*Yulieski Gurriel and Evan Gattis had 3x4 nights and sparked a comeback, bailing Morton out on Khris Davis' 1st inning homer. Astros comeback from a 3-0 and 4-3 deficit to win their 10th straight over Oakland, 9-4. The Astros were 7x14 w/RISP. Morton:
There are teams that score runs and there are teams that are gritty. There's a grit factor in this team that I've seen before on teams that are winners, that squeak it out no matter what.
*Charlie Morton let Khris Davis drive in four runs on two homers, but got 21 outs for the first time since August 2015. The 12 strikeouts are a career-high, beating his 11K:1BB performance on June 25, 2014 against Tampa Bay, which was his only other 10+ K game. Hinch:
He just got stronger...as the game went along. As he built himself up, the velocity even came up a little bit. His conviction, his pitches got way better...He went from not really having an idea of where his pitches were going to the best he's been as a regular-season Astro.
*Since April 15 Yulieski Gurriel is hitting .436/.463/.713 - 2nd-best average in baseball behind Bryce Harper.
*A.J. Hinch says he's not assigning personal catchers.
*A's catcher Stephen Vogt, on Josh Reddick, who made a great catch in the 8th inning to save two runs:
Frustrating. It's hard to see him in another uniform, and I know he loved it here as well, so it's hard to see him make catches like that. It's not very much fun when he's not wearing green.
*Here's FanGraphs' Travis Sawchik with a really insightful post on the Astros' outfield alignment, and the psychology of shifting in regards to the players themselves.
*Check Bernie Pleskoff's scouting report on Gurriel.
*Akeem Bostick was promoted from Buies Creek to Corpus.
*More FanGraphs: Is Cole Hamels primed for a fall?
PreStros Report: Games of April 28
Fresno (9-13) scored seven runs after the 6th inning, but it wasn't enough in an 8-7 loss at Reno. David Martinez allowed 4H/5R (4ER), 1K:1BB in 6IP; Tyson Perez allowed 4H/3ER in 1IP as pitching remains Fresno's weakness. Dayan Diaz struck out the side in the 9th. A.J. Reed was 3x3 with a double and two walks; Derek Fisher (HR), Preston Tucker (RBI), Reid Brignac (BB) and Jon Kemmer (2B, BB, RBI) had two hits each.
Frisco scored four runs in the 9th inning to take an 8-6 win over Corpus (12-9). Cy Sneed threw 5IP, 5H/2ER, 2K:1BB. Brock Dykxhoorn allowed 5H/2ER, 6K:0BB in 3IP and Riley Ferrell to the BS/L with 5H/4R (3ER) in the 9th. Ramon Laureano was 2x5 with a triple and 4RBI. Jamie Ritchie was 3x3 with a double and a walk. Bryan Muniz was 2x4. Alejandro Garcia was 1x5 with a 2-run triple and also got an outfield assist.
Buies Creek (15-7) won a duel with Wilmington, 2-1. Lefty prospect Framber Valdez threw 5IP, 3H/0ER, 5K:2BB; Yoanis Quiala improved to 3-0 with 4IP, 2H/1ER, 4K:0BB. Johnny Sewald was 2x4 with a stolen base. Anibal Sierra was 1x3 with the lone RBI. Kyle Tucker was 0x2 with a walk.
Quad Cities (12-10) stomped a mudhole in Clinton with a 19-2 win. Forrest Whitley made his second start of the season and threw 3IP, 3H/0ER, 7K:0BB. Jorge Alcala struck out five in 4IP. Marcos Almonte was 4x5 with a walk and an RBI; Daz Cameron had his best game of his career, going 3x5 with a single, triple, homer and 7RBI. Randy Cesar (2 2B, 3RBI), Chuckie Robinson (2 2B, 2BB, 2RBI), and Taylor Jones (2B, 3RBI) all had three hits each. Quad Cities was 12x27 w/RISP.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
