Josh James made things more interesting than was necessary, but the offense was up to the task. The Astros swept the Yankees for the first time ever last night and improved their record to 8-5 on the back of a six-game winning streak.
*Longest home winning streak to open a season:
7: 1973
6: 2019, 1987, 1976
5:
4: 2001, 1968
3: 2018, 2017, 1988, 1979, 1962
2: 2014, 2003, 1997, 1980, 1977, 1967
1: 2016, 2015, 2013, 2008, 2006, 1999, 1994, 1991, 1989, 1985, 1975, 1974, 1971
0: 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2007, 2005, 2004, 2002, 2000, 1998, 1996, 1995, 1993, 1992, 1990, 1986, 1984, 1983, 1982, 1981, 1978, 1972, 1970, 1969, 1966, 1965, 1964, 1963
*The Yankees scored the first run in all three games haha.
*Hinch:
It was incredible to watch our at-bats the entire night, really, against any of their guys who came in. We needed to have good at-bats as the game played out.
*Jose Altuve hit a home run in the 1st inning and another in the 5th. In 71.2 IP vs Houston prior to that AB, James Paxton had allowed three home runs - all to George Springer. It was the 10th time in his career that Paxton had allowed 2+ home runs in a start, and the first time in his career he had given up two home runs to the same player in a single start. Altuve:
I'm as surprised as you are. I'm not used to hitting this many homers in two or three games, but I'll take it.
Altuve hit four home runs in the three games against New York. That's the most by any Astros player in a season against the Yankees. He hit four home runs in his first 285 PAs of 2018.
*Yuli Gurriel's triple was the Astros' first triple of the season.
*Jake Marisnick was 3x3 with a walk. The last time he got on base four times in a game was April 15, 2017.
*Collin McHugh threw 6IP, 4H/2ER, 9K:1BB.
Collin McHugh, 2019: 17IP, 10H/5ER, 22K:5BB.
Collin McHugh's slider is "kind of Astros legend at this point."
*Alex Bregman was not in the lineup last night after coming up with a [something] hamstring in the 9th inning of Tuesday night's win. Bregman:
Little tweak, I guess. Strain, whatever. Day to day.
Prior to last night's game, Hinch described Bregman's injury as "very minor."
Altuve:
He's an MVP-type player, one of the greats in the game. I just want him to be smart about it. If he's going to take a couple of days, it's early in the season. We want him to be healthy when we really need him.
*Correa is next up for the 100HR club, who currently sits at 83 career home runs.
Jenny Dial Creech: For Altuve, hitting HR #100 is "a dream come true."
Speaking of 100 HRs, you should totally buy this commemorative shirt (of which I get a small cut).
*Jake Kaplan writes about the changes that Robinson Chirinos has made since joining the Astros, including his defensive positioning, throwing motion, pitch-framing, and hitting. Let's see if the Astros can fix basically everything that was wrong with a career Rangers player.
*According to Forbes, the Astros' total value is a cool $1.775 billion.
*SI's Jon Tayler ranks the temperature of each MLB manager's seat, and - unsurprisingly - A.J. Hinch's is cold.
*The Astros are headed to Seattle, and their hot-hitting start defies the nature of a rebuild, writes Jay Jaffe.
*While the Yankees' roster looks like a Civil War-era field hospital, don't think they're looking at Dallas Keuchel just yet, reports SNY's John Harper. Scott Boras (with an assist from Keuchel, probably) screwed him over just fine. Harper:
....According to a person close to the situation, [who] indicated Tuesday night that Cashman is likely to exhaust all of the alternatives unless Keuchel's already-falling price drops another couple of levels.
*Nick Tanielu hit a walk-off grand slam to help Round Rock beat Nashville 9-5. Fayetteville was down 8-0, and won 11-8.
*Quad Cities pitchers Austin Hansen and Shawn Dubin combined for 9IP, 6H/0ER, 20K:0BB on Tuesday night in a 2-0 win over Clinton.
*There's an FOAC who is the manager for an up-and-coming singer-songwriter from Nashville named Lauren Jenkins. Lauren was headed to Houston yesterday morning to open for The Wild Feathers, but basically all of her stuff was stolen Tuesday night. There's a GoFundMe to help replace what she lost to which it would be great if you decided to donate, or at least share on Twitter/Facebook. Also, support her.
*ESPN: The true story behind Michael Jordan's baseball career.
*Outside Magazine: Are you overdosing on caffeine?
*A Musical Selection:
Follow the Hot Links Music playlist on Spotify.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
