The Astros completed the sweep of the Mariners with a measly 3-1 win. Trash offense. Houston is 73-40. They have won four in a row, seven of their last eight, and 14 of their last 17 games since the Angels tried to flex on the Astros (this is going to be a Thing). The Astros are good. Oakland and Arlington won, because the Cardinals and Tigers are trash, respectively.
This week! The Astros have a two-game home stand against Colorado, then start a ten-game road trip at Baltimore (3), Chicago (3), and Oakland (4)
*After 113 games:
2019: 73-40
2018: 71-42
2017: 71-42
And the Astros are off today and then start Greinke every five days. Good luck.
*Hinch:
Everything from the attention to detail to the game planning to the execution and then to the bullpen coming in and getting huge outs, it's a really good stretch for us. One of the things that we pride ourselves on is preparation, and I think this series and leading up to this series it's been excellent.
*Let's start with Justin Verlander: 6IP, 3H/1ER, 10K:2BB.
It's his 7th 10+ K game of the season, and his fourth in a row. That's insane. It's the 2nd 4-game double-digit strikeout streak of his career, the first being from September 10-29, 2018.
Verlander's last four starts:
25IP, 15H/3ER, 46K:5BB. 1.08 ERA / 0.80 WHIP, 9.2 K:BB ratio.
Shoutout to JV, who became the 7th pitcher in MLB history to strike out 200+ batters in nine consecutive seasons.
Verlander's 2.68 ERA is the best in the American League. Verlander:
Each guy, when you create a competitive atmosphere like we have here, not that you want to one-up the guy before you, but you want to go out there and compete against some of the best in the world, and we've got a lot of the best in the world right here in the starting rotation...It's pretty incredible. You just kind of stay in your own lane and try to keep doing what's making you great, and at the same time you appreciate everything that's going on around you.
Astros starters are 14-1 in their last 17 games. That's crazy.
*Joe Smith, 2019: 7.2IP, 6H/0ER, 3K:0BB.
*Will Harris has appeared in 48 games this season. He has allowed a run in nine of them. He has a 1.69 ERA.
*Astros pitchers vs Seattle, this weekend:
27IP, 7H/3ER, 33K:14BB.
*Bregman, who does not want an off-day today, marveled at the pitching staff:
They're incredible. They pound the zone, work fast and give us a chance to win every time out. It's a lot of fun to play defense behind them.
*The Astros won a game in which they got five hits. They're 5-12 in those games. Two of those wins are against Seattle.
*The Astros won a game in which they didn't hit a home run. They're 6-19 in those games. Three of those wins are against Seattle.
*Seattle has a right fielder apparently named "Dylan Moore." He said this:
It's tough. They're obviously a good ballclub, but we can do better than that. Everybody in here is going to tell you that we didn't play offensively to our standards that we hold ourselves to.
Bro you hit 9th on a team that is 34-65 in their last 99 games and you have a .692 OPS. The Astros have won more games since June 1 than you have all year. FOH.
*Josh Reddick was 0x2 with a sac fly and got his first RBI since July 18. He's been hot garbage lately.
Reddick vs LHP: .342/.383/.487
Reddick vs RHP: .256/.298/.374
Reddick since the All-Star Break: .206/.253/.235. He has two extra-base hits since the break.
*Brent Strom will miss some time after undergoing gastrointestinal surgery on Saturday night.
*McTaggart's notebook has some interesting bits of tid:
-Hinch, on Martin Maldonado:
He just looks like he's at home. He's a true catcher. He cares so much about what his pitcher is doing on the mound. I have great respect for that. Chirinos is the same way. I demand that of our catchers because that's where we're going to impact the game the most. We love hitting homers and getting base hits. I say every day we want him to catch a winner and get a base hit. That's a good day for our catcher.
-Ryan Pressly and Brad Peacock looked rusty, but healthy, in their bullpen session and rehab appearance, respectively.
*Forrest Whitley: 4IP, 2H/1ER, 5K:2BB and threw 43 of his 69 pitches for strikes in a Corpus win.
*Reymin Guduan was suspended for the rest of the season due to a "disciplinary issue." So it's not PEDs or domestic violence - those get announced as such. Weird. Luhnow:
He broke our team rules and is being disciplined because of it.
*The Detroit Free-Press' Anthony Fenech has a story about the 2017 Trade Deadline and hoo boy. Fenech:
In what looms as the biggest mistake of their rebuilding process, [the Tigers] rebuffed an offer for (Michael) Fulmer involving two young players who are now among the best in baseball. According to multiple persons with knowledge of the talks, the Cubs offered shortstop Javier Baez as part of a three-player package and the Astros offered third baseman Alex Bregman for Fulmer and lefty reliever Justin Wilson.
Sometimes you look smart because everyone around you is dumb.
*Bristol City 1 - Leeds United 3. Manager Marcelo Bielsa:
We managed both halves very well in the first 30 minutes, but at the same time, in the last 15 minutes we conceded too much possession.
Love too wish you could have put your foot more on the neck of your opponent.
*The Diet That Could Cure Depression.
*A Musical Selection:
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith