*Gary Pettis waved Jason Castro around third in what would have been the go-ahead run, but he was thrown about by about 20 feet. This is becoming commonplace as a fan, but Hinch disagrees.
Gary's right virtually all the time, so I certainly can't fault him for a play that they had to make a 430-foot relay.
*A boy with terminal cancer asked Jose Altuve to hit a homer, which he did to lead off the game:
He was like, 'OK, now you're going to hit a homer.' I was like, 'Eh, I hit a homer yesterday, so don't expect me to hit a homer today, but I don't want to make you feel bad if I don't. He was like, 'Yes, you're going to make it. We'll see.' As soon as I hit the hime run and I got to second base, I remembered what he said...I hope God blesses him for what he's been through.
*Altuve is just seeing the ball better.
*FanGraphs' Eno Sarris asked Dallas Keuchel what's up with his 2016 season.
*Everyone is happy Jake Marisnick is back.
*ESPN's David Schoenfield writes about the front office mistakes that have hurt the Astros.
That's the thing about building a winning team: it's hard. You have to be patient in a rebuilding situation. And you can't afford to make too many mistakes. The Astros have made some big ones, however, and their path to the playoffs, while far from dead, isn't as evident as it appeared a few weeks ago.
*Playoff Projection Check...
Five Thirty Eight - Playoffs: 15%, Win AL West: 9%.
FanGraphs - Playoffs: 29.5%, Win AL West: 19.5%
*Alex Bregman returned to the Corpus lineup after missing 11 games with a hamstring injury. He went 1x3, as the Hooks only got two hits in a 13-0 loss to Midland. Cy Sneed and David Schmidt got lit up.
*From Hardball Times: Can pitchers prevent solid contact?
*Yesterday I wrote about Brian T. Smith's column in which Gomez was quoted very literally. Gomez fired back (to Smith, not me):
@ChronBrianSmith oh yeah next time you want an interview have Google translate on hand.. God bless #GetYourWritingSkillsUp #ZeroNegativity— Carlos Gomez (@RealCarlosGomez) May 5, 2016
