*Hinch,
That inning just continued to go, and it's one of the things I love the most about our team. We just keep coming at you...When we put at-bats like that together in a row, we're pretty dangerous.
The 2nd inning:
McCann struck out
Beltran walked
Gurriel grounded into fielder's choice, Beltran safe on error
Gonzalez single
Bregman double
Springer infield single
Altuve walked
Reddick sac fly
Correa single
McCann three-run homer
Beltran double
Gurriel grounded to short
*Charlie Morton threw 5IP, 3H/5R (4ER), 10K:5BB. The five walks tie a career-high for Morton. 68 of his 108 pitches were for strikes. Morton, on his outing:
It was kind of a weird outing because I felt like my stuff was good. I made a bunch of good pitches, but at the same time, there were some pitches right there that weren't executed.
*Michael Feliz came in to pitch the 6th and it took him 25 pitches to get two outs and load the bases. Chris Devenski got out of the jam and threw another inning in relief. Gregerson walked two batters in the 8th, giving the Astros pitchers a season-high nine walks on the night. The Twins were 1x13 w/RISP. Why did Hinch go to Devenski?
[The game] was slowly starting to deteriorate, and they had a lot of baserunners. It just wasn't worth not going to our [best] guys.
*Astros pitchers have walked 5+ batters 20 times this season. They're 12-8 in those games.
*Jose Altuve was 2x4 with a walk, breaking his streak of 3+ hit games at five, one shy of tying the MLB record. Altuve:
We won the game. I got two hits, I helped my team, and this is what it's all about. It's good to have personal records, but it's better to have records as a team.
*Marwin Gonzalez was 3x5 with a home run and two RBI. He's hitting .314/.395/.590.
*The Astros are 61-29 and are 32 games over .500 for the first time since the last day of the 1999 season. Everyone in the AL West won except the Angels, so the Astros have a 16.5-game lead over the Rangers. There are 72 games left. If the Astros go 36-36, the Rangers would have to go 54-19 to win the division.
*Marwin didn't watch the All-Star Game.
*Will Harris was placed on the 10-Day DL with right shoulder inflammation, dated back to Tuesday. MRIs came back clean, and Harris isn't worried:
I've been treating it pretty aggressively the past week or so. It just didn't get to where we were comfortable with it. We'll take a few days and see how I respond to some rest and keep getting the treatment I've been getting. It shouldn't be a lengthy period of time.
*Hinch is expecting Dallas Keuchel to make multiple rehab starts:
It's impossible to know what competition will feel like for him. As a baseball person I would expect it to be multiple (rehab starts), but you never count anything out when it comes to the players.
*The plan for Collin McHugh is to throw his final rehab start in Corpus tomorrow (Sunday) and then rejoin the team next weekend.
*The Astros and Tigers talked this past off-season about Justin Wilson, obviously couldn't work it out, but Houston may be re-engaging on him, says Ken Rosenthal.
*Alex Bregman responded to Flees-gate:
I maybe said some stuff I shouldn't have, but you live and you learn and I'm ready to play baseball in the second half. I'm excited.
Hinch indicated that he was dealt with by the Astros veterans.
*Root Sports SW is now AT&T Sportsbet Southwest. Such a soothing, roll-off-the-tongue branding. (UPDATE: I know there's a typo here. I'm not changing it.)
*2nd Round pick Corbin Martin made his professional debut for the GCL Astros yesterday and threw 2IP, 0H/0ER, 5K:0BB.
*22nd-Round pick Patrick Mathis hit a grand slam for his first professional home run in an 11-0 win over Bluefield. Starting pitcher Leovanny Rodriguez threw 4IP, 2H/0ER, 8K:1BB.
