Sunday Morning Hot Links

So the Astros hammered the Orioles for a second straight night with a 12-2 win.

Hinch:
We've hit the ball hard the past two nights. And when we do that, it goes far. It gets contagious a little bit with guys getting comfortable at the plate. I like how we've paired up some at-bats to where one guy after another is performing pretty well. I like what I see. We're a good offense when we get going like this. I know we've been streaky throughout the season.

*The Rays beat the Rangers, the Mariners beat the Brewers. The Tigers lost, the Yankees won. The Astros are 9.5 GB of the Ramgers, 6.5 GB of WC1, 4.5 GB of WC2 with the Mariners, Tigers, Yankees, and Royals between them.

*Yulieski Gurriel will make his Major League debut today in Baltimore. Luhnow:
He got up to 50 at-bats with us in the Minor Leagues. That's a normal Spring Training for him. We've bounced him around the country. But from a baseball standpoint, he's ready and he's ready for this challenge. To add him to this group is exciting for us, certainly fun for us, our guys will be excited about it.

Tyler White has been optioned to Fresno.

*I'm still working through thoughts on this Liz Roscher piece regarding Jeff Luhnow and the attractiveness of Houston as an organization.

*Luis Valbuena might not be coming back, y'all, after reaggravating his hamstring injury.

*The Astros extended their PDC with Tri-City through the 2018 season.

*In what could be the ultimate troll job, the Rangers have signed Carlos Gomez to a minor-league deal with the idea of adding him to their major league roster fairly soon. Ramgers GM Jon Daniels:
Sometimes things just don't work out the way acquiring clubs intend, and obviously we're taking a chance on him, thinking he's better than his most recent performance in Houston.

Hacksaw Jeff Banister:
This is an impact player. We've got to get some positive energy going with him...We made a move that we feel has an opportunity to impact us.

Gomez is totally gonna hit .310.