Joe Kelly, to Carlos Correa after a strikeout:
Nice swing, bitch.
Dave Roberts, on Kelly's intent:
I really don't know, to be quite honest. I know he got behind Bregman 3-0 and lost a fastball. I really don't think there was intent behind that. I think those guys took a little bit of offense. Even the one to Correa, that was a breaking ball that just backed up.
Dusty:
I didn't anticipate that. I didn't anticipate throwing over somebody's head three balls and no strikes. One of our more important guys. If you're going to throw at somebody, you don't throw at the head...That's playing dirty baseball.
It's fair to wonder about Joe Kelly's intent. We are talking about a guy with a 4.46 ERA in 2018 and 2019 who walked 54 batters. It could just be that Joe Kelly kind of sucks. Kelly said it wasn't intentional:
No. When I was with the Red Sox we beat them in '18. It's one of those things that I pitch competitively. With no fans here, it's easy to hear some stuff (from the opposing dugout)...there's something they apparently didn't take too kind to.
Joe Kelly's 96.4 MPH pitch to Alex Bregman for ball 4 pic.twitter.com/QHm8JX3ATA— Daren Willman (@darenw) July 29, 2020
Anyway, should be a fun one tonight. On to the game:
Carlos Correa was (wink) a triple shy of the cycle, had three of the Astros' four hits, and both of the extra-base hits. It's the 26th time in Correa's career that he had three hits with a home run. It's the 18th time he got two extra-base hits in a game. Everyone else went 1x27 with 8Ks.
Framber Valdez threw 4.1IP, 4H/3R (2ER), 2K:1BB.
Enoli Paredes faced four batters and didn't record an out.
Andre Scrubb and Nivaldo Rodriguez made their MLB debuts, throwing 4.2 scoreless - though not uneventful (four hits, two strikeouts, three walks) - innings.
George Springer's slow start continued with an 0x4 to bring his five-game total to 1x20.
7-9 in the lineup (Reddick-Tucker/Toro-Maldonado) went a combined 0x11 with 7K:0BB.
Alex Bregman walked twice but committed two errors.
*The Astros went ahead and picked up Dusty Baker's option for 2021, as well as Brent Strom's and Gary Pettis' options for 2021.
I know everyone had the pipe dream that the Astros would go back to Hinch the day after the 2020 World Series, but this is really fair to Dusty, and it gives him what would appear to be a normal shot to win a World Series after a 162-game season. It's fair, and I have zero problem with it. It also guarantees that Dusty has a chance at 2000 wins - he's at 1,866.
Dusty:
I've been a lame-duck manager four or five times. I was one of the lamest ducks walking around. It feels pretty good not to be a lame duck. This is the best that I've been treated in quite a while.
*With the news that Devenski and Pressly have sore elbows, and that Joe Biagini was placed on the 10-Day IL, the Astros got some insurance in the form of 43-year old Fernando Rodney, pending a physical. Mark Berman says the Astros had scouts in Sugar Land to watch Bud Norris pitch. The injuries are stacking up.
*James Click said that Verlander will be shut down for "a few weeks" and that it's too soon to say whether or not he'll pitch again this season. He's also hopeful that Devenski and Pressly will be able to avoid the IL. Yordan is close to taking BP in Corpus, but there's not a timeline for him rejoining the Astros.
*Cristian Javier will start tonight's game. Javier reminds Brent Strom of Butch Metzger, because of course.
*Jake Kaplan: Five takeaways from the Astros-Mariners series.
*Boob Nightengale: Will the Dodgers try to avenge the 2017 World Series?
*The Nationals voted against going to Miami this weekend for a three-game series after four more Marlins tested positive. Miami's next game is next Tuesday. A normal thing, I suppose.
*SI: What's happening to the home run balls?
*Former Astros Great James Hoyt was DFAd by Cleveland.
*That time in 1984 when the Soviets pretended to be Klan members in an effort to ruin the Los Angeles Olympics.
*The Legend of Jacinto's Gold.
*A Musical Selection:
