Standings-wise, the Astros have the 5th-worst record in baseball, better than the Diamondbacks (whom the Astros play four times this week), Cubs, Phillies, and Rays. As far as overall wins go, the Astros have as many wins as the Padres, Mets, and Red Sox.
Streaking:
Over their last 30 games, the Astros are 18-12, tying them with the Angels and Indians for the 4th-best record in baseball. In that span they are nine games better than the Rays, eight games better than the Phillies, five games better than the Tigers, four games better than the Rangers.
Over their last 20 games, the Astros are 12-8, tying them with the A's, Pirates, and Cubs for the 4th-best record in baseball.
FanGraphs now gives the Astros a projected end-of-season record of 72-90, still the worst overall record in baseball, but tied with the Phillies and one game behind the Mets and Cubs. The Astros' playoff chances remain firmly at 0.4%.
Comparison to the 2013 Astros (through 64 games):
| Year | Record | RDiff. | GB |
| 2014 | 28-36 | -39 | 11.5 |
| 2013 | 22-42 | -98 | 16.0 |
The Week That Was!
June 2: Off.
June 3: 7-2 win vs. Anaheim
June 4: 0-4 loss vs. Anaheim
June 5: 8-5 win vs. Anaheim
June 6: 5-4 win @ Minnesota
June 7: 0-8 loss @ Minnesota
June 8: 14-5 win @ Minnesota
So the Astros go 4-2 last week with the only losses coming in shutouts, and it gives the Astros a perfectly symmetrical 14-18 record both at home and on the road. This is notable in that the Astros only won 24 games at home and 27 games on the road in 2013. They outscored their opponents 34-28.
The Astros are now 4-6 against the Angels on the season, and 14-19 against the AL West. Given that the Astros had a .329 Win% against the AL West in 2013, a .424 Win% thus far is mighty nice.
Houston has also won or split their last five series. To find the last time the Astros accomplished such a feat, you have to go back to August 30-September 19, 2010 when the Astros won or split six series against the Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Cubs, Dodgers, Brewers, and Reds.
Of course the most notable win of the week was Sunday's 14-5 win at Minnesota in which both Chris Carter and Jon Singleton hit grand slams. Those 14 runs were the most runs for the Astros since a 16-9 win at Seattle on April 9, 2013. ALSO the last time two Astros hit grand slams in a game was July 30, 1969 when Jimmy Wynn and Denis Menke both did it in the same inning.
The Week In Hitting A Ball: 231 PAs, 255/.357/.434, 16 XBH, 51K:26BB
FanGraphs WAR Leader: Jose Altuve at 1.8 WAR
(Min. 10 PAs)
| Fowler | .524/.630/.857 | 2K:6BB |
| Carter | .200/.429/.600 | 7K:4BB |
| Grossman | .385/.500/.462 | 1K:3BB |
| Springer | .190/.357/.476 | 10K:4BB |
| Singleton | .200/.231/.480 | 10K:1BB |
| Altuve | .280/.321/.360 | 3K:1BB |
| Gonzalez | .154/.154/.385 | 5K:1BB |
| Dominguez | .200/.259/.320 | 7K:2BB |
| Castro | .188/.188/.188 | 3K:0BB |
Hitter of the Week: Come on. Dexter Fowler went off this week. For the season he's hitting .277/.393/.395 with 50K:40BB. Five of his six games this week saw him get two hits, and in two of those games he added two walks. And that's how you raise your OBP 27 points in six games.
*George Springer has a four-game hitting streak, after going hitless in the opening two games of the Angels series. On May 2, after the 15th game of his career his OPS bottomed out at .467. Since then, Springer is hitting .287/.389/.639.
*Chris Carter drew four walks in the June 5 win against Anaheim, accounting for 22.2% of his walks on the season. He had drawn four walks in his previous 76 PAs combined.
*Matt Dominguez's three hits on June 6 were a season-high - he had 3+ hits seven times last season.
*In his last ten games, Jason Castro is hitting .237/.293/.289 with a .290 BABIP.
*Jose Altuve leads the league in games played (64), Plate Appearances (292), At-Bats (270), Hits (85), and Stolen Bases (23). Altuve is riding a seven-game hit streak, and has hits in 52 of his 64 games. He's been on base in 56 of those 64 games.
The Week in Throwing A Ball: 53IP, 50H/24ER, 51K:24BB, 4.08 ERA/1.40 WHIP
FanGraphs WAR Leader: Dallas Keuchel at 2.2 WAR.
| McHugh | 9.1IP | 5H/3ER, 10K:7BB |
| Cosart | 6.2IP | 8H/3ER, 8K:1BB |
| Keuchel | 6IP | 5H/0ER, 6K:2BB |
| Peacock | 5IP | 6H/3ER, 1K:1BB |
| Feldman | 1.2IP | 1H/0ER*, 2K:2BB |
*All three of Feldman's runs were unearned.
Starter line: 28.2IP, 25H/9ER, 27K:13BB; 2.83 ERA/1.33 WHIP.
Bullpen
| Williams | 5IP | 6H/3ER, 4K:2BB |
| Fields | 4.2IP | 5H/1ER, 9K:0BB |
| Downs | 4.1IP | 2H/0ER, 3K:0BB |
| Qualls | 3IP | 1H/0ER, 1K:0BB |
| Clemens | 3IP | 4H/5ER, 2K:6BB |
| Farnsworth | 2.1IP | 2H/2ER, 2K:3BB |
| Sipp | 2IP | 5H/4ER, 3K:0BB |
Bullpen line: 24.1IP, 25H/15ER, 24K:11BB; 5.55 ERA/1.48 WHIP
Pitcher of the Week: Josh Fields. Nine of his fourteen outs came via the strikeout, and he's really turned things around since his demotion.
*Dallas Keuchel has run his Quality Start streak to six games, and has Quality Starts in 10 of his 12 games. The Astros are 8-4 when he starts, and his 2.2 WAR is ranked 9th in the Majors behind Felix, Kluber, Darvish, Tanaka, Wainwright, Lackey, Strasburg, and Lester.
*Since getting lit up at Oakland for 7ER in 0.1IP, Jarred Cosart has a 2.96 ERA/1.36 WHIP.
*Brad Peacock has walked just one of the last 47 batters he faced.
*In his last two starts (7IP), opponents are hitting .387/.462/.613 on a .385 BABIP against Scott Feldman.
*Collin McHugh walked a career-high five batters in Sunday's win over Minnesota. The last time he walked five batters in a start was June 29, 2011 for Double-A Binghamton.
*Since blowing G18 at Oakland with 4H/3ER, 1K:1BB in the bottom of the 9th, Chad Qualls has allowed 7H/0ER, 16K:1BB in 15.2IP (17 appearances). He has faced 59 straight batters without allowing an unintentional walk.
*Jerome Williams has allowed at least one earned run in each of his last five appearances, six of his last seven, and twelve of his 19 games.
*Since getting recalled from OKC, Josh Fields as thrown 13.1IP, allowing 7H/1ER, 22K:2BB, and opponents are hitting .149/.184/.213.
*Darin Downs has a six-game scoreless appearance streak and hasn't allowed a run in 13 of his 15 appearances.
