Tuesday Morning Hot Links

LOLOLOLOLOLOL *head falls off* The Astros only managed four hits against the Twins' Tyler Duffey. The Twins. Tyler Duffey. Tyyyyylllllerrrrrrrr. Duuuuuuuffffffffeeeeeeyyyyyyy. He lowered his ERA from 6.21 to 5.93 and this is shameful.

Hinch:
We didn't play well enough to win. That's been troublesome for a couple weeks now. You've got to play better to win. For Collin McHugh, I thought the line's going to not represent how he pitched. There were a few balls hit hard, and a few balls that could've been played behind him. They got a lot of hits...all in all just a bad game.

*The main remote-throwing play was Carlos Gomez lollygaggin around center field in the 5th, causing Collin McHugh to question everything he knows. Gomez was his totem. The Twins thought it was hilarious.

That play made it 2-0 Twins and, to be honest, allowing two runs is just too much to ask of the offense right now, which is quite offensive. Gomez, who made another mistake in center, doesn't feel sexy right now:
The first one was hit really hard and I missed (it) in my glove, and the second one, I (didn't) know where the ball was. We lost the game because of that. I feel worse than anyone in this clubhouse. 

Nay, says McHugh, who is likely doing some damage control after Root Sports showed him reacting like pretty much everyone else watching the game:
We didn't lose because of defensive blunders. We lost because I gave up 11 hits, 10 hits, something like that. They strung some hits together, put guys on base and scored more runs than we did. One or two plays isn't deciding the game tonight, that's for sure. 

*A.J. Hinch said Gomez won't be in the lineup for tonight's game, and any time beyond that is yet to be determined. Preston Tucker is the only other option on the 25-Man roster. Hinch:
We've been pretty beat up in a lot of ways and you keep trying to hang in there with guys. You want to encourage more than anything. Clearly it's been a rough patch for him for a while. I'll take a look and see how it comes out tomorrow.

*Bregman, Springer and Correa went a combined 3x12. Marwin had your other hit.

*The Rangers scored three runs in the 9th to beat the Rockies because everything is just awful right now. The Mariners won, the A's won. Here's your division:

Southwest Paris: -
Seattle: -7
Houston: -8.5

WC1: -
WC2: -2.5
HOU: -4

*FanGraphs has the Astros at 3.9% to win the division, 12.9% to make the postseason.
*FiveThirtyEight has the Astros at 5% to win the division, 15% to make the postseason.
*Baseball Prospectus has the Astros at 3.3% to win the division, 12.8% to make the postseason.

*Luke Gregerson is progressing through his oblique strain. He threw off the mound yesterday and is expected to throw again on Thursday. Valbuena (hamstring) is running on a treadmill, but not on the field.

*Yulieski Gurriel aka The Train That Came Too Late is heading to Corpus, and is on track to join the Astros on August 16.

*And speaking of Yulieski Gurriel, his much younger brother Lourdes has just been declared a free agent but he likely isn't going to sign until after his October 19 birthday, when teams can sign him without being subject to international spending limits. Back in July we talked about the Yulieski signing as a gateway drug to signing Lourdes.

*Jonathan Arauz (acquired in the Ken Giles deal) and Kyle Tucker made MLBPipeline's Prospect Team of the Week.

*Fresno was named by Sports Illustrated as having two of the top 10 theme nights.

*You should definitely read Jon Heyman's piece on A-Rod. Buster Olney listed the Astros as a possibility to take a flier on A-Rod.

*Tim Tebow will pursue a career as a baseball player, if you care, which you shouldn't and probably don't.

*Vice Sports: Why Enes Kanter has a new name.