*McCullers' line: 4.1IP, 9H/6R (5ER), 3K:2BB. He threw 61 of his 100 pitches for strikes and only 13 of the 24 batters he faced got a first pitch strike. Hinch:
We didn't have a great night in a lot of aspects. They swung the bat very well, they put up a big inning against us and never really let us out of it.
That 5th inning for McCullers went as such: Single, Single, Passed Ball, Single, Strikeout, Double, Single. After getting 18 outs in nine of his first 13 starts, McCullers hasn't made it out of the 6th in the three starts since coming off the DL (though, to be fair, his first start back was 5IP, 76-pitch outing). McCullers:
I just didn't execute that inning. I wanted to throw a purpose pitch and left it over the plate and up where [Bautista] got a hit. The inning kind of snowballed from there.
*
Lance McCullers just threw a unknown pitch type at 45 mph, per Statcast.— Christian Boutwell (@_CBoutwell) July 6, 2017
*Michael Feliz allowed a hit and a walk and committed a throwing error to push the game to 6-2 at the time. Feliz has inherited runners in 14 of his appearances and allowed a run in eight of them. Since June 11 Michael Feliz has come into a game with runners on base four times, inheriting seven baserunners. All seven have scored.
*Luke Gregerson, last nine appearances since taking the June 13 loss against Upper Duncanville: 8IP, 4H/0ER, 11K:2BB.
*Jose Altuve was 3x5 and Alex Bregman was 3x3 with a walk. Bregman's last three games: 7x11, 1K:3BB. Carlos Beltran hit his first home run since June 20, going 43 plate appearances between home runs.
*Carlos Correa singled to give him a 14-game hitting streak, but confusion with Altuve on covering second led to Feliz's throwing error. And then Correa got salty with how Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna handled the final out (leisurely strolling to first before lobbing a throw). Correa:
I don't know what's so special about that, throwing me a 3-2 cutter; showing me up. I go home, relax. Next time I face him, he better not give up a homer.
Prediction: if Correa hits a homer off Osuna this series, he will ride his bat like a stick horse around the bases.
*The Astros lost for the 10th time in 41 road games. The 2016 Astros lost ten of their first twelve road games.
*Collin McHugh will make another rehab start for Corpus on Monday; Dallas Keuchel will throw off a mound this weekend.
*Charlie Morton comes off the DL to face Aaron Sanchez tonight, who is also coming off the DL. Dayan Diaz will head on back to Fresno to make room.
*Joe Musgrove felt like his mechanics were more in sync on Wednesday night. Musgrove:
I'd like the break to not be there right now to continue to work and show them that wasn't a fluke outing. I really feel like I found my piece.
*Houston officially signed 1st Round pick J.B. Bukauskas to a $3.6m bonus yesterday, slightly over slot. They also signed 10th Round pick Kyle Serrano. While 9th Round pick Mike Papierski hasn't *officially* signed (reports are he has a deal), that makes every player in the first ten rounds in the fold. Check the Draft page for financials. The signing deadline is today at 4pm Central. Any player selected in Rounds 11-40 who signs for more than $125,000 has the overage counted against the bonus pool (if you, a good little baseball player, are drafted in the 35th Round and sign for $150,000, then $25,000 is counted against the bonus pool.)
*The Astros are pretty excited about Yordan Alvarez's Futures Game appearance. Mike Elias:
He's going to have a chance to show everybody firsthand the type of talent the Astros know he is.
After hitting .360/.468/.658 for Quad Cities, Alvarez got promoted to High-A Buies Creek. In 12 games with BCA, the 20-year old Cuban is hitting .268/.365/.415 with 9K:8BB. Other teams are going to want him.
*Jon Heyman: Chris Devenski and Marwin should have made the All-Star Team
*Also Jon Heyman: Trade Martes and Kyle Tucker to Chicago for Jose Quintana and Tommy Kahnle. In his Notes Column, Heyman says that the Astros are most likely to land Sonny Gray or Jose Quintana, though they inquired on Atlanta's Julio Teheran.
*Greg Rajan took a fun look at Houston's uniform tradition.
*When Jaime Garcia struck out Alex Bregman on Wednesday, it triggered this poor girl. She deleted her account because she's sorta racist.
*Corpus' J.D. Davis and Buies Creek's Myles Straw were named June Players of the Month by MiLB. Davis hit .343/.404/.627 with seven home runs and is straight up blocked by Colin Moran who is straight up blocked by Alex Bregman; Straw - the Astros' 2015 12th Round pick - hit .375/.479/.479 with 11K:20BB and went 12x15 in stolen bases in June.
*Former UH pitcher Nick Hernandez was promoted to Corpus. Hernandez - who made the Carolina League All-Star Team - threw 34IP for Buies Creek, allowing 18H/6ER, with 48K:11BB.
*Tri-City (6-10) beat the dog piss out of Brooklyn last night, 13-0. JJ Matijevic was 2x4 with his first home run and 3RBI; Reid Russell hit his 1st and 2nd homers of the season; Kyle Davis hit another home run; Jake Adams hit his 3rd home run - four players had 3RBI. Pitchers Patrick Sandoval and Colin McKee combined for 3H/0ER, 13K:4BB.
*Sung Min Kim wrote about Jose Lima's unlikely impact on the Korean Baseball Organization.
*The Nationals called a three-hour rain delay for a storm that brought drizzle for 30 minutes.
*An oral history of NBA Jam.
