*The Astros prevailed over the hated A's yesterday, sweeping the three-game series at home. Cockroach has the recap. The Astros have gone 11-2 since the last time they played the Rangers.
*The Rangers swept the Mariners in Arlington and the Angels beat the Pirates, meaning the Mariners and A's were the only AL West teams to lose yesterday. The division looks like this:
East Fort Worth: -
Seattle: -3
Houston: -7
Anaheim: -8
Oakland: -9.5
*FanGraphs has the Astros at 43.5% to make the playoffs, raising their playoff odds by 22.8% since getting swept by South Oklahoma.
*Check David Nuno's postgame interviews with Correa, Marisnick, and Hinch regarding their optimism heading into Northwest Duncanville.
*Hinch:
It's not a surprise to me, it's more we're playing our brand of baseball and being rewarded for it with some wins. We've been playing good baseball. There's nothing we can't do on the field. We have a lot of confidence now. We don't feel that nervous energy when you fall behind.
*Richard Justice notes that the Astros are 0-10 in their last ten games in Northeast Mansfield.
*The Astros hope that Carlos Gomez's first homer of the season will spark his confidence. Gomez would like to show you the callouses on his left hand as evidence of how hard he is working:
Sooner or later, it had to pay off. Because it's not like I'm chilling at my locker and doing nothing. Look at my hands. This is a sign that I am working my ass off every time.
Carlos Correa got his 100th RBI in his 156th game, setting the franchise record for quickest to 100 RBIs - two games quicker than Hunter Pence.
*Will Harris got his first save of the season yesterday, and Hinch said they're easing off Gregerson as the only 9th inning guy on the team. Just so you know, and you probably do, but Will Harris this season has thrown 26.2IP, 15H/1ER, 29K:4BB. That's a 0.34 ERA/0.72 WHIP.
*Quad Cities has dropped 14 1-run games and are now 23-33. Manager Omar Lopez was pissed about Sunday's loss and held a team meeting:
It's these guys' careers. If they are tired of playing or are frustrated, I told them to let me know, we can tell the organization that if they are not committed to competing the right way...this is a team game. It's not tennis or ping-pong. They have to be in it together. We spend a lot of time putting information to give them to help them. It's all part of our preparation, but if they do not use it, if they do not go to the plate with a plan and execute it, these are the results. If they do not want it, there are 70 guys in the organization looking for an opportunity to be here.
*The Astros are expected to sign 16-year old Dominican shortstop Freudis Nova for about $1.5m. Nova had a deal for about $1m more with Miami, but tested positive for a steroid and Miami backed away. They're also expected to sign Venezuelan catcher Yorbin Cueta for over $1m.
*It looks like Minute Maid Park will be the host of some first round games in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
*For the second straight Mock Draft, Keith Law has the Astros taking a college pitcher - this time it's Pitt RHP T.J. Zeuch.
*A man with a mullet tackled a man in a tank top at Minute Maid.
*.187-hitting Prince Fielder wasn't happy about sitting for two straight games against Seattle.
*The Dodgers decided to eat $35m and DFA Carl Crawford and his .185/.230/.235 slash line. Not for nothing, but Carlos Gomez - even after his first home run of the season and a double - is hitting .191/.247/.279. Three active Astros have more strikeouts than they do total bases: Gomez (53K:38TB), Castro (50K:48TB), and Marisnick (25K:23TB).
*A Marlins minor-leaguer stabbed another Marlins minor-leaguer in a prank.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
