*The Astros have won eight of their last nine, and 16 of their last 21.
*It's the 8th 90-win season in franchise history. They would need to go 13-5 to break the all-time wins mark, set in 1998. This is also somehow the first time in franchise history the Astros have 90+ wins in consecutive seasons *since 1998-1999.*
FanGraphs is projecting a 102-60 record, as is FiveThirtyEight. Baseball Prospectus has 101 wins.
*Houston won 3-2 despite collecting just five hits. They're now 9-25 in games with five or fewer hits.
*All three runs the Astros scored were unearned.
*Tyler White was 2x3 with a walk. He has a hit in eight of his last nine games.
*7-8-9 (Gattis-Maldonado-Marisnick) combined to go 0x11 with 4K:1BB.
*Justin Verlander threw 7IP, 6H/2ER, 10K:1BB - his 10th start with double-digit strikeouts. It's the first time since April 25-May 1 that Verlander recorded 21 outs in consecutive starts.
*Verlander, on his first start in Detroit since getting traded:
Our hotel is right near my old house, so I got to spend some time in the neighborhood today. I was trying to keep my routine as much as possible. It was almost normal until the tribute video, but that really got to me. I had a lot of great memories in my 13 years here, and that brought it all back. I wanted to get to the dugout before it started, but once it started playing, I had to watch.
.@JustinVerlander tries to keep his eyes from sweating as he gets love from the @tigers faithful. pic.twitter.com/jhFGpe1Vzq— Cut4 (@Cut4) September 10, 2018
Hinch:
I'm proud of our guys, because there was a lot going on today, and we didn't play our best game, but we still found a way to pull out a win.
*Verlander and Gerrit Cole are the first pair of Astros pitchers with 250+ strikeouts in a season. They're the first teammates with 250+ strikeouts since Former Astros Greats Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling did it in Arizona in 2002. They're the first right-handed teammates with 250+ strikeouts since 1900. That's insane.
*MLB Replay officials are still sacks of crap. But A.J. Hinch says there will be a thorough review of the process (which I'm sure they'll get wrong). Hinch:
I still think they got it wrong, and I think it's unfortunate because the dynamic of the game changes a little bit. It might not have changed the outcome. There's still plenty of game left. To get an out/safe call wrong is one thing; to get one that takes the run off the board is a killer. They've assured me they're going to look at the process, how it all went down, why it took so long, and ultimately why the decision was made. I need clear and convincing evidence to be able to trust the system.
Read the article on that, and on how Josh Big Flames James could crack the postseason roster.
*Jose Altuve had a knee scare, but is apparently good to go.
*Framber Valdez gets the start, at 5:40pm Central. I have determined that anyone he strikes out got "Frambushed."
*The Astros, Red Sox, and Yankees have some questions about how exactly Josh Donaldson was able to get traded.
*FanGraphs' Jeff Sullivan: Oakland's bullpen has been a statistical miracle.
*Scott Servais, Darryl Kile, and the 25th anniversary of Kile's no-hitter.
*Brian Mazone spent nine years in the minors waiting for his chance. The day it came, it rained.
