Meanwhile the Astros beat the Rays 1-0 on some heroics from Jake (Roger Maris)nick and superb pitching from Lance McCullers, getting to pitch in his hometown of Tampa, Florida. The Astros are 55-28, 30-11 on the road, and just won a franchise-record 11th straight road game. It's the 8th shutout of the season and the second 1-0 win of the year.
McCullers: 7IP, 3H/0ER, 7K:2BB.
It was his third start at Tropicana Field and his first win. His previous two starts combined: 12IP, 11H/8ER, 17K:7BB. Hinch:
That was as efficient and dominant as he's been early in the game, with just out after out after out - some soft contact, a couple of hits. He was in control of himself, which makes him in control of his pitches. He was impressive.
*Last night was the third straight game without allowing a home run. The season-high is six straight games, from April 4-10.
*Marisnick was 2x2 with a walk and an HBP, getting on base for a career-high four times, and don't look now but his batting average is .1986. If Marisnick can go 1x4, he'll be at an even .200 for the first time since April 3. Marisnick:
Obviously any time you can help the team win, it feels good. Offense has been feeling good lately, and I can't thank these guys enough for how much effort and work they put in.
To be fair, Downs' home run was in 2012, but typos.Marisnick became the first Astros player to homer in a 1-0 win since Matt downs on June 27, 2002 against San Diego and first on the road since Kevin Bass on Aug. 19, 1986 at Pittsburgh. He was also the first in team history to do in the ninth spot in the order.— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) June 29, 2018
*1-6 in the lineup went a combined 3x23, 6K:2BB. 7-9 (White-McCann-Marisnick) went 5x9 with 2K:2BB, HR, HBP.
*George Springer is 4x54, hitting .074/.180/.148, in his last 13 games.
*Carlos Correa was placed on the 10-Day disabled list due to issues with back stiffness. Hinch:
We just need to do the right thing and get him completely symptom-free. He's not going to be available, and hopefully this is just 10 days and he'll be activated by next weekend, if things go well.
The earliest he'd be eligible to return is July 6, against the White Sox. The Astros are in a stretch in which they play 23 games in 24 days - their only break between June 22 and the All-Star Break (July 16-19) is on July 2. That's a brutal schedule. Hopefully it's more precautionary than anything.
*A.J. Reed will get called up for the weekend while Yuli Gurriel goes on 3-day paternity leave.
*Breaking news from Jake Kaplan, the Astros will call up Cionel Perez from Corpus. In 57.1IP at Double-A, 22-year old lefty Perez has allowed 47H/14ER, 71K:21BB - a 2.20 ERA / 1.19 WHIP, and has held left-handed batters to a .233/.283/.256 line. MLB.com said yesterday he was the Astros' international prospect to watch.
*Fresno is sending five representatives to the Pacific Coast League All-Star Game: A.J. Reed, J.D. Davis, Kyle Tucker, Garrett Stubbs, and pitching coach Dyar Miller.
*J.D. Davis was not in Fresno's lineup last night, meaning he could be called up for Correa's DL stint.
*Kyle Tucker's hitting streak is now at 17 games after he went 2x2 with a walk, home run, stolen base, and 2RBI in a 12-6 win over El Paso. Dude has a .920 OPS. In Triple-A. He's 21. Taylor Jones made his Triple-A debut and went 3x5 with a home run and 3RBI.
*Corpus lost 2-0 but Randy Cesar went 3x4 to extend his Texas League-record hitting streak to 42 games.
*Seth Beer made his Quad Cities debut last night in a 5-2 loss to Kane County, and went 2x4 with an RBI.
*Bleacher Report's Natalie Weiner: Someone is trying to destroy Negro League landmarks in Kansas City. We live in a horrifically broken country.
*A rare photo of an old Houston ballpark has raised more questions than answers.