*The Astros are 3-6 against Los Angeles of Anaheim in their last nine meetings.
*The Angels had lost five straight, the Astros had won five straight. Ricky Nolasco improved to 5-0 lifetime at Minute Maid Park. Hinch:
They did a good job of battling (Musgrove) and putting him in sort of difficult situations to have to pitch out of most of the night, and the big swing by Pujols.
*First base was open to Pujols, who has more home runs against the Astros than any other team, so why did Hinch not walk him to face...C.J. Cron? Hinch:
Cron's pretty good behind him. I want to give Joe a little bit of leeway to make some careful pitches...He had handled Pujols pretty well. He had broken his bat on the pop-up to himself and then the little chopper to third. So if he makes his pitch, I think we have a little bit of a different outcome.
Okay, so Cron is now a lifetime 2x6 against Musgrove, a lifetime .213/.247/.424 hitter against the Astros, and a lifetime .203/.243/.391 hitter at Minute Maid Park. Is Cron pretty good? Yeah. Is he HOF good with a history of destroying the Astros good? Nah...
*Musgrove's goal is now to go deeper into games, and with more effectiveness. McTaggart notes that the seven hitters who saw Musgrove a third time got four hits.
*Keuchel, who will pitch this evening against Los Anahagels, loves Brian McCann. Keuchel:
His knowledge first of all, but what he sees in the box, what he relays to me, what we talk about between innings. Just everything you could possibly want from a catcher, he's got.
Suck it, Castro.
*Carlos Correa was again out of the lineup with a withered hand, who says it only hurts when he grips and squeezes the bat. Correa:
It's just early in the season and I don't want to be playing out there hurt. There's still a lot of games to play and I want to be able to play most of the games.
*Dallas Keuchel, J.J. Watt, and Patrick Beverley are all real life friends.
*19-year old Cuban prospect Luis Robert had a promising private workout at the Astros international complex and then came down with the flu. If MLB clears him soon enough, he wouldn't be subjected to the hard cap for teams that went over their international bonus pool allotment - good news for the Astros.
*Pirates OF Starling Marte was just suspended for 80 games.
*It's time for a smart, progressive PED plan in baseball.
*The curious case of baseball's missing fastballs.
PreStros Report - April 18
A 5-run 2nd inning doomed Fresno (5-8) from the start in a 6-1 loss to Las Vegas. Keegan Yuhl allowed 7H/6ER while a bullpen of Jankowski, Guduan, and Hoyt threw 4IP, 2H/0ER, 5K:2BB. Derek Fisher (2B) and Preston Tucker each had two hits. Colin Moran was 1x3 with a walk.
Corpus and NW Arkansas traded runs all night and, despite allowing two runs in the top of the 9th, Corpus (8-4) held on for a 10-9 win. Drew Ferguson was 3x5 with two doubles and an RBI; J.D. Davis was 2x5 with a double and a 3-run homer; Alejandro Garcia was 2x5 with a double. Every Hooks starter got on base at least once, striking out five times and drawing six walks. And 3B Jack Mayfield made SportsCenter's Top Plays:
Myrtle Beach blanked Buies Creek (9-4) with a 6-0 win. Alex Winkelman had a great start, throwing 6IP, 1H/0ER, 10K:0BB but Andrew Thome cratered in the 7th with 4H/6R (4ER), 2K:0BB. Sebastian Kessay threw a perfect 8th. 2B Osvaldo Duarte had three of BCA's seven hits. Myles Straw was 1x2 with 2BB.The @cchooks and Jack Mayfield made SportsCenter's Top Plays tonight. pic.twitter.com/jWGF9PEF52— Matt Young (@Chron_MattYoung) April 19, 2017
Quad Cities (6-6) poured it on Burlington in a 12-2 road win. Hector Perez threw 5.2IP, 4H/2ER, 7K:1BB, both earned runs coming on solo homers. And homers were the order of the night as Ronnie Dawson, Daz Cameron, Stephen Wrenn, Randy Cesar, and Marcos Almonte all hit one for the River Bandits. Alex De Goti, Jake Rogers, Wrenn, Cesar, Rodrigo Ayarza, and Almonte all had two hits each. After 12 games De Goti (16th Round, 2016 draft) is hitting .366/.458/.585.
