Wednesday Morning Hot Links

The Astros beat a 1st place team on the road with Brad Peacock on the mound and Corey Kluber on the other mound if you want to know what it feels like for Jeff Luhnow to Inception you...

*Ken Giles and Evan Gattis walked a tightrope to close out the game. Five relievers allowed two hits in the final 5.1IP, while Giles and Gattis combined for this in the bottom of the 9th:
-Single
-Passed Ball
-Strikeout
-Wild Pitch
-Walk
-Run scores on Gattis wild pitch
-Flyout
-Groundout
-Neverindoubt

Hinch:
You are asking six or seven guys to have good nights and against a lineup that's very balanced. They have their switch-hitters, they have their left-handed guys, they've got power, they've got a ton of speed. We saw a little bit of all their strengths tonight. We needed guys to step up and get outs when we needed it. 

*Congratulations to James Hoyt on his first Major League win.

*Marwin hit his first three-run homer of the season, and it was the first 0-2 homer Kluber had given up in 193 batters - no longer the longest streak in baseball. Marwin, who had eight total bases:
I wasn't expecting something like that. Obviously, he's one of the best pitchers in the game and he doesn't give it up like that, those two pitches on two strikes. I was lucky to get that pitch and got a good swing on it. 

*The Astros (74-64) are ten games over .500 for the first time since July 24.

*Who Won Yesterday:  Yankees, Orioles, Royals, Rangers, Red Sox
Who Lost Yesterday: Blue Jays, Tigers, Mariners,

Wild Card:
Boston/Toronto: +1
Baltimore: -
Detroit: -1
Houston: -2

FanGraphs is giving the Astros a 23.7% chance of winning a Wild Card spot. FiveThirtyEight has it at 27%.

*FanGraphs: The case for 2016 AL MVP Jose Altuve

*Big news of the day is that the Astros will promote #4-prospect David Paulino to the big team and he will start on Thursday against Cleveland.  Luhnow:
It makes sense, because he's had a lot of success (106 strikeouts in 90IP). I think when we look at what he's capable of doing...he has a chance to be a really good starter at the big leagues in short order. While it wasn't part of our plan, with Dallas missing some time we figured this as good an opportunity as we're ever going to get to put him into an important game or two and see what he's got. 

If you had McHugh, Fister, Fiers, Musgrove, and Paulino as your stretch September rotation then you are a dark lord.

Jim Callis writes about what you can expect from Paulino, whom the Astros acquired in the...hmmm, yes, interesting...Jose Veras trade with Detroit.
The 22-year old Paulino cuts an imposing figure on the mound with a 6'7" build and a fastball that sits at 93-95mph and can reach 98. His curveball gives him a second power pitch that can dominate hitters when he commands it. He shows some decent feel for a changeup but it requires more refinement. 

*The Astros don't have plans to move Devenski to the rotation this season.

*Alex Bregman is the 2016 Minor League Player of the Year. Bet he doesn't go back-to-back next year.

*Can algorithms take over your sports coverage? For my sake, I'm hoping Yes.

*Carli Lloyd straight up dismissed a Chronicle reporter.