*Holy crap.
*A.J. Hinch:
We did a little bit of everything today. I thought we controlled the strike zone. I thought we did a ton of damage, obviously, with the home runs. We did what we do when we're at our best, which is keep coming at you every inning and putting pressure on you.
Springer, who hit a 473-foot home run (farthest by an Astro in the Statcast Era, and the 2nd-longest homer of the year, across MLB):
It's been special. The quality at-bat after quality at-bat in a row is something that I haven't seen before, so hopefully we can keep this up.
Twins starter Hector Santiago:
Those guys are good, man. That's a tough lineup. I thought I made some competitive pitches, but it's just a tough lineup. We'd play a shift and they'd hit it the other way. And we'd play it the other way, and they'd pull it through the hold. It seems like everything they did was right and the ball just won't bounce our way. It's a tough one. But we're happy these guys are getting out of here and going somewhere else.
Correa, on Springer's 473-foot home run:
I've never seen a ball hit that hard before live in my life.
Gattis:
It was crushed. I hadn't seen one hit like that in a long time. Immediately I knew it was gone, and I just wanted to see how far it went up.
*David Paulino got the spot-start for Joe Musgrove, and he went 4IP, 5H/2ER, 8K:1BB. Pitch efficiency got him as it took 89 pitches to get through 4IP. Paulino:
I was trying to throw my curveball today but I didn't think it was working really well. I think my changeup was the one that was working.
*Reymin Guduan flashed his plus-fastball in his Major League debut, and has potential as an extra/alternative lefty reliever. Hinch:
I love the arm strength. I think the slider is effective, certainly, against both sides of hitters. The key for him is going to be pitching in the strike zone. He's going to have to corral his emotions of (it being his) first time in the big leagues.
Speaking of Reymin Guduan, please regard the Tweet of the Day, hell, the Tweet of the Year:
One big difference between the old, bad Astros teams and this one is that we went from Abad bullpen to a Guduan.— Batgrump (@The_Batguy) May 31, 2017
*The Astros tied a franchise record with 22 wins in a calendar month (August 1998, July 2005), scoring 6.2 runs/game. Damn shame that June starts tomorrow. Hinch:
This was a great month for us. Win total is always great. You want as many as you can get. They all count, the entire season. But winning series the way that we have is really putting us in a nice position to have good momentum, to feel good about ourselves, to have winning weeks, winning homesteads, winning road trips.
*The Astros' 17 runs broke a season-high set on Monday against the Twins. The 19 hits broke a season-high set on Monday against the Twins. The last time the Astros got 19 hits in a game was August 11, 2016 against...the Twins. It's the most runs in a game since the Astros beat the D'amon'b''ks 21-5 on October 2, 2015.
*The Astros' six home runs are the most in a game since the Astros beat West Shreveport 9-7 with six home runs on September 26, 2015.
*In this three-game series against the Twins, the Astros scored 28 runs in the 7th inning or later. That's ridiculous. They hit .500 w/RISP (20x40). Also: Ridiculous.
*The Astros swept a road series against a first-place team who threw their SP1, SP2, and SP3. The Astros threw Brad Peacock, Mike Fiers, and David Paulino.
*The Astros scored 40 runs in a three-game series. The previous season-high was 22 runs against Miami. The Astros scored 30 runs against Arizona to close out the 2015 season, but 40 runs in a three-game series set a franchise record. Thank God for Todd Kalas' research guys, who tell us that the previous record for runs in a three-game series is 34, against the Cubs from September 8-10, 2000.
*The Astros are now 18-6 on the road. On June 1. The 2012 Astros won 20 road games all year.
*This series made a Minnesota Man question the Twins' entire season.
*Alex Bregman homered for the third straight game, something he has never before done as a professional.
*This series got some Twins fired.
*On Monday the Twins were in 1st place. Today the Twins are still in first place, but check out the lede from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
The daily bonfires lit by the Twins' bullpen wound up consuming their entire homestand. Now it threatens the whole season, and it's not clear who's going to put out this inferno.
*Brad Peacock is working exclusively out of the stretch. Peacock:
At the beginning of the year I just didn't feel comfortable out of the wind-up, so I just banged it...I feel good out there, and I feel strong.
Peacock's next start will be Sunday at North DeSoto.
*Get ready to exclusively hear some David Ortiz stories: The Astros/Red Sox game on June 18 has been picked for Sunday Night Baseball.
*Brian T. Smith has some thoughts about the Astros and the idiocy that is All-Star Game voting.
*Sporting News: Three reasons the Astros will keep improving this year.
*Sports Illustrated: Houston and Washington are virtual locks to win their divisions - only two of 20 teams that had at least a 7-game lead on May 31 didn't win their division. The Astros' lead on May 31 is the 2nd-largest division lead on May 31 (to the 2001 Mariners) in MLB history.
*FiveThirtyEight: After years of tanking, the Astros are the best in baseball.
*David Schoenfield: Your team is in first place, time to panic?
*Kyle Tucker was 2x4 with his first double and home run for Corpus last night.
*Root Sports SW is embracing advanced metrics in their broadcasts.
*In case you're too excited about the Astros, you can read about West Virginia's overdose crisis.
