*Happy Jackie Robinson Day!
*Nori Aoki and Brian McCann each had two RBI and Dallas Keuchel threw 7IP, 4H/1ER, 7K:2BB to lower his ERA to 0.86. Chris Devenski struck out the side in the 8th and Michael Feliz gave up a solo homer to Trevor Plouffe in the 9th to "preserve" a 7-2 win over Oakland. After scoring 21 runs in their first eight games, the Astros have scored 24 in their last three.
*It's the Astros' 2nd three-game win streak of the season. The 2016 Astros didn't get their first W3 of the season until May 24-26. And the Astros are 14-6 in their last 20 games against Oakland.
*Once again Jose Altuve was 3x3 with two walks, extending his on-base streak to 11 plate appearances. Two more will tie the franchise record set by Bill Spiers. Click the link for how Altuve is driving the ball to the opposite field.
*The A's played Careless Whisper for Josh Reddick.
*Keuchel was done after 100 pitches, and thought he could go more:
I feel like there's a little bit of a leash on me right now. I don't think anybody wants to say it, but I'll say it. I'd like to get that harness taken off. It's early and I understand.
*Keuchel threw 95+ pitches in 23 of his 26 starts in 2016, and he has thrown 85, 93, and now 100 in his first three starts of 2017 - all going 7IP.
*Keuchel has thrown 21IP, allowing 8H/2ER, with 15K:5BB. It's his best three-game streak since throwing 23IP, 7H/1ER, 15K:5BB from April 18-29, 2015.
*19-year old pitcher Lupe Chavez, whom the Astros acquired from Toronto in exchange for Scott Feldman, retired. Way to just give up Cincinnati's ace for nothing, Lose-Now.
*The Astros look smart by keeping Brad Peacock on the 25-Man roster, having pitched in four of the first 11 games and allowing one hit in 5.2IP.
*Jonathan Bernhardt asks, in light of Giles' and Gregerson's struggles, if the Astros have a bullpen problem.
*Jon Heyman was on his BS again, writing on Thursday that Correa would never sign an early extension, noting that Correa hasn't even signed his 2017 contract:
Word is (the Astros) offered somewhere around $565,000 and were perhaps willing to go a bit higher, but Correa wasn't going to put his name to something he didn't believe in, his friends say.
Not one bit of that makes sense. And Correa pooped on it:
I've still got five more years of being here, so if the Astros come to me and they want to negotiate and the price is right, we'll consider it. Right now I'm in the stage of my career where I'm just going to play baseball and try to put up numbers. They try to do something, it's got to be early...I've got to focus on playing good baseball so I can have good arbitration years.
So everyone calm down.
*Jon Heyman also wrote one of the most worthless Notes pieces on the Astros, if you care to read it.
*Todd Radom in the NY Times: Why I love ugly uniforms (specifically, the 1975 Astros unis)
On The Farm
*Edison Frias threw 5IP, 6H/4R (3ER), 1K:5BB and Tyson Perez and Jordan Jankowski threw scoreless appearances, but the Grizzlies lost 3-2. Tyler White was 3x4 to raise his average to .382, Tony Kemp added a 2x5 night to preserve his .400 average. Reid Brignac had two hits. Jon Kemmer was 1x4 with an RBI triple.
*Corpus scored three runs in the bottom of the 8th to beat Arkansas 5-4. Kent Emanuel threw 4IP, 5H/4R (3ER), 2K:1BB and Riley Ferrell threw a perfect inning in his Double-A debut. Dean Deetz had another stellar outing, throwing 3.2IP, 1H/0ER, 2K:0BB. In 20.2IP at Double-A (across the last two seasons), Deetz has allowed 9H/1ER, 27K:4BB. Ramon Laureano was 2x4 with two doubles. Six players in the Hooks' lineup last night are hitting under .200 and they're still 5-3.
*Buies Creek got a series sweep over Winston-Salem with a 4-3 win. Matt Bower allowed 3ER in 4.1IP, and Franklin Perez threw a perfect four innings with 2Ks. Jason Martin was 2x5 with 3RBI while Anthony Hermelyn and Pat Porter had two hits each. Kyle Tucker was 1x5 with a triple.
*Quad Cities enjoyed an 11th-inning walk off to beat Kane County 2-1. Brett Adcock threw 4.1IP, 4H/1ER, 8K:2BB; Erasmo Pinales and Derick Velasquez threw the final 6.2IP, combining for 4H/0ER, 7K:1BB. Alexander De Goti and Stephen Wrenn each had a hit and a walk as the River Bandits managed to win despite six total hits.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
