The Astros didn't play last night. Oakland did play, and won, so they're 6-4 - a half-game ahead of the Astros in the division. It's the first time the Astros haven't been in 1st place on the morning of August 4 since 2016.
Lead, on the morning of August 4:
2020: -0.5
2019: +8.0
2018: +5.0
2017: +15.0
2016: -6.5
2015: +3.0
2014: -22.0
2013: -27.5
2012: -30.5
2011: -24.5
*Check Episode 133 of Lima Time Time, recorded last night.
*Brian McTaggart: What's gone right - and wrong - for the Astros so far. I would go so far as to say that losing your ace and your closer in the first 10 days of the season is a really Wrong thing.
*The Astros signed reliever Chase De Jong from the Sugar Land Skeeters. His velocity is apparently up after throwing around a weighted ball. De Jong is a former 2nd Round pick - taken 20 picks after the Astros drafted Nolan Fontana. Here are his stats.
*Jake Kaplan and Zach Buchanan revisited the Greinke trade a year later from both teams' perspectives.
*Brandon Bailey talked about what it's like to make his MLB debut in 2020.
*Psyche: How to read more books.
*Vice: The public submissions for Mississippi's new state flag are pretty much exactly what you would expect.
*Today at 1:45pm Central on ESPN+, Brentford and Fulham will play in The Richest Game in Football. Whoever wins this one game will get promoted to the Premier League, and will make between £135 and £160 million (or $175m-$227m) over the next three years.
*A Musical Selection:
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
