total to 11 in 59 games. His career high is 14HR, set in both 2021 and 2022, in 108 and 119 games, respectively. It was the second 2HR game of his career, the first since June 16, 2021. He went 7x11 with 3HR in the Anaheim series.

*Jake Meyers hit his first home run since June 5. It was his first extra-base hit since June 29. 

*Grae Kessinger was 2x4 with a walk. He's 4x8 with a double, homer, and a walk in his last two starts. 

*Jose Abreu had his first 0x6 game since May 9, 2022. In his last 31 games Abreu is hitting .294/.321/.516. 

*Cristian Javier needed 91 pitches to get 15 outs, though he held the Angels to 4H/3ER, 7K:2BB. Javier has recorded 15 or fewer outs in six of his last eight starts. 

*Phil Maton got his first save since June 17, 2017, which was his 4th career MLB game. Chronicle: How Maton is handling his heavy workload.

*Joel Kuhnel made his Astros debut, I guess, allowing 2H/3ER, 0K:1BB in 1.2IP. The five outs he got were more valuable than the runs he gave up, given how hard the bullpen has been working. 

*The Angels are 19-12 when Shohei Ohtani homers. 

*McTaggart says you can expect the Astros to be buyers at the deadline, but it's not going to be a marquee name coming to Houston.

*Dana Brown said in the pre-game show that (a) Yordan has a head cold, (b) Altuve could start a rehab assignment this week, and (c) they're hoping to get Brantley back "one way or another," which...what does that even mean?

*Check out AstrosFuture's minor-league recap from Sunday.

*Jon Singleton, Sugar Land, 2023: .296/.412/.611.

*Updated draft signings and financials are...updated.

*I did a deep dive on the early 1990s Pirates/Braves, if that's a thing that you're in to.

*A Legends Home Run Derby? Sign me up (to watch, not hit.)

*France's Women's World Cup video is freaking awesome. 

*A Musical Selection:

Saturday Morning Hot Links

 Things were going pretty great for Hunter Brown until suddenly they weren't! Seattle beat the Astros 10-1. Houston is 49-40, now three games back of Upper Keene. The Mariners are now in third in the AL West, four back of Houston, and seven back of the division lead. 

*The Astros lost back-to-back games for the first time since June 23-24, and back-to-back home games for the first time since June 18-19. 

*Houston's offensive offense has been held to 1 run in consecutive games for the first time since all the way back on June 15-16. It's the sixth time since Yordan's oblique injury that the offense has been held to 0-1 runs. 

*The Astros have two extra-base hits in the first two games of this Mariners series. They've drawn one walk in 18 innings. Last night was the first time since June 7 that the Astros did not walk once. 

*Kirby/Castillo, this series vs Houston: 13.2IP, 11H/2R (1ER), 6K:1BB. 

*The Mariners have struck out 24 times in the first two games of the series. Last night was the 3rd time this season that Astros pitchers have struck out 13+ batters and still lost the game. 

*Hunter Brown's 28 Game Score was the sixth game this season in which an Astros starter has posted a Game Score below 30. Four of them have come since June 21. 

*Brown's first six outs were all strikeouts, and his eight Ks were the most in a start since May 31. After recording at least 17 outs in four straight starts, Brown has managed to get just 21 of the last 41 batters he has faced out. 

Brown's last two starts: 7IP, 18H/8ER, 14K:3BB. 

Dusty:

He really didn't have command of his breaking stuff or his fastball really. His fastball was high; his breaking ball was low...That was a tough inning. I don't think I've seen a nine-run inning in a long time.

*The Mariners' 9-run 4th Inning is the most runs the Astros have allowed in an inning since a 9-run 2nd Inning against San Diego on August 22, 2020. The Mariners in the 4th: Single, Walk, Single, Single, Single, Strikeout, Walk, Fielder's Choice, HBP, Walk, Double, Double.

*Maldonado, on Brown:

This guy's going to be really good in the future. I think he's starting to understand how to get hitters out. It's always a big test the more information is out there for the hitters. And I feel like he's thrown the ball really, really good for us. He has been valuable when he needed to be valuable. And a couple of bad outings, everybody's going to have those. 

Chandler Rome: Brown is highlighting the thin-ness? thinnity? of the Astros' rotation options.

*The Mariners had 13 hits and eight walks, for a total of [takes off socks] 21 base runners. It's the 5th time this season the pitching staff has put that many runners on. Such a thing only happened once in 2022. 

*Phil Maton: 1IP, 2H/4ER, 1K:2BB. He had given up 4ER in his last 14 games dating back to June 6. The last time Maton gave up multiple extra-base hits in an outing was August 19, 2022. 

*In three games vs Luis Castillo, the Astros are hitting .171/.247/.257, the lowest OPS for any team Luis Castillo has pitched against. 

*Bligh Madris, career home runs as a hitter: 1

Bligh Madris, career home runs allowed as a pitcher: 1

*Alex Bregman drove in the Astros' lone run with an infield single. 

Bregman, 2016-2019: 517 games, 2238 Plate Appearances, .286/.384/.527, 45.6% of his hits went for extra-bases. 

Bregman, 2020-2023: 376 games, 1628 Plate Appearances, .256/.356/.431, 37.8% of his hits for extra-bases. 

*Chas McCormick apologized to Ty France after Thursday's game in which he did The Shenanigans.

*The Astros hope this break gives Cristian Javier a "second wind."

Meat Wagon Update

*Yordan Alvarez hit on the field prior to Friday's game. 

*Jose Urquidy threw a 22-pitch bullpen before the game, and will have four rehab starts before being activated (provided he doesn't end up on Weiland Island) in early August. 

*Michael Brantley still has not returned to baseball activities.

*Catcher-of-the-Future? Korey Lee is also out with a strained oblique. The Astros organization needs a new Oblique Guy.

*29 people died in one of the worst mountaineering accidents in history. What happened?

*Cyclist Mark Cavendish abandoned the Tour de France this morning after a crash. If he does, in fact, retire at the end of the season, he will end his career tied with Eddy Merckx with 34 stage wins. Even more sad, he finished 2nd in yesterday's stage (that would have eclipsed the record) at the line.

*Something I like to do when Things are Overwhelming (which happens often!) is watch Slow TV. Like this 10-hour train ride through the Norwegian Arctic Circle.

*A Musical Selection:

Thursday Morning Hot Links

The Houston MF Astros "swept" the "Rockies" 6-4 in Wednesday's game. Houston is 49-38, 2.0 games back of Watauga. The Astros have won four in a row, seven of their last eight, eight of their last ten. Houston is 24-19 at Minute Maid Park, and 25-19 on the road. The Astros have won three straight series.

*Yainer Diaz hit two home runs to bring his season total to 10, and he did it in just 48 games (174 PAs), which is a 34-homer pace extrapolated to a 162-game season. Diaz joins Yordan Alvarez as the only Astros to have a 2HR game in 2023 (Yordan did it May 22 and May 28). Pena:

It feels like he hits a homer every other game.

McTaggart notes that Diaz is the first Astros rookie catcher with a multi-homer game since Mitch Meluskey  (September 3, 2000 vs Atlanta).

*Jeremy Pena also joined the 10HR Club, giving the Astros five players with double-digit homers.

*It was the Astros 17th straight game with a home run - their longest streak since an 18-gamer from July 19-August 8, 2021. 

*Alex Bregman was 0x2 with 2BB. In the last six games Bregman is hitting .095/.296/.143.

*Kyle Tucker was caught stealing for the 3rd time this season. The Astros are 63-for-80 (78.8%) when attempting to steal a base. On one hand, they're just 20 steals short of their entire 2022 total, but are just a tad worse than they were in 2022, when they went 83-for-105 (79%) when stealing bases. 

That said, the American League is 923-for-1177 (78.4%) when trying to steal a base. So..teams with a worse basestealing rate than the Astros:

Rangers: 78.4%

Guardians: 78.2%

Royals: 77.4%

Tigers: 75.9%

Mariners: 75%

Yankees: 73.2%

Angels: 72.1%

*J.P. France: 6IP, 6H/3ER, 4K:1BB - his seventh consecutive Quality Start, and 9th in first eleven starts of 2023. 

*Ryan Pressly saved his 19th game of the season. He has 95 saves as an Astro, 4th all-time, and just 28 behind Brad Lidge for 3rd in franchise history. Pressly's last ten appearances: 10IP, 0H/1R (0ER), 11K:3BB. 

*The Astros are skipping Cristian Javier's next start, giving him until after the All-Star Break to remember how to pitch. Dana Brown:

This is his first full season as a starter. I think guys [get] tired at times and they get dead arm and they just don't have the zip that they usually have on their stuff. And so at the end of the day, I think giving him a little bit of a break is what we're trying to talk about now. Could be a good thing.

*The Astros will know more about Altuve's oblique today, but they (a) don't think it's as serious as it was the first time he went through it this season and (b) Altuve likely won't play a minute of any of these four Mariners games before the All-Star Break.

*Chandler Rome: How Dana Brown is approaching the Draft.

*If you're trying to off-ramp Twitter, I'm on Threads, but I don't know exactly what I'm going to do with it. Here's a little guide to Threads, hailed as the "Twitter Killer."

*Yankees reliever Jimmy Cordero has been suspended for the remainder of the season under MLB's Domestic Violence policy.

*Dave Martinez is a PAB.

*I love two kinds of music: Sad, Bourbon-Soaked Sad Bastard Music and Sugary-Sweet, Cavity-Inducing Pop Music. That said, the WHAM! documentary on Netflix is fan-freaking-tastic. 

*Town & Country: The Joy of Traveling Solo.

*I'm not one to pass judgment on the mental health of another, but this lady at DFW is SPOOKED.

*A Musical Selection:

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

Well huh. That was an interesting one. Still, all's well that ends well except that NO IT'S NOT. Everyone is either Mad At Dusty, or Mad At Whoever Is Mad At Dusty, so that's what we're doing today. The Astros won a humdrum pre-holiday game against East Aledo, 12-11. Houston is 47-38, three games back, and have won six of their last eight games. 

But we'll get to that in a second, I have a formula here. 

Ramgers manager Bruce Bochy:

A lot of baseball left. We keep fighting like that, and we'll be fine...We have to put this series behind us. Very intense series, very intense game.

Dusty:

I'll take it. You still think about the game we didn't have in LA...But we rebounded from that tough loss. I'm glad we didn't have another tough loss today, because we've had probably a dozen tough losses. But this team's very resilient.

Kyle Tucker:

It was huge. They're a good team, and they're in first place in our division. Being able to come in and get three games out of them is huge. We've got to go home and finish out the first half strong.

*The Astros have two against Colorado starting tonight, and four against Seattle. The Rangers have three at Boston and have three at Washington before the All-Star Break. 

*On June 30, the day the Rangers series started, the Astros were at 32.9% to win the AL West. Now it's 38.2%, which is not nearly as dramatic as I was expecting.

*The Astros have scored 5+ runs in each of their last six wins. They've scored 10+ runs in three of their last six games. 

*The scoring for the Astros and Rangers in the first three games of the series: 12-11 Astros. The final score in the final game of the series: 12-11 Astros.

*Seven of the Astros' 13 hits were for extra-bases. The four home runs were the most in a game since June 13, when they hit four against the Nationals. It's the 5th time the Astros have hit four home runs in a game in 2023, and four of those games were on the road. Houston is 6-0 when they hit 3+ home runs in a game.

*Houston topped out at 98.2% to win the game after Jose Abreu's homer made it 10-2, before it was, you know, 100%. The Rangers were at 85.5% to win after Corey Seager's sac fly put the Rangers ahead.

*Kyle Tucker was 4x4 with a grand slam and an HBP. After an 0x10 stretch from June 19-21, Tucker has a 10-game hitting streak in which he's hitting .436/.511/.846, with four doubles, four homers, and 14 RBI. Houston's eight grand slams lead the Majors.

*Jose Abreu was 2x4 with a double, home run, and 4RBI. On this road trip, Abreu played in nine games and hit .378/.390/.730. Seven of his 14 hits went for extra bases (4 doubles, 3 homers). Abreu's homer was his 250th career home run. He's the 17th active player in MLB with 250 home runs. 

*Chas McCormick was 2x5 with a home run, double, and two crucial RBI. He had the game-winning hit for the second game in a row. The "who should be playing CF" debate is officially over. 

*Cristian Javier: 4.1IP, 9H/8ER, 4K:0BB. After his June 15 start against Washington, Javier was at a 2.90 ERA / 1.04 WHIP. In his last three starts: 10.2IP, 21H/18ER, 6K:6BB. His ERA has risen to 4.34 in the last three starts. Javier recorded 18 outs in nine of his first 14 starts of the season, and hasn't gotten out of the 5th in his last three. 

*NOW: the decision to leave Javier in to start the 5th Inning caused a meltdown on the burning hellscape of Twitter.com. But I get it. You gave Cristian Javier a 10-2 lead, which he allowed to get to 10-5 by the time the 5th Inning started. 

But the Astros have played 33 games in the last 36 days. Also, the starters haven't exactly shortened the game for the bullpen in the last few weeks. Yesterday's game followed Shawn Dubin's start in which the Astros were hoping he could give them three innings, and he ended up going four. Starter innings, 10-game road trip:

July 2 (Dubin): 4.0

July 1 (Brown): 4.0

June 30 (Blanco): 5.0

June 29 (France): 7.0

June 28 (Javier): 4.0

June 27 (Framber): 6.0

June 25 (Brown): 6.0

June 24 (Blanco): 6.0

June 23 (France): 6.0

From June 23-June 29 the starter went at least six innings in five of those six games. But in each of the four games of this crucial series against the Rangers, the bullpen had to cover at least four innings, and that was five innings in each of the last three. The bullpen is absolutely gassed, mainly because Javier has forgotten how to pitch, and Framber slipped down some stairs.

Bullpen Usage, last ten games:

Hector Neris: 6 games

Phil Maton: 6 games

Ryne Stanek: 5 games

Bryan Abreu: 5 games

Rafael Montero: 3 games

Seth Martinez: 3 games

Your high-leverage guys have thrown a lot. And you should be able to trust your #2 starter (Javier) with a 10-2 lead, or a 10-5 lead, to go an extra inning and give one of those guys a day off. Javier couldn't, because he has completely forgotten how to pitch. Pitching Coach Josh Miller:

He's not working deep into games. That's something he did last year, the back half of the year when he was a consistent starter for us. He was dominant. He was a force. We're working to get back to that version of him. He's working his tail off. We're going to go back to the drawing board and, hopefully, get him right.

It's worth revisiting this recent Eno Sarris article on the decline of Cristian Javier's fastball, or how his Invisiball is a little less Invisi.

So who should you be mad at? I'd go with Javier, or the injuries that led to the loss of Urquidy, McCullers, Garcia, and Framber, before Dusty. 

*Ramgers 6-9 in the lineup, last four games: 18x57, 10RBI.

*Matt Kawahara: Takeaways from a 6-4 road trip.

*This might be it for Michael Brantley. He will not take live BP against Jose Urquidy, having "plateaued" in his rehab, and the Astros are backing off of his recovery.

*Mike Trout left in the 8th Inning of last night's game after injuring his wrist on a swing.

*This guy was charged with attempted murder after beating the piss out of a another guy (who happened to be in bed with his wife at a Florida AirBnB). The most insane sentence you'll ever read:

He further said, that he had a bat that he kept in the closet for self-defense or hitting baseballs or soccer balls.

I have been a high school soccer coach for eight years. Never once has a baseball bat been involved.

*NY Times: Texas BBQ is the best it's ever been. Here's why.

*ESPN: The Champions League begins in Iceland, where teams dream (and spend) big.

*A Musical Selection:

Sunday Morning Hot Links

The Astros just kind of stumbled along in a 5-2 loss to East Haltom City. Houston is 45-38, back to five games back. 

*The Rangers' 15 hits were a season high for the Astros' pitching staff. 11 of them were singles.

*Hunter Brown, the day before Shawn Dubin starts for the Astros, really could have helped everyone out with a strong performance. Instead: 4IP, 10H/3ER, 6K:0BB, needing 91 pitches to get through those four innings. 

Brown:

I put some pitches in some good spots. Whether they fought them off or worked a hit out of it, they just made it difficult on me today. I don't think I was overly mis-executing. But it's kind of difficult to not think how you could have done better when they put up 10 hits on you.

Brown has faced three teams a second time in 2023:

Minnesota, April 9: 7IP, 2H/1R (0ER), 7K:2BB.

Minnesota, May 31: 4.2IP, 6H/5ER, 8K:2BB.

Oakland, May 20: 6IP, 5H/2R (1ER), 9K:0BB.

Oakland, May 26: 7IP, 4H/2ER, 10K:1BB.

Arlington, April 15: 7IP, 5H/2R (0ER), 5K:1BB

Arlington, July 1: 4IP, 10H/3ER, 6K:0BB

So let this be your confirmation that Oakland does, in fact, suck.

Brown's 56 strikes were a season low, as were the nine strikes looking, as were the eight line drives the Rangers hit.

*Rafael Montero: 1IP, 1H/1ER, 1K:1BB. Montero has now given up at least one run in 13 of his 35 appearances.

*Houston only had two plate appearances with a runner in scoring position. 

*6-9 in the lineup (Dubon, Julks, Meyers, Maldonado) went a combined 0x10, 3K:2BB.

*Jake Meyers was 0x3, 1K:0BB.

Jake Meyers, 2021: 163 PAs, .260/.323/.438, 6HR.

Jake Meyers, since: 387 PAs, .226/.295/.351, 7HR.

For no reason at all:

Chas McCormick, 2021: 320 PAs, .257/.319/.447, 14HR.

Chas McCormick, since: 578 PAs, .247/.333/.418, 21HR.

*Kyle Tucker hit his 12th home run of the season in the 9th to provide the Astros' only runs. Tucker has an eight-game hitting streak in which he's hitting .387/.457/.774. Six of his 12 hits in this span have been for extra-bases (three doubles, three homers). 

Tucker has two home runs in his last nine PAs. He had two homers in his previous 91 PAs. 

*Alex Bregman was 1x3 with a double and a walk. He has six walks in his last four games. Bregs is hitting .267/.421/.533 through this eight-game road trip.

*Framber Valdez will not make today's start due to a sprained ankle, which the Astros say (eyes roll completely out of head) happened against the Mets when he slipped down the dugout stairs. Framber sprained his ankle so badly that he made his next start a week later, losing the one game against the Cardinals (but not pitching terribly). Valdez:

I twisted it there and just continued pitching, maybe because of the heat or adrenaline there. But when I pitched in St. Louis, I felt it a little bit more, felt it a little more tender. And just figure better to skip a start than to regret it the rest of the season.

*Eno Sarris, on Cristian Javier's fastball decline.

*McTaggart: Altuve is staking his claim on the Astros' Mount Rushmore.

*Watch Yordan Alvarez and Michael Brantley run at you.

*The Astros are thriving as the underdogs in sports betting.

*Infielder Zach Dezenzo, 2023:

Asheville: .407/.474/.628

Corpus: .274/.371/.429 

*The Rangers classed up the joint by having a bunch of different mascots beat up a replica Orbit in their replica ballpark prior to the game. Which is pretty on-brand for a franchise whose generational highlight is punching Jose Bautista.

*How long will Canada burn?

*How to listen to, and enjoy, classical music.

*If you're having trouble using Twitter, but still want to follow Astros reporters/accounts, lists don't seem to be rate limited, so you can find my Astros Media list here.

*A Musical Selection:

Thursday Morning Hot Links

The offense bailed Cristian Javier out as the Astros evened up the series in St. Louis with a 10-7 win. Houston is 43-37 to stay six games back of Upper Joshua, tied with Anaheim in second place. Houston is 4-8 in their last twelve games.

*Last night was the 5th time the Astros have scored double-digit runs. They're 0-4 in the games following a 10+ run outburst.

*The Astros hit two home runs (Altuve, Abreu). They're 17-7 when they hit multiple home runs in a game. Games with the following number of home runs, 2023:

0HR: 24

1HR: 32

2HR: 19

3HR: 1

4HR: 2

5HR: 1

7HR: 1

*Houston drew eight walks for the 6th time this season. Houston is 9-2 when they draw 6+ walks in a game.

*Jose Altuve was 2x3 with a home run and three walks - just his second home run since May 30. It was his first 3BB game since September 7, 2022. Altuve is now at 196 home runs in his career.

Altuve:

I know I've been hurt quite a bit this year, and I'm really trying to stay healthy on the field and play to help this team to win. The days I had off, I was doing a lot of homework, trying to get back to where I want to be with my swing and my timing.

*Kyle Tucker was 3x5 with two doubles - his first multi-XBH game since June 1. Tucker now has more RBI (44) than strikeouts (43) in 2023.

*Jose Abreu was 2x4 with 3RBI. Abreu now has four 3RBI games, and all of them have come in the last 19 days. Abreu, June 2023: .292/.305/.517. Abreu had eight extra-base hits from March-May (225 PAs) and ten extra-base hits in June (95 PAs).

*Congratulations to Bligh Madris, who got his first two hits as an Astro.

*Jake Meyers was 0x2, but scored twice as he drew three walks, a career-high. Meyers had one game with multiple walks in 2021-22, and five such games in 2023. 

*Cristian Javier struggled again: 4IP, 8H/6ER, 1K:1BB, 2HR. His fastball sat around 93mph.

Javier's first 14 games of 2023: 80.2IP, 65H/26ER, 76K:19BB, 2.90 ERA.

Javier's last two starts: 6.1IP, 12H/10ER, 2K:6BB, 14.21 ERA.  

*Yordan Alvarez hit off a tee yesterday, Michael Brantley hit in the cage, and Jose Urquidy is feeling good.

*GM Dana Brown plans to be aggressive but smart at the trade deadline. On possibly trading Drew Gilbert:

He would be untouchable in a rental. If we can acquire someone that has some more time on their deal, that's a different story. We're not going to be in the business of throwing away our top prospects for rentals.

*Jeremy Pena finds echoes of his father's career in St. Louis.

*Chandler Rome: Korey Lee could be the catcher of the future...but for what team?

*Domingo German threw the fourth perfect game in Yankees history against Oakland last night, and the first perfect game since Felix Hernandez in 2012. 

*ESPN: From a cricket field to the top of the MLB draft, Arjun Nimmala's journey is wild.

*Jesus Ferreira had a hat trick as the USMNT beat St. Kitts AND Nevis in the Gold Cup last night.

*With pre-season training camp starting next week, Leeds United appear to be on the verge of hiring Daniel Farke.

*A Musical Selection:

Thursday Morning Hot Links

In one of the most bizarre games of the year, the Astros beat the Mets 10-8 to win consecutive games for the third time in June. Cristian Javier's velocity was concerning, the bats kind of weren't? The Astros are 41-34. The Rangers won, the Angels lost, so the Astros are back in second place, a half-game up on Anaheim and 5.5 back of Pantego. 

*Houston went 4-5 on this nine-game NL homestand against the Nationals, Reds, and Mets. They played 26 games in the last 27 days. 

*Houston is 15-12 against NL teams in 2023. The Rangers are 13-10.

*It's the 4th time in the last five games that the pitching staff has allowed 8+ runs. 

*The Astros rank 23rd in FanGraphs' Hard Hit% rate.

*The Astros offense, following a game in which they score 10+ runs: 0-3, 6 total runs scored.

*Alex Bregman was 3x5 with 2RBI. After a 2x22 stretch from June 11-17, Bregman is 8x18 with 5RBI. 

*Corey Julks was 1x3 with a walk and 2RBI - his 4th straight game with a walk. He has raised his OPS 39 points (from .658 to .697) in the last four games.

*Yainer Diaz hit another home run, his 7th of the year. Diaz has played in every game this homestand and hit .286/.286/.657. On the home stand, the Astros hit 13 home runs - Diaz had four of them. 

*Jeremy Pena drew 22 walks in 558 PAs in 2022. With two walks yesterday, Pena is at 17 in 296 PAs in 2023. After walking twice in 58 PAs between May 31-June 17, Pena has four walks in his last 12 PAs. It was the 3rd 2BB game of his career. 

*Chas McCormick was 1x3 with a home run and a walk.

McCormick vs RHP: .242/.336/.455.

McCormick vs LHP: .265/.306/.500.

*Mauricio Dubon started the game at 1B and hit two doubles, making him the lightest Astros 1B since Jose Vizcaino.

Chandler Rome: Dubon starting at 1B shows the Astros' lack of depth.

*Cristian Javier didn't make it out of the 3rd Inning, throwing 2.1IP, 4H/4ER, 1K:5BB, needing 82 pitches to retire seven Mets. 

Javier's top fastball velocity by inning, June 21:

1st Inning: 94.4mph

2nd Inning: 93.9mph

3rd Inning: 91.7mph (his last pitch of the day was a 90.7mph fastball)

Javier: I really don't even know what to tell you what was going on today. I was falling behind a lot of hitters and missing with a lot of pitches.

*Probably the dumbest signing of the GM Jim Crane era was Rafael Montero. Montero gave up 3H/2ER yesterday, raising his ERA to 7.04. Montero has pitched in 32 games in 2023 and has allowed at least one run in 12 of them. He has allowed a hit in 25 of them. In those 32 games, just five have seen Montero enter and exit without allowing a baserunner.   

Dusty, on Montero:

You've got to pitch him sometimes. He's been struggling. I know it, you know it, everybody knows it. You've got to take your shot in the 6th. You've got four innings to do whatever mishaps that happen vs. in the seventh and eighth where he's used to being.

The Astros owe Montero about $28m.

*Meat Wagon update: Jose Urquidy threw another bullpen, Michael Brantley swung a bat, and Yordan Alvarez went for a job.

*Rob Manfred told TIME Magazine that he wishes he could have a do-over with how he handled the Astros' sign-stealing scandal. Asked about what he regrets surrounding it, Manfred:

I'm not sure that I would have approached it with giving players immunity. Once we gave players immunity, it puts you in a box as to what exactly you were going to do in terms of punishment. I might have gone about the investigative process without that grant of immunity and see where it takes us. Starting with, I'm not going to punish anybody, maybe not my best decision ever.

The crazy thing is that the interviewer didn't ask Manfred about the Astros - he brought it up on his own as part of an answer to a "One thing you wish you had done over?" question, after (and I realize that this interview has been edited) answering questions about the Dodgers/LGBTQ kerfuffle and Oakland's impending relocation. So...good work on highlighting that for the public's awareness Rob.

*ESPN: How US Soccer's strange coaching search played out.

*Atlas Obscura: The elusive, maddening mystery of the Bell Witch.

*We Salted Nannie: A True Southern Ghost Story.

*A Musical Selection:

Tuesday Morning(-ish) Hot Links

Good morning. I got home late, overslept, and got to work late. It's a great day. The Astros beat the Brewers 12-2 to improve to 28-19, winners of eight straight and eleven of their last twelve games. The Rangers lost, so the Astros are just a game back for the Division lead. 

*To find a longer winning streak you have to go all the way back to [checks Baseball-Reference] May 2-13, 2022, when the Astros won 11 in a row against the Mariners, Tigers, and Twins. 

*The Astros - as a team - have hit .276/.352/.451 in the last twelve games, raising their team OPS from .676 to .709. Houston also hit five home runs last night, an impressive feat considering that they hit five home runs in the previous six games combined (218 PAs). 

*The previous 2023 game-high in homers was on April 5, when the Astros hit three against Detroit. It was the 56th time in franchise history that the Astros have hit 5+ homers, and the most since the Astros hit six homers at Fenway in a 13-6 win over the Red Sox on May 17, 2022. God, we've been spoiled. The Astros are 50-6 when hitting five home runs in a game. 

*Brewers starting pitcher and 2021 NL Cy Young Winner (a feat about which I had completely forgotten) Corbin Burnes had thrown four straight Quality Starts and entered the game with a 3.48 ERA before getting lit up for 5ER. Prior to last night, Burnes had made 144 appearances (83 starts) and had never given up 4HR in a game before. 

*Yordan Alvarez hit two home runs, one a grand slam on the first pitch of the AB. It was his 4th career grand slam and the 14th multi-homer regular season game of his career, both of which feel low. Those were also Yordan's 3rd and 4th career homers against the Brewers, and the 2nd and 3rd at Not Miller Park.

Yordan's homers vs. Milwaukee:

June 11, 2019 at Minute Maid Park vs. Matt Albers (his second career home run).

September 2, 2019 at Not Miller Park vs. Brent Suter.

May 22, 2023 at Not Miller Park vs Corbin Burnes and something called a "Hoby Milner." In the year of our Lord 2023 there are people walking around that answer to the name "Hoby." Of course he's from Fort Worth. 

Brewers manager Craig Counsell:

I mean, he's one of the best hitters in the league. I don't care what pitcher we're putting in there. It's a challenge.

*Mauricio Dubon hit a home run before Jose Abreu. Just like we all drew it up in March.

*Martin Maldonado was 2x3 with a homer and a walk. Since April 30 (15 games), Maldonado is hitting - and I swear this is true - .319/.396/.511. Maldonado became the 69th player in MLB history a home run against all 30 MLB teams. 

*Jeremy Pena took a 98.9mph heater off the hand, but stayed in the game.

*In his last six games, Jake Meyers is hitting .389/.560/.722.

*Cristian Javier threw 6IP, 4H/1ER, 5K:1BB. In the 54 starts in his career, 23 of them have been Quality Starts. The Astros are 17-6 when Javier goes at least six innings and allows three or fewer earned runs. 

*It was a routine day off yesterday for Jose Altuve.

*The Astros need five more wins this season for Dusty Baker to pass Joe McCarthy for 8th on the all-time managerial wins list. 38 more wins put him past Bucky Harris for 7th, 74 will pass Sparky Anderson for 6th. 

*Something I'm sure everyone will be extremely level-headed about: Chandler Rome, on Kyle Tucker's terrible defensive metrics. 

*Carlos Correa is hitting .213/.302/.396. FanGraphs says not to worry about that. Correa also talked to ESPN about his tumultuous free agency saga. 

*1916 Watch:

2023 A's: 10-39

1916 A's: 15-33-1

*Three people have been arrested over racial abuse of Real Madrid's Vinicius Jr. 

*How Leeds United's impending relegation would affect Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Brendan Aaronson, and the San Francisco 49ers.

*Uhhh check on your friends in Guam.

*Rufus Wainwright's debut album was released 25 years ago last Friday. This is hard, for me. So in honor of that...

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

Hi. I'm James. I'm a teacher and girls soccer coach. I started this blog almost 15 years ago, shut it down a little over two years ago and now it's back? I have a wife, kid, and two dogs. My Christmas Tree is still up. Thanks for reading.

The Houston Astros beat the Chicago F. Cubs 7-3 last night at Minute Maid Park. Houston is now 23-19, four games over .500 for the first time this season. The seven runs scored are the most in a game since May 1, and the Astros posted back-to-back 6+ run games for the third time this season (April 21-22 at Atlanta, March 31-April 1 vs Chicago). 

The Astros are now 10-11 at Minute Maid Park, where the Astros have gone 260-145 (.642) since the beginning of the 2017 season (2020 doesn't count. 2020 never counts.)

The game was 2:19 - the fourth-shortest of the season. 

Houston scored their runs on the backs of six doubles, a season-high, and the most in a game since September 6, 2021 (7, vs Seattle). The Astros have hit two home runs in five home games in May, and 16 home runs in 21 home games in 2023. 

*Cubs starting pitcher lefty Justin Steele gave up a season-high five earned runs. In his first seven starts of the season, Steele threw 43.1IP, 30H/7ER, 36K:11BB. In his last two starts (Cardinals, Astros) 12IP, 12H/8ER, 11K:4BB. 

*Mauricio Dubon was 2x4 with two doubles - his second multi-XBH game of the season. 

*Alex Bregman had a productive night at the plate, drawing a walk, an HBP, and recording a sac fly. Since April 25 (19 games) Bregman: .162/.266/.279, albeit with an abysmal .145 BABIP. 

*Yordan's On-Base Streak to start the season reached 36 games after going 2x4 with 2RBIs, his 38th and 39th RBIs of the season in his 36th game. 

The franchise record for RBI in a season is 136, set by Lance Berkman in 2006, which he achieved in 152 games, or 93.8% of the regular season. Yordan has played in 36 of the Astros' 42 games, or 85.7% of the season. At this rate, and assuming - and this is a Big Assumption - that Yordan continues getting a day off per week and doesn't miss any significant amount of time, he is On Pace For playing in 139 games. Considering that Yordan is averaging 1.08 RBI/game, where Berkman averaged 0.89 RBI/game, at this rate Yordan is On Pace For 150 RBI, well above Berkman's 2006 season. And considering that Bregman hasn't exactly been lighting the world on fire, and Altuve hasn't played a game for Houston yet, the opportunities should be more plentiful going forward. 

*The outfield trio of the Law Offices of Tucker, McCormick, & Julks each hit doubles last night. Cristian Javier, on Chas McCormick's 6th Inning catch on Dansby Swanson:

Definitely one of the best catches and I think one of the most exciting catches that I've seen. He committed there and made that jump and said he was going to catch that ball.

*Oh noes Jose Abreu might not, in fact, be Back, going 0x3 with two strikeouts, and getting replaced by David Hensley (who grounded out to 2B in the 8th). Pinch-hitting Hensley for Abreu feels a little bit like substituting Fun Dip for Pixy Stix when you're in the middle of a diabetic coma. 

*Cristian Javier was extremely efficient, needing just 88 pitches to get through six innings. In nine starts, Javier has yet to reach 100 pitches, recording 18+ outs in six of those. Javier's last three starts: 19IP, 8H/6ER, 24K:5BB. 

*Something called "Matt Gage" pitched the 8th and 9th in some mop-up duty, allowing 3H/2ER on a two-run homer, striking out three Cubs in the process. One of the fun new things about re-starting Astros County is that I had no recollection of the Astros picking Gage up off waivers from the Blue Jays in February.

*Hot middle-infield prospect Jose Altuve went 0x5 last night for Corpus. He's 1x18 in four rehab games as he works his way towards Houston. I don't know. I still believe in Jose Altuve despite these last four games. The Astros should give him a shot in the lineup. 

*Lance McCullers threw 37 pitches in a...rehab? bullpen? outing? And hopes to progress to the mound soon.

*No Framber, no Javier in this early AL Cy Young Favorites poll.

*The Athletic: The Enduring Joy of Jose Lima.

*Justin Verlander got booed in his CitiField debut.

*Kumar Rocker needs Tommy John Surgery.

*A game after Aaron Judge got caught going full Martin McFly into his own dugout, Yankees pitcher Domingo German was ejected for excessively sticky hands. Cheatin' ass organization. 

*Jonathan Feigen: How beating the Spurs in a coin toss cost the Rockets the #1 overall pick.

*FIFA allowed Folarin Balogun to change his soccer nationality from England to the USMNT. The Ringer: What does he bring to the USMNT?

*Texas Monthly: The Long Ride of Charley Crockett.

*A Musical Selection: