The Astros managed a sweep of the Lowly Seattle Mariners, 6-1. Houston is 53-32 with a 6.5-game lead. It's Houston's first three-game winning streak since June 2-4, when the Astros wrapped up a W5. The Astros are also 9-1 against Seattle this season, having gone 9-10 against the Mariners in 2018.
*On April 11 Seattle was 13-2. Houston was 8-5. Since:
Houston: 45-27
Seattle: 24-59.
You hate to see it.
*Division Leads as of July 1, previous years:
2019: 6.5
2018: 1.5
2017: 13.5
2016: -9.0
2015: 4.0
2014: -16.0
2013: -18.0
2012: -11.5
2011: -15.0
2010: -13.0
*Off-Day Playoff Odds
-FanGraphs (101-61): 98.7% to win the division, 32.4% to win the pennant, 19.8% to win the World Series
-FiveThirtyEight (100-62): 92% to win the division, 14% to win the World Series
-Baseball Prospectus (100-62): 97.6% to win the division, 20.1% to win the World Series
*Gerrit Cole had himself a day: 7IP, 5H/1ER, 10K:1BB. He has an AL-leading 161 strikeouts, and is nine strikeouts behind Max Scherzer for the MLB lead. Cole:
I just like to leave it out there. I just like to feel like I put in a good day's work. When you get that privilege to back out and you get the leash to go over 100 pitches you respect that. You respect the guys that have been battling for you for the previous seven innings to keep the score where it is.
Sign this man to a long-term deal.
Gerrit Cole, 10+ strikeout games, by year:
2013: 1
2014: 2
2015: 1
2016: 0
2017: 2
2018: 8
2019: 9
*Gerrit Cole gave up his 17th home run of 2019, 14 of them have been solo shots. Cole has given up 46 runs on the year, 40 of them earned. Nineteen of those runs have come on home runs (41.3%). Verlander has allowed 39 runs (38 earned) and 29 of those came off of home runs (74.4%). Hinch:
Crawford hit a ball that was arguably a ball out of the zone - upper 90s - for a homer and [Cole] settled in and was completely dominant. He executed almost flawlessly and finished his outing throwing 100. I run out of things to say about outings like this where he's in cruise control and he's executing.
*Josh James struck out the side in the 9th on 15 pitches.
*The Astros have now gone homer-less in back-to-back games for the first time since June 16/17. They were 0-2 in those games. They're now 5-17 in games where they do not hit a home run.
*Houston has gone eight straight games without striking out 10+ times. They're 5-3 in those games.
*Jose Altuve was 3x5 with an RBI. It's his 3rd 3-hit game of the year. He has gone six straight games without a GIDP. McTaggart notes that this was Altuve's 141st 3-hit game of his career, tying him with Jeff Bagwell for 2nd-most in franchise history. Craig Biggio had 225 3-hit games in his career [mind explodes]. We did not fully appreciate Craig Biggio.
*Yordan Alvarez returned to the lineup and went 2x3 with a walk, double and 3RBI. He has multi-hit games in six of the 15 complete games he has played. He has 21 RBI in 69 career PAs. Hinch:
He's a difference maker in the middle of the order when he gets pitches to hit and hits them hard. It's nice to have him back obviously. He's still not moving around great...but he made a huge impact today.
Yordan will be available off the bench in dumbass pitchers-hitting Colorado.
*Tyler White was 0x4 with 3Ks. He was 0x2 w/RISP, bringing his season total to 6x40 when batting with runners in scoring position - a .150 average. He has 15 RBI in 213 PAs in 2019.
*Max Stassi was 1x4 with a double. It's his 2nd extra-base hit of the season and his first since he hit a home run on April 20 against Southwest Texarkana.
*Myles Straw has played 12 complete games in 2019. He has gotten on base at least once in nine of those games.
*Brian McTaggart has your three takeaways from the Seattle series.
*Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, and Ryan Pressly were named to the All-Star Team, giving the Astros six representatives - most in the majors. It's the third year in a row that the Astros have had six All-Stars. Altuve will miss his first All-Star Game since 2013. It's Ryan Pressly's first All-Star nod.
*Cionel Perez went on the Minor-League IL on Sunday. So he, uh, obviously won't be starting on Tuesday at Colorado. Jose Urquidy, Corpus' Opening Day starter in 2019, is a candidate to start. Brutal to make your MLB debut at Coors Field, should that happen.
*Luhnow: Corbin Martin "isn't pitching anytime soon." He'll get a second opinion early this week.
*Kyle Tucker hit a Grand Slam in the 1st Inning and went 1x2 with 2BB in a 7-6 Round Rock win over Omaha. A.J. Reed (remember him?) was 3x4 with a home run and 2RBI. Felipe Paulino recorded his 3rd save, throwing 1IP, 2H/2ER, 1K:0BB.
*Bryan De La Cruz was 3x5 with a double, homer, and 3RBI in an 11-6 Corpus loss to Amarillo. Riley Ferrell threw the final 2IP, allowing 1H/0ER, 2K:0BB.
*Jake Adams hit a grand slam as part of a 5RBI day as Fayetteville beat Myrtle Beach 8-4.
*Sunday's Quad Cities game was suspended due to rain.
*Tri-City defeated Aberdeen 5-3 thanks to 3-hit games from A.J. Lee and Luis Santana, and 2-hit games from Andres Santana and Grae Kessinger.
*The Mets DFA'd Former Astros Great Carlos Gomez.
*On Bobby Bonilla Day, check out this 2015 article from Craig Calcaterra on the worst deferred-money contracts in baseball.
*Vice: The Chilling Mystery of High-Altitude Suicides.
*Bloomberg: A raging heroin addiction fueled a former Boeing engineer's year-long, 30-bank robbery spree.
*A Musical Selection:
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
