Cano hit his 2nd homer of the game in the top of the 11th (and his career-high 35th homer of the season - eight of which came against the Astros) with two outs and two strikes. It wasn't a bad pitch from Gregerson. Altuve:
(Cano's) a great player. Everybody knows that. I think Luke made a really good pitch and I don't know how Robbie hit that ball.
We won't spend too much time mentioning James Hoyt's bone-headed error in the top of the 9th that allowed the game hit 3-1 Mariners, resulting in an Astros tie in the bottom of the 9th, but a walk-off. Also the Mariners were 1x15 w/RISP and struck out 16 times. And won. So open up that window and make sure you jump out head-first.
*McHugh:
There's no doubt that we need help. We need some other teams to beat some other teams and we need to win the rest of them.
*FanGraphs: 1.3%.
*Alex Bregman, for some reason, might play in a game this weekend. Luhnow:
He's chomping at the bit. I think if we asked him to play today, he would play, but we have to be careful because we really need to protect him in the long term, but there's no doubt he wants to be out there. Hopefully it's not too far in the future he can be out there and help us.
*Bregman and pitcher Brady Rodgers were named Astros minor-league player and pitcher of the year, respectively.
*You know who won't play in a game this weekend? Or in any other Astros game? Ever? Colby Rasmus. He's now in Philadelphia getting an opinion on a rather vague hip/groin issue. Hinch:
This season has been a physical grind for him, so he's going to go and get the opinion that he needs. I'm not expecting him to be back with us for the remainder of the regular season.
And since the playoffs aren't in the cards, that'll do it for Rasmus. I'm working on a Rasmus retrospective - a Rasmospective, if you will - and, man, what a roller coaster experience for Rasmus in an Astros uniform.
*So let's run down the Astros who have lost significant time to injuries this season: Luis Valbuena, Colby Rasmus, Lance McCullers, Dallas Keuchel, Luke Gregerson, Alex Bregman, Preston Tucker.
*Preston Tucker is glad 2016 is behind him and his jacked up shoulder:
It wasn't one thing that did it. It was slowly falling apart, but I'm excited that I'm going to feel better than I did this year and obviously, my shoulder is going to be stronger than ever next year, which is a plus for me. That's something I get to look forward to.
*Tony Kemp is taking advantage of regular playing time, something I hope comes his way more regularly in 2017. Kemp:
I'm just a small part on a big team and anyway I can help, I'll do that whether it be start, come off the bench or give water to the guys. No matter what it is, I'll do whatever it takes to get wins.
*Yulieski Gurriel hung a Jose Fernandez jersey in the Astros' dugout.
*Jeff Passan: The tragic final night of Jose Fernandez.
*A bag of Jose Fernandez-signed baseballs washed on shore in Miami.
*Inside the wall at Fenway.
*Mid-sized European soccer clubs are missing out on the US Soccer Gold Mine
