*The Astros aren't going to win them all, but you could point a few different fingers in a few different directions: McCullers' lack of sharpness, Tony Sipp (single, sac bunt, wild pitch, walk), Michael Feliz allowing a two-run single. Reddick's missed catches. The Astros had the bases loaded with one out and Correa and McCann strike out. Astros lose 7-6.
*That said, the Astros put up six runs on a contender on the road with Altuve and Springer on the bench.
*Tyler Bauer was asked how he's 6-0 against the Astros. Bauer:
Random variation. It won't continue. At some point, it will break.
*Lance McCullers struggles last night further highlight his road v home splits
*Jose Altuve was not in the starting lineup last night, but it appears to be a precautionary measure.
*Jack Mayfield was promoted to Fresno yesterday seemingly in response to Tony Kemp's call-up to replace Teoscar Hernandez, who was placed on the 10-Day DL. Mayfield - a 2B - was hitting .258/.310/.455 for Corpus.
*I wrote about the 34 teams since 2000 that started out 14-6 or better.
*Brady Rodgers - seriously the lone bright spot in Fresno's currently-God-awful rotation - left his last start with "an arm issue." Rodgers has thrown 16.1IP, 14H/2ER, 11K:1BB. Fresno's pitching staff currently has a 5.71 ERA/1.74 WHIP.
*Felix Hernandez was put on the 10-Day DL with shoulder inflammation. So was Mitch Haniger.
*The familiar lousiness of the ESPN layoffs.
*Pray for Wayne Dolcefino.
PreStros Report: Games of April 26
Fresno was off.
Corpus (12-7) never trailed in a 5-3 win over Midland. Rogelio Armenteros threw 4.2IP, 4H/2ER, 5K:2BB. Andrew Thome and Michael Freeman combined for 4.1, 3H/1ER, 4K:4BB. Garrett Stubbs was 3x4 with a double; J.D. Davis was 2x4 with a solo home run - his 5th of the season; Jon Singleton was 1x3 with a two-run homer and a walk.
Buies Creek played a double-header to make up for Tuesday's rainout. Game 1 saw BCA and Winston-Salem trade 5-run innings, with Winston-Salem coming out on top in a 12-6 win. Alex Winkelman got touched up for the first time this season, allowing 6H/5ER, 0K:1BB in 0.2IP. Sebastian Kessay allowed 4H/5R (4ER), 1K:2BB in 2.2IP. Jason Martin (2RBI), Kyle Tucker (2B, RBI), and Dexture McCall (2B, RBI) had two hits each. Anthony Hermelyn was 1x2 with a walk and an RBI.
In Game 2, BCA jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the top of the 1st and beat Winston-Salem 5-3. Justin Ferrell allowed 3H/1ER, 7K:2BB in 5IP; Gabriel Valdez gave up 3H/2ER, 2K:0BB in 2IP. Johnny Sewald was 3x4 with three doubles and an RBI; Kyle Tucker was 2x3 with a triple and 3RBI.
Quad Cities (11-9) cruised to a 6-1 win over Peoria. Carson LaRue threw 5IP, 4H/0ER, 4K:2BB and Abdiel Santana allowed 4H/1ER, 4K:1BB in 3IP. Rodrigo Ayarza was 2x3 with two doubles and 2RBI. Stephen Wrenn was 2x4 with a double; Ronnie Dawson, Jake Rogers, and Randy Cesar all hit home runs. Daz Cameron was 1x3 with a double and a walk to improve his slash line to .191/.288/.412.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
