*Brad Peacock did a pretty great job and Evan Gattis hit two home runs as the Astros move to 1-0 post-Correa. In 7IP, Peacock allowed two infield hits out of three total, with 1ER, 9K:1BB. Astros win 6-2 and regain a 16.5-game lead in the division. There are 68 games left.
*Astros run differential, vs. AL West:
Oakland: +38
Oak Cliff: +24
Seattle: +6
Anaheim: -2
That's a +66 run differential just against teams in the division. Only four other MLB teams (Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Yankees, and Nationals) have an overall run differential better than +66.
*The Astros are 22-8 in games following a loss.
*Peacock has 93 strikeouts in 68.2IP, which gives him a 12.19 K/9 rate, which happens to rank 3rd in baseball among pitchers who have thrown at least 60 pitches, behind Chris Sale (12.70) and Max Schezer (12.26). Peacock's last six starts: 34.1IP, 23H/7ER, 45K:20BB. Hinch:
Rotation, bullpen, when we hand the ball to Peacock, he's been exceptional - almost the year in its entirety.
Peacock:
I definitely had the best command I had tonight all year. I felt good all around, controlling the slider, dropping a curveball in and working off my fastball.
*Evan Gattis hit his 9th and 10th home runs of the season, making him the 9th Astro with double-digit home runs. In the Enron Field/Minute Maid Park era, only two other Astros teams have had at least nine players with 10+ HR: 2015 (11) and 2000 (9). With Reddick at 9HR and Bregman at 8HR, the 2017 team should match the 2015 team. And they would need Aoki to go Full Hulk and hit nine home runs over the last 68 games to eclipse 2015. Hinch, on Gattis:
He's not getting the playing time that his skill level warrants. He's creeping into it. He's going to play tomorrow. I'm trying to get him as many at-bats as we can. When I put him in there, the threat is always there. His damage is really good lately. And that's not forgotten.
*Jose Altuve was 3x4, raising his line to .351/.419/.556.
*Credit to Luke Gregerson, who recorded a four-out save. On August 18, 2015 he threw 2IP (9th and 10th) and got the win against the Rays.
*You know it was big because I actually wrote something on this dumb website after 8am, but here is reaction and precedent for Correa's injury.
*Brian T. Smith says the Astros are deep enough to withstand two months without Correa.
*George Springer was hit on the hand by Sam Gaviglio in the 1st inning and of course everyone got nervous. X-rays were negative. Hinch:
Pretty sickening feeling to walk on the field not too long after talking about Correa and George got hit. Fortunately for us he came back with a nice game and had a big hit. We breathe a little sigh of relief.
*Facebook Dot Com's Ken Rosenthal says that if the Astros don't get Sonny Gray, they have to decide if someone like Lance Lynn is enough of an upgrade over Morton or McHugh. Still, there's pressure on the front office to do something:
Players on contending teams often think at the deadline, "We've done our job. Now the front office needs to do its job." The Astros, like the Dodgers, might face a mini-revolt if they do nothing - particularly when this might be Carlos Beltran's last chance to win a World Series.
Imagine being Ken Rosenthal, one of the most respected baseball writers in the world. Fox Sports tells him, "No you can't write any actual words. Just record video." And so he has to post his columns on Facebook. Fox Sports is stupid.
*Orioles owner Peter Angelos has reportedly given the green light to Baltimore's front office to trade Zach Britton. Go get him.
*AC's own Joel took a look at the starting pitching market. Make sure you give it a click.
*FiveThirtyEight's buyer's (and seller's) guide to the trade deadline.
*Yuli Gurriel leads the current hard-hit rate in MLB.
*Kate Morrison: Revisiting the Ken Giles trade
*The Astros are going to give Dallas Keuchel another rehab start.
*Collin McHugh will start Saturday at Baltimore. Joe Musgrove has been shifted to the bullpen. McHugh:
In terms of being ready to move onto the next step and face big league guys, I feel as good as I've felt in a long time.
*Corpus placed Kyle Tucker on the 7-Day DL with a bad back, retroactive to Sunday.
*The Astros released Fresno pitchers Tyson Perez and Aaron West yesterday. Perez was the Astros' 17th Round pick in 2011. He pitched really well in Fresno in 2015 (2.62 ERA in 44.2IP), lost basically all of 2016 to injury, and then had a 5.68 ERA in 31 appearances for Fresno this season. West was the Astros' 17th Round pick in 2012. In 43.2IP for Fresno this season he allowed 72H/22ER, 36K:8BB.
*J.D. Martinez got traded to Arizona and, thankfully, not the Dodgers.
*The Yankees traded for Todd Frazier and relievers David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle. Two more potential bullpen pieces off the board (if you think the Astros need them). Perhaps we - as fans - need to identify a little more with this line from Andrew Marchand:
[The Yankees] might regret the deal one day but that wasn't the case Tuesday night, at least not in Girardi's office or in his clubhouse...There is no doubt that the Yankees are a better team, with a superior chance to win this season than they had before the deal. Long term, no one knows. But that is an opinion for a long time from now.
*Crazy game in Fresno last night as both teams traded two separate five-run innings, with Fresno beating Las Vegas, 19-12. Derek Fisher was 4x6 with two doubles and a home run. Teoscar Hernandez, Preston Tucker, and A.J. Reed each had three hits. Old friend Jio Mier was 1x3 with a sac fly for Las Vegas. Fresno SP Kyle Smith faced six batters to open the game and allowed five hits and a walk and was charged with 5ER.
*Man, here's a great story from Yahoo about a 14-year old's Make-A-Wish event at the All-Star Game. The town where we live has a pretty active Make-A-Wish chapter and my wife and daughter often dress up in whatever theme they choose, and it breaks my heart and also makes me so happy. You need to get involved with Make-A-Wish.
*Vice Sports: Edwin Jackson's Long, Fascinating Road. Also, get used to seeing that annotated box score. I love it and I will steal it.
*Ben Lindbergh: Mexico City would break all the home run records
*Four Mariners prospects took a 7-hour Uber ride to get to their game.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
