*Charlie Morton threw 6.1IP, 3H/1ER, 9K:4BB. He has recorded at least 18 outs in five of his seven starts since the All-Star Break.
*Hinch:
Every inning, it felt like we were putting some form of pressure on them. We stole a couple of bases, had some good baserunning plays, got some big hits, hit the ball out of the ballpark a couple of times. You do all of that in one nine-inning game, we're going to score a lot of runs.
*Carlos Beltran knocked the piss out of the ball in the 2nd inning for his longest Statcast-Tracked homer .
*The Diamondbacks cut the lead to 5-4 in the 8th when Luke Gregerson and James Hoyt combined to face eight batters and allowed 5H/4ER, 1K:0BB and 3HR.
Jose Altuve on his way to becoming 14th player with 4+ seasons of 200 hits and 40 doubles. Previous 13 are in the Hall of Fame.— Richard Justice (@richardjustice) August 17, 2017
*Josh Reddick hit a 2-run home run in the 8th off lefty David Hernandez to cap the 4-run inning they needed to put the game away. It was Reddick's first home run off of a LHP since 2015.
Reddick, vs LHP, 2017: .301/.342/.370
Reddick, vs LHP, 2016: .155/.212/.155
Reddick, on the little slump the Astros have been in:
I think it's what we're used to seeing aside from the last week and a half hitting that speed bump. We all knew we were going to be alright, we were just tired of waiting. The last two games prove we can hop out of it at any given moment.
*Jose Altuve is thinking about the playoffs, not the MVP.
*FanGraphs: Alex Bregman is the Astros' unsung hero.
*Dayn Perry notes that we probably shouldn't be waiting on Justin Verlander to walk through that door. Luhnow agreed.
*Danny Knobler writes that Carlos Beltran could be the Astros' X-factor.
*The PTBNL in the Tyler Clippard deal is $1m.
*Carlos Correa is pleased with how this rehab thing is going. Correa:
No discomfort at all. I'm really happy about that.
*Meat Wagon update:
-Evan Gattis passed a concussion test
-AJ Hinch misses Will Haris
-McCullers will throw another bullpen session today
-McCann has right knee tendinitis
-Sipp could go on a rehab assignment soon
-Feliz threw his first bullpen session
*How GERORGE Springer ended up with the #4.
*The Astros used about a 12-year old logo for Arizona's on-deck circle.
*Cionel Perez made his Double-A debut and threw 0.2IP, 2H/1ER, 1K:3BB.
*Despite an 0x4 last night against Peoria, Daz Cameron is hitting .414/.478/.586 in 15 August games, .332/.397/.554 since the Midwest League All-Star Break.
*It's hard for rookies to get around NYC.
*The Atlanta Falcons will have a Chick-Fil-A in their new stadium. It will be closed on Sundays, a day on which the Falcons play seven out of eight home games.
