Friday Morning Hot Links

The Astros got to an early lead, choked it up, and then monstered all the way to a 10-3 win. The ALCS is tied 2-2. Houston has one more opportunity in this series to take advantage of being on the road. But we know that the Astros will be forced to play at least one more game in Houston.

*FanGraphs: Houston 55.6 - 44.4 Six Flags. 

*When a 7-game series is tied after four games, the Game 5 winner has won the series 71% of the time. One exception: the 2017 ALCS, when New York won Game 5 and then the Astros won Games 6 & 7. 

*The Ramgers have now given up 10+ runs at home 10 times in 2023. The Astros are reponsible for five of those.

The Ramgers have allowed 402 runs in 84 games at Globe Life Park in 2023. The Astros are responsible for 81 of those (20.1%) in nine games. 

*Martin Maldonado:

The beauty about this team, there's not an easy out. When you think there's an easy out, something big happens.

*Jose Altuve was 3x4 with a walk and three runs scored. It's the 10th 3-hit postseason game of his career, and the 6th time he's scored three runs in a postseason game. Altuve's last ten plate appearances (Games 3&4): Flyout to the track, home run, flyout to the track, single, out, double, single, walk, out, double. 

Jose Altuve home runs, Minute Maid Park, 2023: 5

Jose Altuve home runs, Globe Life Field, 2023: 8

*Only seven players in MLB history have appeared in 100 postseason games: 

1. Derek Jeter: 158

2. Jorge Posada: 125

3. Bernie Williams: 121

4. David Justice: 112

5. Manny Ramirez: 111

6. Yadier Molina: 104

7. Jose Altuve: 100

Bregman, on Altuve:

It's been an honor to be his teammate - a Hall of Fame player and a Hall of Fame person, incredible leader every single day. From Day 1 of Spring Training, he shows up, works his tail off. He always has a smile on his face. He's so nice to everyone that he comes into contact with - players, coaches, staff, people at the stadium, fans. He's an unbelievable human being, and to be able to be his teammate, it's been an honor. Hopefully I can be his teammate forever. 

*Yordan Alvarez was 2x4 with 3RBI. Those 3RBI bring his postseason total to 39 in 55 games, tying him for 4th in franchise history with Yuli Gurriel. Postseason RBI, Astros, career:

1. Carlos Correa: 59

2. Alex Bregman: 52

3. Jose Altuve: 51

4. Yordan/Gurriel: 39

6. George Springer: 38

...

13. Jeff Bagwell: 13

16. Craig Biggio: 11

Yordan has three straight postseason games with at least 2+ RBI. It's only the 28th time in MLB history that a player has three straight postseason games with multiple RBI. The last person to do it was Yordan Alvarez, who did it from 2022 World Series G6 to 2023 ALDS G2. The all-time record is four games, set by Giancarlo Stanton (2020) and Reggie Sanders (2005). 

*Jose Abreu crushed a crushing three-run home run and stole a base. Thanks to the incredible Sarah Langs, we now know that Abreu is the oldest player since Fred Clarke in 1909 to hit a homer and steal a base in a playoff game. Abreu:

We're the Houston Astros, and we never give up. It was very important to give credit to all these guys here in this organization who never give up. It's up to us to be able to turn this around.

Abreu, Opening Day-June 13: 273 PAs, 3HR

Abreu, 2023 Postseason: 33 PAs, 4HR

*Mauricio Dubon was 2x5 in G4. He has started four postseason games in his career - all in 2023 - and is 8x17 with three runs scored.

*Chas McCormick hit his first postseason homer since 2022 ALCS G3, at New York. 

*The Astros were 8x16 w/runners in scoring position, which is approximately nine more hits than they got with runners in scoring position in Games 1 and 2. 

*The only Astros player to not get on base a single time (in a game with 10 hits and seven walks): Kyle Tucker, who went 0x5 with a strikeout.

Tucker, since hitting two homers in 2022 World Series G1: 13 games, 55 PAs, .089/.236/.156

*Bullspen Matchup, Game 4:

Ramgers: 8.1IP, 7H/7ER, 8K:6BB

Astros: 6.2IP, 3H/0ER, 5K:1BB

*Phil Maton: 2IP, 1H/0ER, 2K:0BB. It's his first postseason six-out appearance since his second career postseason appearance in 2020 Wild Card G2 against the Yankees.

*Hunter Brown: 3IP, 2H/0ER, 2K:0BB. Stanek, on Brown:

He's grown into knowing what he's supposed to be doing and how to handle himself. He came in last year, didn't have a whole lot of experience under his belt and pitched in the playoffs, did really well and then came into this year, and he's had some trials and tribulations. And he's battled and grown and learned and handled it well. It's a hard job to have, especially being a young kid and being a starter, and then he was out in the bullpen. You've got to do a lot of different things, and he's just handled it really, really well. It's awesome to see. 

*Stanek is the third pitcher in baseball history to throw one pitch and get the Win in a postseason game, joining St. Louis' Jeff Fassero (2002 NLDS G2) and Lance Lynn (2011 NLCS G2).

*Justin Verlander is ready to adjust for Game 5.

*The Hall of Fame announced eight candidates for the Veterans Committee to consider for induction in 2025: Managers Cito Gaston, Davey Johnson, Jim Leyland, Lou Piniella; executives Hank Peters and Bill White; umpires Ed Montague and [snicker] Joe [guffaw] West. 

*Before you see Killers of the Flower Moon, read Brian Phillips on The Legend of John Joseph Matthews.

*Esquire: Sixty years in, the Rolling Stones still have something to prove. I'm listening to "Hackney Diamonds" right now and...it's pretty damn good.

*The seven greatest Men's Health recipes of all time.

*A Musical Selection:

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:

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

Fresh off of getting swept by the GDKC Royals, the Astros got a vintage Verlander performance last night in Seattle. Houston is 86-71, 2.5 back of The Colony, 1.5 up on Seattle. There are five games remaining in the regular season.

*AL Playoff Picture:

1. Baltimore (97-59)

2. The Colony (88-68)

3. Minnesota (83-73)

4. Tampa (95-62)

5. Toronto (87-69)

6. Houston (86-71)

7. Seattle (84-72)

*AL West Division Odds / Postseason Odds:

FanGraphs:

The Colony: 86.7% / 98.7%

 

Houston: 10.9% / 75.3%

Seattle: 2.4% / 28.4%

Baseball-Reference:

The Colony: 83.5% / 98.3%

Houston: 11.7% / 76.7%

Seattle: 4.8% / 26.4% 

Keep in mind: The Astros have the tie-breaker against the Rangers. So in order for the Astros to win the Division, they would need to match the Rangers' record. You can safely assume that the Anaheim Possums are going to do exactly that, so the Mariners are going to have to do something in the last series of the season, and the Astros can't afford to...be the 2023 Astros. 

Houston is 2.5 back of The Colony. If the Astros just win out, it puts them at 91-71. The Rangers would have to go 4-2 to finish a game ahead of Houston. If the Astros go 4-1, the Rangers would have to go 3-3. It's a tough, uphill battle. Unless! the Astros actually want the Wild Card, in which case they'd get the advantage of not playing at home, but also getting the Twins and not the Rays. Chess, not checkers?

After a 21-6 August, the Mariners are 8-15 in September. They're 5-15 against teams not named "Oakland" in September. 

The Game

Dusty:

It's one. We got five to go. Hopefully, we come back out tomorrow and do the same thing.

*Houston "improved" to 3-8 against Seattle in 2023. The Astros are 57-33 (.633) all-time at Seattle.

*Houston is 61-22 when scoring first in 2023.  

*Verlander did what they brought him back to do: 8IP, 3H/1ER, 8K:1BB. And on only 96 pitches, 65 of which he threw for strikes. It's the 56th time in his career that he's gotten 24 outs and allowed only an earned run (or less) - the 12th time he's done it for the Astros. 

Opponents who have gotten shut down to the tune of at least 8IP of 0-1ER baseball by Verlander, career:

1: Arizona/Houston/Milwaukee/NY Mets/Philadelphia/The Colony

2: Kansas City/NY Yankees/Pittsburgh/Tampa/Toronto

3: Baltimore/Boston/Oakland

4: Seattle

5: Cleveland

6: Anaheim

7: Chicago White Sox/Minnesota

Verlander:

This is just one of those years where nothing has been easy. Maybe catch the right timing here and this can be the start of something, hopefully.

Alvarez, on Verlander:

Incredible. That's obviously what this team needed. He knew that, and going out there and putting the team in that type of position was great.

*A Full and Complete List of Astros Starting Pitchers to throw 8IP+ in 2023:

Framber Valdez: 4

Justin Verlander: 1

It's the first time an Astros starter has recorded 24 outs since Framber's no-hitter on August 1. Verlander's 79 Game Score is the highest by an Astros starter since Framber's 78 on August 25. 

It was Verlander's 256th career win, by far the most by an active pitcher (Zack Greinke's 224 is 2nd). He's tied for 42nd all-time with Former Astros Great Andy Pettitte. 264 wins gets him in the Top 40 all-time.

*Bryan Abreu closed out the 9th with a scoreless inning. That is now 25 straight scoreless outings for Bryan Abreu, dating back to July 15. Only six pitchers have a 25+ game scoreless streak for the Astros:

1. Ryan Pressly: 40 games (Aug 15, 2018-May 20, 2019)

2. Ryne Stanek: 30 games (Apr 29-July 22, 2022)

3. Joe Sambio: 27 games (May 3-July 14, 1979)

4. Will Harris: 26 games (April 9-June 8, 2016)

5. Billy Wagner: 25 games (Aug 13, 1999-April 16, 2000)

5. Bryan Abreu: 25 games (July 18, 2023-present)

It's the longest active streak in the Majors, and only two other pitchers have managed to throw at least 25 consecutive scoreless outings: Cleveland's Sam Hentges, who saw his 25-game scoreless streak end on September 24; and San Diego's Josh Hader, whose 26-game scoreless streak ended on August 29. 

*The 107 pitches thrown in a 9-inning game by Verlander/Abreu are the 4th-lowest pitch total by the Astros in 2023. 

*It's the 36th time in 2023 that Astros pitchers have held their opponent to 0-1BB. They're 19-17 in those games...somehow.

*Yordan Alvarez was 2x4 with his 30th home run of the season. It's the third season in a row Yordan has hit 30+ homers. 

Three or More Consecutive Seasons of 30+ Homers, Astros history:

8: Jeff Bagwell (1996-2003)

3: Yordan Alvarez (2021-2023)

That's it. Kyle Tucker needs one more home run to join this list.

*Alex Bregman was 0x5. He's now gone five straight games without a hit, hitless in seven of his last eight. His five-game hitless streak ties a career-high, set in 2021 and 2016. Since his 3-hit game against Kansas City on September 16, Bregman has one hit in his last 28 Plate Appearances, but with 3K:9BB. The Astros are 28-31 when Bregman does not get a hit. 

*Martin Maldonado was 2x3 with a walk - his 15th multi-hit game of the season. He raised his OPS from .601 to .612 last night. 

*Mauricio Dubon opened the scoring with a base hit to score Jose Abreu, who ran 270 feet like a big boy. Alvarez, on Dubon's hit:

Very big. Having the runner on third there with nobody out and then having two outs, getting him in, I think, gave the team second wind. So it was very big to get it all started.

Other Stuff

*Ronel Blanco and Will Wagner were named the PCL's Pitcher and Player of the Week, respectively.

*The Beatles' "Abbey Road" was released in the UK 54 years ago today.

*Imagine giving any kind of shit about who Travis Kelce is dating.

*This is the most affordable mountain town in the West.

*How Jason Isbell finished his degree at the University of Memphis.

*Austria Salzburg vs. Red Bull Salzburg: A Derby 18 years in the making.

*Frank Lloyd Wright designed one theatre. Fkn Dallas let it fall into disrepair.

*What To Watch, September 26:

Carabao Cup: Crystal Palace @ Manchester United: 2pm Central

Rangers @ Useless-Ass Angels: 8:38pm 

Astros @ Mariners: 9:05pm

*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:

Thursday Morning Hot Links

Well that's better. The Astros took a no-hitter into the 9th against the Oakland AAA's and won 6-2. The Mariners and Rangers both won, so everything is as it was. Houston is 83-64 and was able to salvage Not Getting Swept. 

*AL Playoff Picture:

1. Baltimore (91-54)

2. Houston (83-64)

3. Minnesota (76-70)

4. Tampa (90-57)

5. Azle (81-64): 

6. Seattle (81-65):

7. Toronto (80-66): +1.0

*AL West Odds (Change from Yesterday)

FanGraphs:

Houston: 66.3% (-0.1%)

Seattle: 20.6% (-0.1%)

Azle: 13.1% (+0.2%)

The Game

*Dusty:

We got some runs early, which we hadn't been getting against the A's because they've been dealing on us. Yeah, that was big. That was a monster shot by Alvarez. It was huge. We needed this victory...badly before we go on the road. We've got a day off [today]. It was a good night.

*The Astros went 3-3 on this little homestand against the Padres and A's, two teams who are a combined 52-95 on the road. In the three losses, Houston scored a total of four runs. In the three wins, they scored 25 runs. 

*Houston is 4-5-1 in their last ten home series. 

*There are 15 games remaining in the 2023 regular season - nine of them are thankfully on the road.

*Houston hit three home runs in Wednesday night's game. They had two home runs in the previous five home games.

*Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez each hit their 27th home runs of the season last night. Alex Bregman hit his 23rd home run. The three home runs accounted for five of the Astros' six hits. Yordan's home run left the bat at 117.7mph, the hardest-hit homer by any Astro since Statcast became a thing.

Kyle Tucker's homer was the 100th of his career. His 105 RBI lead the American League.

*Number of games to reach 100 Home Runs, Astros:

Yordan: 372

Berkman: 452

Tucker: 541

Bagwell: 619 

Biggio: 1258

Tucker is 3rd all-time among lefties on the Astros' home run leaderboard, behind Jose Cruz (138) and Yordan Alvarez (125). 

*Home Runs Accounting For Total RBIs, 2023: Here is each of the eleven-ish Astros, with their home run totals, and the percentage of their total RBIs that came off of homers:

Jake Meyers: 9HR/32RBI (19 of his 32RBI - 59.3% of his total RBIs - came from home runs)

Yainer Diaz: 21HR/56RBI (57.1%)

Jose Altuve: 16HR/42RBI (57.1%)

Yordan Alvarez: 27HR/88RBI (56.8%)

Chas McCormick: 20HR/63RBI (52.4%)

Martin Maldonado: 13HR/33RBI (51.5%)

Alex Bregman: 23HR/94RBI (45.7%)

Kyle Tucker: 27HR/105RBI (43.8%)

Jose Abreu: 14HR/77RBI (41.6%)

Jeremy Pena: 10HR/49RBI (36.7%)

Mauricio Dubon: 9HR/41RBI (20.5% - Dubon has not hit a home run with a runner on base since July 29, 2022)

*Hunter Brown: 5IP, 0H/0ER, 7K:2BB. At a 72, Game Score-wise, this is Brown's 3rd-best start of the season, behind his 79 against Tampa and his 76 against Minnesota - both in April, both on the road. It's only his fourth start of the season in which he didn't give up an extra-base hit. 

Brown was lifted after 78 pitches and 15 outs, but that was kind of the point. Dusty:

That's the first real positive that he's had in a few starts. He probably only had one more inning, but we wanted to send him out on a high note.

Brown (same link):

My curveball was probably better than it's been in a month or so. I felt the line out of hand was a lot better, and then pair that with the fastball that I thought had a little bit more ride today, that was a difference-maker for me.

Brown vs Oakland, 2023: Four games, 24IP, 15H/5ER, 30K:5BB, 1.88 ERA / 0.83 WHIP.

Most strikeouts, Astros rookie pitcher:

1. Tom Griffin: 200 (1969)

2. Hunter Brown: 169 (2023)

3. Luis Garcia: 167 (2021)

4. Don Wilson: 159 (1967)

5. Collin McHugh: 157 (2014)

*Alex Bregman has struck out twice in 53 Plate Appearances in September. Last night was his first home run since August 29.

*Jeremy Pena drew two walks last night - his first walk since August 29, and his first 2BB game since August 22. It's just the 6th 2BB game of his 2023 season and the 7th of his career. 

*Rafael Montero threw a perfect inning. Since bottoming out with a 7.76 ERA on June 25, Montero: 30.1IP, 19H/7ER, 36K:13BB, 2.08 ERA / 1.05 WHIP. He has struck out at least one batter faced in each appearance since July 6 - a span of 25 games.

*At 20 consecutive outings without allowing a run, Bryan Abreu is currently leading the Majors for the longest scoreless outing streak.

*Ryne Stanek threw a bullpen session for the first time since obliterating his ankle on September 4.

*Dusty is on-board with all these players-only meetings.

*Corpus' Jacob Melton, last six games: .423/.444/1.039 - he has five homers in the last six games.

*Max Scherzer is probably out for the rest of 2023. 

*Former Astros Great David Stearns has been named as the Mets' President of Baseball Operations. Here are three things he can do quickly to "fix" the Mets (lol this won't happen. Fix three things, and ten other dysfunctional issues will pop up). 

*Rolling Stone: Their band ended in tragedy. 20 years later, the last surviving member is ready to talk.

*What To Watch, September 14:

MLB: Rangers @ Blue Jays: 6:07pm Central

NCAAF: Navy @ Memphis: 6:30pm (ESPN)

NFL: Minnesota @ Philadelphia: 7:15pm (Amazon Prime)

*A Musical Selection:

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

It wasn't looking good. Then it looked better. Then it looked worse. Then it was freaking great. The Astros beat South Ardmore 13-6 in the first game of the first pivotal series of September. Houston is 78-61, and 43-27 at Not Minute Maid Park. The Mariners lost, as well.

*AL Playoff Picture:

1. Baltimore (86-51)

2. Seattle (77-60)

3. Minnesota (72-66)

4. Tampa (83-55)

5. Houston (78-61)

6. South Ardmore (76-61)

-

7. Toronto (76-62): +0.5

8. Boston (72-66): +4.5

*AL West Odds, Morning of September 5 (and change from yesterday):

FanGraphs:

Houston: 51.6% (+11.7%)

Seattle: 33.8% (-6.7%)

South Ardmore: 14.6% (-5.0%)

Baseball-Reference:

Houston: 48.3% (+13.5%)

Seattle: 34.0% (-5.6%)

South Ardmore: 17.7% (-7.1%)

The Game

*The win puts the Astros at 7-4 over South Ardmore in 2023, meaning that in the event of a tie record between the two teams, the Astros will get the tiebreaker. 

*Arlington is 3-7 at Mimic Maid Park in their last ten games. Houston's 13 runs were the most scored by an opponent there since the Dodgers put 16 on them on July 22. 

*Houston has now won six straight road games, and are 18-8 on the road since the All-Star Break.

*The Astros hit five home runs in a game for the fifth time this season - four of them have been on the road.  

*Conversely, the Astros allowed 4HR in a game for the 4th time this season. It's the first time they've won a game after giving up 4HR since September 24, 2022 when Houston beat Baltimore 11-10. I hate it when I've committed to something like this only to find that "the last time it happened" wasn't all that long ago.  

*Jose Altuve went 4x6 with 2RBI and enjoyed the 9th regular season 2HR game of his career. It's his 10th multi-HR game if you count the postseason. 

*Mauricio Dubon also trotted 720 feet around the bases for the first time in his career. He hit two home runs between July 24-September 3. Career home run leaders, born in Honduras:

1. Mauricio Dubon: 27

2. Gerald Young: 3

*It's the first time in MLB history that the 9-1 hitters went back-to-back twice in the same game.

*Yordan Alvarez walked three times in a game for the 5th time in his career, and the first time since September 10, 2021. 

*Alex Bregman was 4x4 with 2RBI and a walk. It's the 8th 4-hit game of his career. It's also the 7th time in his career he's been on base five times in a game, and the 5th time in 2023, raising his OBP from .365 to .370 - the highest since he had a .374 OBP on April 24. 

*7-8-9 in the lineup, Chas McCormick-Yainer Diaz-Mauricio Dubon, went a combined 5x14 with 3HR/6RBI. 

*Rangers Reliever of the Day: Josh Sbarro Sborz! Mans went 0.2IP, 5H/6R (5ER), 0K:2BB.

*Jonathan France (he has to earn his initials back): 5IP, 6H/5ER, 5K:3BB, 3HR. After allowing 10 homers in his first 17 appearances (and zero homers in six straight outings from July 14-August 17), France has now allowed eight home runs in his last four starts. 

*Prayers up for Ryne Stanek, who went down hard on his ankle in the 9th inning and is being evaluated. But it didn't look good.

*Yainer Diaz said the vets called a meeting after Sunday night's loss to the Yankees and "implored" everyone to "turn the page."

Other Stuff

*Wednesday's game will feature Justin Verlander vs. Max Scherzer. 

*AL Records since August 15:

Seattle: 13-5

Baltimore: 12-5

Tampa: 11-5

Detroit: 10-8

Minnesota/Toronto: 9-8

Houston/Oakland: 9-9

Boston: 9-10

New York: 8-9

Cleveland: 8-10

Anaheim: 5-12

Chicago: 5-13

South Ardmore: 4-13

Kansas City: 4-14

*What To Watch Today:

Blue Jays @ A's: 2:37pm Central

Mariners @ Reds: 5:40pm Central

Astros @ Ramgers: 7:05pm Central

I cannot recommend the Copa90 Stories YouTube channel enough.

*Shohei Ohtani will need surgery, but maybe not Tommy John?

*Speaking of the Angels, Anthony Rendon is such a bitch. Anthony Rendon has also played in 200 of the Angels' 522 regular season games since he signed a 7yr/$245m contract. I did the math. The Angels have paid him $617,547 per game that he's actually suited up for.

*From yesterday morning: The Biggest Lone Star State Showdown Ever.

*Movies leaving Netflix in September.

*The Walrus: The Greatest Scam Ever Written

*A Musical Selection:

Sunday Morning Hot Links

Getting kind of tired of the HomeStros. Houston drops another one-run game to the Yankees to fall a game behind Seattle, who won last night. The Rangers lost, so there's something there, I guess. Houston is 77-60. 

AL Playoff Picture, going into September 3:

1. Baltimore (84-51)

2. Seattle (77-58)

3. Minnesota (71-65)

4. Tampa (82-54)

5. Houston (77-60)

6. West Mesquite (75-60)

--- 

7. Toronto (74-62) +1.5

8. Boston (70-66) +5.5

Division Odds

*AL West Odds, FanGraphs (change from yesterday):

Seattle: 44.1% (+11.0%)

Houston: 43.4% (-9.0%)

West Mesquite: 12.5% (-2.0%)

AL West Odds, Baseball-Reference (change from yesterday):

Seattle: 48.2% (+11.6%)

Houston: 36.8% (-7.1%)

West Mesquite: 15.0% (-4.5%)

The Game, sort of

*Houston is now 35-33 at Minute Maid Park, getting outscored 311-309. 

They're 10-11 at Minute Maid Park since the All-Star Break, with a 2-4 record in one-run games at home in that span. I cannot explain this. 

*Record in One-Run Games, recent years:

2017: 19-13

2018: 24-24

2019: 24-19

2021: 21-19

2022: 28-16

2023: 17-18

*The Astros did not have a single solitary AB with a runner in scoring position all night. I'm not about to go find out the last time that happened. 

*Houston GIDPd three times in a game for the 5th time this season.

*Michael Brantley was 2x4 with a home run - his first since June 17, 2022.

*The Astros fouled off 41 of Severino's 104 pitches. Severino:

I haven't seen something like this in my whole career. They made me work really hard. 

*Hunter Brown: 4IP, 5H/5R (3ER), 5K:4BB. He has failed to record 13 outs in three of his last four starts. 

My Dude UltimateGringo made a really good point in the Group Chat last night: Hunter Brown is a facsimile of his childhood idol Justin Verlander. His delivery is virtually the same as Verlander's. So it's almost rotation construction malpractice to throw them back-to-back because the opponent is getting another look at Verlander, but Brown (and it's not his fault) just isn't as good as Verlander. 

Brown:

I put us in a tough spot, and it wasn't my best performance. I felt like they spit on some good pitches, and the uncompetitive ones, I didn't have a chance to get a swing. 

*Astros starters threw back-to-back Sub-40 Game Score starts for the first time since August 23-24. 

*Houston's bullpen: 5IP, 3H/0ER, 8K:2BB. Only Neris and Stanek threw clean innings.

*Yainer Diaz is the 204th player in MLB history, and the 14th catcher in MLB history, to hit 20 Home Runs in their rookie season. He's the 7th Astro rookie to hit 20+ Home Runs in a season. Astros Rookie HR Leaderboard:

1. Yordan - 27 (2019)

2. Correa - 22 (2015)

2. Pena - 22 (2022)

4. Berkman - 21 (2000)

5. Yainer/Glenn Davis/Springer - 20 (2023, 1985, 2014, respectively)

Yainer Diaz got his 10th start of the season on May 6. Since May 14 (the date of his first home run of 2023), Diaz (75 games, 63 starts) is hitting .293/.315/.570. His .570 SLG is 10th among all batters with 250 ABs since May 14. 

The Athletic: Can Diaz finally crack the Astros' everyday lineup?

*Kyle Tucker has not gone three straight games without a hit since June 19-21. 

*Let's take a second and wonder why in the af was Mauricio Dubon leading off the game. 

Dubon, leading off (71 games, 61 starts): 293 PAs, .248/.270/.351, 46K:7BB, .282 BABIP, 62 sOPS+.

I got nothing. 

*Dusty said he pinch-hit Jon Singleton for Jon Singleton because their projections showed that there was a 27.5% chance he would get a hit, over the 22% chance that Chas would get a hit. Do with that whatever you will. I'd like to know what the projections show about hitting Abreu and his .295 OBP 5th. Or Dubon in the leadoff spot. 

*Oh man another Russian tycoon critical of Putin fell out of a window. They should start getting rooms with really high balconies. 

*25 Days, 9 Countries, 1959 Miles: Seeing Europe by Train. 

My daughter and I have really gotten into travel videos on YouTube, but the hosts (Trek Trendy and Jeb Brooks, to name just a couple) are smarmy. I want someone to subsidize this for me - paying for me to travel and make videos about it. I won't show my ass. I'll make you a ton of money. Hit me up.

*TorontoLife: The Death Cheaters.

*Substack Subscribers: You'll have a new post no later than tomorrow evening in your inbox.

What To Watch, September 3:

*Arsenal / Manchester United: 10:30am Central

Mariners @ Yankees: 12:40pm.

Twins @ Rangers: 1:35pm

Blue Jays @ Rockies: 2:10pm

Yankees @ Astros: 6pm (ESPN)

LSU @ Florida State: 6:30pm (ABC)

*A Musical Selection:

Sunday Morning Hot Links

Wow! What a dumb game we all enjoy! The Astros had a 9-3 lead going into the bottom of the 7th and somehow managed to lose in extra innings, 13-12. Houston is 51-42. The Rangers obviously won, so it's back to 3GB. 

*The Astros are 1-7 in extra inning games this season. They're 17-28 in extras since the Ghost Runner rule was implemented in the 2020 season. 

Astros winning percentage, 9-inning games, 2020-present: .611 (264-168)

Astros winning percentage, extra-inning games, 2020-present: .377 (17-28)

*McTaggart noted that it's the first time the Astros have scored 12 runs in a game and lost since August 20, 2002.

*Martin Maldonado:

Shocking, you have to say. We lost a game with a big lead and with our best [pitchers] on the mound.

Framber left the game with what the Astros are describing as a cramp (Jeremy Pena left with a hamstring cramp, as well). His line: 6.1IP, 7H/5ER, 13K:2BB, 2HR. All five earned runs came off of the two homers. It's the second time this season he's allowed 2HR in the same game. His 13Ks are the most in a start since July 3, 2022...against Anaheim.

Chas McCormick:

I just hope Framber's OK at this point. I hope Pena's OK. We really can't afford any more injuries. It's a tough loss, but the Angels are a good team. They never quit tonight and they deserved to win that one.

*Ryan Pressly gave up five hits. He had given up five hits in his last 15 appearances (16IP) combined. Pressly's five hits allowed are the most since August 27, 2016. 

*Jose Abreu was 2x5 with a 3-run HR. 

Abreu, Opening Day-June 8 (when Yordan went out with an oblique): .217/.277/.265

Abreu, since June 8: .301/.331/.549.

*Mauricio Dubon was 3x6, his 6th 3-hit game of the season. 

*Chas McCormick was 3x3 with two walks - his second 3-hit game of the season, and his 15th multi-hit game of 2023. His five times reaching base in a single game are a career-high. 

*Martin Maldonado had two hits (and 2RBI) for the first time since June 3. The Astros are now 9-5 whenever Maldonado has an RBI. 

*Jose Altuve hopes to join the Astros on this road trip.

*Yordan Alvarez worked out in Houston and has yet to start the rehab assignment the Astros announced he would make three days ago. 

*Spencer Arrighetti is in the mix to bolster the rotation, according to Dana Brown.

*The Astros signed 11 draft picks, including 1st Rounder Brice Matthews, yesterday. Check the financials of what we know so far.

*The Ringer: The Top 10 Storylines of MLB's Second Half.

*NY Times: In the land of football, a cricket oasis arises outside of Houston.

*In a Behind-Closed-Doors friendly, we had Barnsley 1 - 9 Leeds United.

*Texas Monthly: The sole restaurants in small towns do much more than serve food.

*A Musical Selection, one that I wish would play every time I walk into a room. Any room:

Sunday Morning Hot Links

The Astros beat the Mariners 3-2 to improve to 50-40, snapping a two-game skid. Framber did Framber Things. The Offense did Offense Things. They're the 4th AL team to hit 50 wins. The Astros are two back of the Rangers, and are guaranteed to head into the Break no more than three games back. 

Game Number of 50th Win, Astros recent history:

2023: 90

2022: 77

2021: 83

2019: 80

2018: 77

2017: 74

2016: 92

2015: 92

2014: 120

2013: 146

*The Astros improved to 10-10 in 1-run games. 

*After scoring six runs in the final game of the Rockies series, the Astros have scored five runs in the last three games. 

*Houston won despite only getting four hits, improving to 1-9 when recording four or fewer hits. 

*Alex Bregman has an RBI in consecutive games for the first time since June 24-25. He has two extra-base hits in his last 58 PAs. 

*Framber: 6IP, 5H/2ER, 6K:2BB. He ends the first half with a 3.2 fWAR, 2.51 ERA. He's one of five pitchers to post at least a 3.0 fWAR in the first half (Gauman, Gallen, Wheeler, and Strider are the others). 

Dusty:

We needed it very badly against them. We were 1-4 [vs Seattle] going into today and...we wanted to pick up a game or two this weekend. And the fact Texas lost. I didn't think they had a good chance of losing, but baseball is baseball.

Framber wants to start the All-Star Game.

*Bullpen: 3IP, 0H/0ER, 4K:4BB. Hector Neris loaded the bases with nobody out in the 8th, and got out of it, somehow. Scott Servais on the Mariners' half of the 8th:

We had them against the ropes and couldn't deliver the knockout punch. On the road, you've got to score and not just, like, get one in that inning. In my mind, I'm hoping we get two or three when you get the bases loaded. Then you look up and [Neris] wiggled his way out of it.

Matt Kawahara notes (first link) that Saturday was Neris' 110th appearance since the beginning of the 2022 season. Provided he doesn't finish 2023 on the IL, the club option for 2024 converts to a player option. 

*Ryan Pressly walked a batter for the first time since June 20 - a span of 27 batters between walks. Pressly's last ten games: 11IP, 0H/1R (0ER), 11K:4BB.

*Martin Maldonado hit the go-ahead homer in the bottom of the 8th to provide the game-winning run. It's the latest in a game he has homered since September 21, 2022. Five of his six home runs in 2023 have come with the bases empty.

*Yordan, Bregman, and Tucker all have 55+ RBI, the first time since 2001 that the Astros have had three players with 55+ RBI before the All-Star Break.

*Ronel Blanco was optioned to Sugar Land, and Joel Kuhnel was brought up. Blanco can be optioned two more times this season before being put on outright waivers first.

*Mauricio Dubon has had a fortuitous first half.

*Yordan Alvarez took BP prior to the game and hit balls 107, 109, and 111mph.

*The MLB Draft is tonight! Check out MLB.com's final Mock Draft (Ty Floyd and Ralphy Velasquez are in the mix) and ESPN's final Mock Draft (Brock Wilken and Cameron Johnson).

SETX-area guys in ESPN's projected first 70 picks include Blake Mitchell (Sinton HS) and Kendall George (Atascocita HS). And the Chronicle put together a full list of Houston-area draft prospects.

*Elly De La Cruz got a single, and then proceeded to steal 2nd, 3rd, and home. 

*Bob Huggins is Hugginsing things up, naturally.

*The best movies on Amazon Prime right now.

*A Musical Selection:

Saturday Morning Hot Links

The Astros beat NW Duncanville 5-3 last night. Houston was down 3-1 and scored the last four runs of the game to secure the win. At 45-37, Houston is four games back for the first time since June 16. The Astros have won three straight games, four of their last five, and six of their last nine games.

*Houston went 13-14 in June, playing 27 games in 30 days. It was their first losing record in a calendar month since September 2020. Or, since that season doesn't exist, since August 2017, when they went 11-17. 

*The Astros are 14-6 against the AL West. The Rangers are 15-9 against the AL West.

*Jose Altuve hit the first pitch of the game over the wall. It was the 197th homer of his career, and his 34th career lead-off home run, and moved him past Lance Berkman into sole possession of 3rd in Astros Runs Scored.

Dubon:

If he goes, we go. That's something that's been going on for a while. To hit it on the first pitch of the game, that's his moment.

Altuve, leading off the game, career: .317/.375/.555. 

Altuve in the leadoff spot, career: .304/.366/.485.

*Dusty Baker:

You always want to win that first game because that puts you on a confidence high for the second game...Four-game series are tough. They're very tough. It was very important for us to win that game.

Chas McCormick, who somehow found himself in the lineup and went 2x4 (likely enraging Dusty):

It felt like a playoff game tonight, and Altuve hitting the first pitch dead-center was pretty awesome. For him to be back in the lineup and get us going, that's pretty special for him to do. He's a great player and that's what great players do.

*Mauricio Dubon was 1x4 with a double and 2RBI. It was his 3rd 2RBI game of the season. 

Dubon:

We're a good team. We know what we can do. It's a long year. Just continue doing what we're doing. 

*Last night was Ronel Blanco's fifth start of the season, and he has allowed nine home runs - four straight games with two homers allowed. Blanco has allowed 15 earned runs in those five starts, 11 of them have come via home run. 

*Houston's bullpen: 4IP, 1H/0ER, 5K:0BB.

*Jeremy Pena was out with a stiff neck from sleeping wrong.

*Jose Urquidy threw a 34-pitch bullpen session yesterday, and will face live batters next week.

*In The Ringer's Midseason Power Rankings, the Astros rank 12th...one spot behind Anaheim.

*Prior to Friday's game the Rangers traded for Aroldis Chapman. 

Chapman, regular season career vs Houston: 20.1IP, 21H/12ER, 36K:14BB. His 5.31 ERA / 1.72 WHIP vs the Astros in the regular season is the highest of any single opponent in his career. 

Also:

*The Rangers loss means that SeattLOLe's 15-4 loss (a game they were leading 4-0) to the Rays keeps them 10 games back. Seattle got booed off the field.

*The Ringer: "Hijack" is Idris Elba at his TV thriller best. Can confirm. I love this show.

*BBC: A culinary archaeologist sets the record straight with the recipe for Pompeii's pizza.

*NY Times: France is on fire.

*The Atlantic: Dave Grohl's monument to mortality.

*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:

Sunday Morning Brunch Links

The Houston Hot Damn Astros beat Cleveland 6-4 yesterday, improving to 38-27. They remain five games back of Lewisville. The Astros wrap up a 17-games-in-17-days stretch today, during which they've gone 10-6. 

*Houston scored 6+ runs for the third time in their last six games. 

*The Astros have outscored their opponents 52-41 in the month of June, going 5-5 in those games. 

*With 15 hits on Friday, and 10 yesterday, the Astros have recorded back-to-back double-digit hit games for the 6th time this season.

*The Astros stole six bases yesterday (Dubon and Julks had two each, Altuve and Meyers added one each). They had stolen six bases in their previous 14 games combined, and are 9-for-10 in stealing bases in the two games against Cleveland. The six stolen bases were the most in a game for the Astros since Houston stole six bases and beat Boston 2-0 on August 5, 2013 to improve to 37-74.

*Jose Abreu was 2x5 with a homer and 3RBI. Abreu has a hit in eight of his last nine games, and has gone 4x12 with 2HR/6RBI in the two games against Cleveland. In nine June games, Abreu is hitting .290/.300/.474.

*Mauricio Dubon was 2x5 with an RBI. He has a seven-game hitting streak, and a four-game multi-hit streak. Since May 29, after he got a couple of days off, Dubon is hitting .366/.372/.512 with two stolen bases.

*Jose Altuve also collected two hits and a walk. He's 4x11 in this series, after a 2x23 stretch from May 29-June 8.

*Alex Bregman has an RBI in three straight games. He has three hits in his last 20 PAs. 

*Kyle Tucker was 0x3 with 2BB. In his last 20 games he's hitting .257/.329/.405, and is 5x28 in his last seven games.

*J.P. France: 6.2IP, 7H/3ER, 6K:6BB. I don't know that you'd call it a Quality Start, but it was effective nonetheless. His three induced GIDPs brought his season total to four. France had walked nine of the previous 141 batters he had faced in the Majors, and six of the 30 he faced yesterday. Yesterday was the 4th time in seven starts that France recorded at least 18 outs.

*Matt Gage was called up to replace Ryne Stanek, who was placed on the Bereavement List yesterday.

*Check out McTaggart's new newsletter, in which he talks about Dana Brown's plans to upgrade the offense, as well as the MLB Draft, which begins on July 9. 

*Oakland has now won a season-high four games in a row! It's time to go back to the 1916 A's watch!

1916 A's: 17-48-1

2023 A's: 16-50

They're closing in!

*RIP Edward Stack, who started working for my former employer in 1961 until he resigned as President in 2000.

*Conor McGregor put the Miami Heat mascot in the ER.

*BBC: The big numbers behind Manchester City's treble.

*One of my longest-standing hobbies (longer than this cursed bolg!) is HSX.com. Get in on it.

*A Musical Selection:

Sunday Morning Hot Links

Other teams continue to insist on sending their left-handed pitchers out to get assassinated by Yordan Alvarez. The Astros beat the A's 3-2 on Saturday afternoon to improve to 26-19, still two games behind the Rangers, who are taking advantage of playing the Rockies at home. Houston is 9-1 in their last ten games and have won six straight. 

1916 Philadelphia A's Watch, after 47 games:

1916 A's: 15-31-1

2023 A's: 10-37

*For the sixth time this season the Astros have hit a home run in three straight games. 

*Hunter Brown struck out a career-high nine batters. Brown's last two starts: 11.2IP, 12H/4ER, 17K:1BB. It was his 4th start of the season with a Game Score of 65 or higher.

Brown struck out 9+ batters four times in 2021 (3 for Corpus and 1 for Sugar Land) and three times in 2022 (all for Sugar Land). 

*Yordan hit his 10th home run of the season and the 108th of his career off of Ross Ryan Richard Dick Lovelady. 

Yordan vs RHP, 2023: .276/.406/.552, 3 doubles / 7 homers

Yordan vs LHP, 2023: .316/.349/.597, 7 doubles / 3 homers.

54 of Yordan's home runs have come on the road, and 54 have come at home. Yesterday's home run was his 18th career home run against Oakland, most against any opponent in his career. A's Manager Mark Kotsay:

He's the one guy in the lineup you can't let beat you. It's a 3-1 slider that actually wasn't a bad pitch. From my angle, Yordan went out, it looked like he might have been sitting on the slider and hooked it to right field. He's a special player. I put him in the Trout category for sure.

Yordan, 2023: .292/.385/.569, 10 doubles / 10 homers, 39K:19BB.

Trout, 2023: .281/.373/.521, 10 doubles / 10 homers, 52K:20BB.

*Jose Altuve was 1x3 with a walk, getting a double for his first hit of the season. In the Chron: How Jose Altuve feels like a rookie again.

*Alex Bregman's stolen base was his first of the season, matching his season total in both 2021 and 2022. 

*Lance McCullers will throw another bullpen today.

*McTaggart: What's next for Mauricio Dubon, now that Altuve is back?

*The Yankees DFAd Aaron Hicks. The Yankees still owe him about $25 million.

*The boy who caught (and lost) one of baseball's most famous home run balls.

*I have been listening to The Left Right Game podcast, and I've enjoyed it very much.

*Author Martin Amis passed away at the age of 73.

*It's halftime in the Leeds / West Ham game, tied 1-1. So I'm going to go throw up.

*A Musical Selection:

Saturday Morning Hot Links

The Astros beat the Oakland Triple-A's last night 5-1 in a game that felt a whole lot closer than it should have been. The Astros are 25-19, winners of five straight and eight of their last nine games.

The 2022 Astros opened the season with a rotation of Framber-Odorizzi-Verlander-Urquidy-Garcia. They threw 758IP, 52% of the innings Astros pitchers threw in 2022. This year those five have combined to throw 111.2IP, 28.3% of the Innings.

*Oakland is 10-36, a .217 "winning" "percentage." Now, the worst record in Major League history belongs to the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, who went 20-134 - a .130 winning percentage that saw them finish a wild-ass 84 games back. Jim Hughey, statistically the Spiders' best pitcher, posted a 4-30 record. Crazy Schmit went 2-17. Like, click that link. It's insane. 

But in the "Modern" Era (since 1901), Oakland's bastard grandfather, the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics, hold the honor of the worst winning percentage, going 36-117 (.235) - get this - three years after winning the World Series. In June and July the 1916 A's went 5-47. 

After 46 games the 1916 A's were 15-30-1 (don't ask questions - I don't know). The 2023 A's are five games worse. This will be fun to keep track of every day for the rest of the season.

*Oakland starter Ken Waldichuk came into the game with a 7.02 ERA, though that's inflated by his first two starts of the season, in which he threw 8.2IP, 17H/14ER, 7K:4BB, 7HR allowed. In his next six starts, it was more respectable: 32.1IP, 35H/18ER, 29K:19BB - a 5.01 ERA / 1.67 WHIP. So of course the Astros lowered his season ERA to 6.85. 

*Kyle Tucker had a good night, hitting a two-run shot in the 6th Inning to put the Astros up 4-1 - his first homer since May 5. He ended the night going 2x3 with a double, homer, walk. On May 9, Tucker's slash line was .264/.358/.440. Since then, he's hitting .355/.382/.613. 

Tucker did not know it was his own bobblehead night. Tucker:

The last couple of games, I've felt a little better at the plate with something I've been doing in the cage and trying to bring it out to the field. I feel good at the plate right now.

*Jake Meyers went 2x2 with 2BB - the first time in his career he's been on base four times in a single game. 

*Yordan Alvarez - whom, you'll remember, the Astros acquired in a trade with the Dodgers for Josh Fields - was 2x5 with a double. He's hitting .317/.388/.567 in May, and nine of his last 19 hits have been for extra-bases. He's at a season-high six games without a home run. His 417-foot double in the 4th Inning would have been a home run in 25 of the 30 MLB parks. (Also worth noting that Martin Maldonado's bases-loaded liner to left that was impressively tracked down by JJ Bleday was 105.1mph off the bat and had an xBA of .520).

*Jose Abreu went 1x2 with two walks and a run scored. It's the second time this season that Abreu has drawn two walks in a game. He has raised his OPS 29 points from .515 to .544 in this four-game home stand. His 110.1mph single in the 2nd Inning was the hardest-hit ball of the game, and his hardest-hit ball of the season.

*Jose Altuve was 0x4 with a walk in his season debut, featuring a GIDP. 

*The Astros left 10 men on base after going 2x12 w/RISP - including two innings of leaving the bases loaded. It doesn't feel like it, but the Astros are actually hitting .278/.349/.450 with runners in scoring position - above-average, relative to the rest of the league.

*Brandon Bielak had a nice outing, throwing 5IP for the second straight game, allowing 5H/1ER, 9K:3BB. The nine strikeouts are a career-high, breaking his previous high of 6K, which he had done twice, most recently on May 1. Bielak's last two starts: 10IP, 13H/2ER, 13K:3BB. McTaggart notes that his changeup has been the key to Bielak's recent success.

*Phil Maton extended his impressive start to the season, throwing another scoreless outing - the 17th such outing in 19 appearances. That said, he has allowed at least one baserunner in each of his last seven appearances. 

*Rafael Montero: 1IP, 1H/0ER, 1K:1BB. His last clean outing was on April 28 - nine appearances ago.

*Luis Garcia officially underwent Tommy John Surgery yesterday.

*Mauricio Dubon got some pre-game work in at 1B.

*Jose Altuve on Corpus' Drew Gilbert:

He's ready, man. Wow, beautiful swing, made some good plays...I really love the way him and a few more guys on that team are ready to play in the big leagues.

*Jose Urquidy may start throwing again next week.

*The Score's Travis Sawchuk has a bizarre article about the Astros "decline."

*The Crazy Story of How "Clue" Went From Forgotten Flop to Cult Favorite.

*GQ: The Controversial King of Hardcore Climbing.

*Financial Times: The Secret Lives of MI6's Top Female Spies.

*A Musical Selection, from The Sundays and lead singer Harriet Wheeler - whom I have had a crush on for over 25 years:

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

The Houston Astros improved to 5-3 over the city of Chicago with a 6-4 win against the Cubs last night. Houston is now 22-19, 3.0GB of the Rangers who got torched 12-0 by Atlanta. Houston has won five of their last six games. 

The Astros' six runs were the most in a single game since a 6-4 win over Seattle on May 5, a span of eight games - the longest such span of the season. Houston's 11 hits were the most in a single game since cranking ten hits on May 1 against San Francisco - and of course nine of those hits were singles. The Astros at least mixed in two doubles (Abreu, McCormick) and a homer (Bregman) last night. Houston is 12-1 when getting 10+ hits. 

*Alex Bregman's 2-run homer in the 7th proved to be the game-winner. It's his first homer since May 3, which is also the last time he had multiple RsBI. In his last seven games, Bregman is hitting .286/.333/.464. He hasn't struck out since May 7. 

*Jose Abreu went 2x3 with a walk! It's the first time he's been on base three times in a game since April 3. 

Abreu's RsBI, April 26-May 14: 3

Abreu's RsBI, May 15: 2

*Mauricio Dubon had hisself a 3x4 night, the 4th time this season - and the 5th time as an Astro - he has recorded three hits in a game. 

*Yordan's 1x2, 2BB night gives him a 35-game On-Base streak to start the season. He's the second hitter to start a season in such a fashion, joining 2018 Odubel Herrera (whose streak ended at 41).

*Kyle Tucker went 0x4, joining Jake Meyers and Martin Maldonado as the only Astros not to get a hit. On April 19, Tucker was slashing .313/.438/.537. Since (22 games): .225/.270/.338.

*Home runs through 41 games:

2023: 36

2022: 56

2021: 48

2019: 75

2018: 44

2017: 55

2016: 53

2015: 61

2014: 43

2013: 41

2012: 30 

*Framber Valdez went 4IP, 7H/4ER, 8K:2BB - his shortest outing since being pulled with one out in the 5th on April 19, 2022. 27 of his 53 strikes were non-contact strikes (16 called, 11 swinging). Check out this Chandler Rome piece on "La Grasa."

*The bullpen: 5IP, 1H/0ER, 8K:1BB. 

*Astros pitchers struck out 16 Cubs - a single-game season-high. Astros pitchers struck out 16+ batters eight times in 2022 (Anaheim and Oakland were victims three times each). 

*Rafael Montero collected his first win of the season, allowing one hit. It's the sixth straight game in which he has allowed a hit, not recording a clean inning since April 22. Montero has allowed a hit in 15 of his 18 appearances in 2023. 

Chandler Rome: Montero's bad luck and big contract have him under a microscope.

*Jose Altuve's rehab stint will continue in Corpus tonight.

*Trey Mancini - whose 2022 WS G6 catch at 1B should be more heralded than it is - got his ring from the Astros last night.

*Even the freakin Train is hurt.

*Aaron Judge got caught looking into the dugout mid-AB and now people have Questions. I have more questions for Aaron Boone calling him "Judgie."

*My Hero Marcelo Bielsa officially agreed to manage Uruguay, ending a very sad saga in which I thought he would come back to Leeds United.

*ESPN: The decade-long plan that built Wenbayama into a once-in-a-generation prospect. It's just my opinion - one of an extremely casual Roggits fan - but they should cheat to get that guy.

*I recently read T.J. Newman's "Falling," and enjoyed it very much. The World Series plays prominently in the closing pages.

*A Musical Selection: