Saturday Morning Hot Links

Oh great the Homestros are back, not scoring runs, as usual. Houston lost to the A'izona D'am'nd'acks 4-2 thanks in part to Jon Jay's weird-ass triple. Oakland beat Tampa in extra innings, so the Astros' lead is back to 2.5 games. Houston is 92-55. There are 15 regular season games remaining.

Astros on the road: 52-22
Astros at MMP: 40-33

Astros offense, road: .266/.336/.454, 5.45 runs/game, .302 BABIP
Astros offense, home: .244/.322/.401, 4.42 runs/game, .278 BABIP

Houston is 8-12 at home since the All-Star Break, but now 5-1 in their last six games at Minute Maid Park. It's their 35th time to be held to five or fewer hits, 20th at home.

*Houston drew six walks for the 22nd time this season. They're now 16-6 when they draw 6+ walks.

*The Astros went 1x9 w/RISP, Gurriel getting the lone hit. Hinch:
It was frustrating. We didn't do a ton between the first inning and the sixth inning, offensively. Ray settled in and flashed his good stuff. We did get a couple of opportunities but just couldn't break through with the big hit. 

*Carlos Correa was 1x3 with a walk. It's his third straight game with a walk. He's had one extra-base hit in his last 75 plate appearances. Correa:
Going out there is no fun when you're not playing the way you expected to be playing. But at the same time, I'm putting in the work and putting in the time for me to fix this and I can't get frustrated or quit. I just have to keep grinding and try to figure it out.

It's remarkable that the Astros are still on pace for a 100-win season after the following slumps:
Springer: A 44-game stretch in which he hit .173/.204/.302 (June 15-August 18)
Correa: A 30-game stretch in which he's hitting .168/.256/.215 (August 10-present)

*Alex Bregman extended his on-base streak to 40 games.

*Dallas Keuchel was a little off: 6IP, 5H/2ER, 5K:4BB. He had not had a 4BB start since April 10. Keuchel:
I was making pitches left and right and making the defense play. We got a couple of bad breaks in the eighth. 

*Hector Rondon, Sept 7-14: 4IP, 10H/3ER, 6K:0BB.

*As if the loss wasn't enough, George Springer was taken out of the game after making a diving catch. Hinch:
/george is day-to-day. He could possibly be in the lineup Saturday. When he dove for Pollock's ball, he banged his shoulder like he's done before. We didn't want to take a chance.

*Brad Peacock is cleared to resume baseball activities after coming down with Hand Foot & Mouth disease, which he got from his 1-year old son. Peacock:
I feel great, I feel good now. I have the last couple of days. I just had a couple of blisters on my hand, feet, face. It wasn't too fun. 

Ew.

*Richard Justice: Bregman's psychological need to improve is paying off.

*FanGraphs projects the Astros winning the division by four games. As does FiveThirtyEight. As does Baseball Prospectus.

*Joe Smith credits David Wright for his career.

*Today in 1971 Larry Yount warmed up on the mound at the Astrodome to make his MLB debut, injured his shoulder, was removed from the game, and never made it back to the majors. I wrote this a couple of years ago about it.

*Oakland is 29-12 in one-run games. Houston is 21-24.