*To find a longer winning streak you have to go all the way back to [checks Baseball-Reference] May 2-13, 2022, when the Astros won 11 in a row against the Mariners, Tigers, and Twins.
*The Astros - as a team - have hit .276/.352/.451 in the last twelve games, raising their team OPS from .676 to .709. Houston also hit five home runs last night, an impressive feat considering that they hit five home runs in the previous six games combined (218 PAs).
*The previous 2023 game-high in homers was on April 5, when the Astros hit three against Detroit. It was the 56th time in franchise history that the Astros have hit 5+ homers, and the most since the Astros hit six homers at Fenway in a 13-6 win over the Red Sox on May 17, 2022. God, we've been spoiled. The Astros are 50-6 when hitting five home runs in a game.
*Brewers starting pitcher and 2021 NL Cy Young Winner (a feat about which I had completely forgotten) Corbin Burnes had thrown four straight Quality Starts and entered the game with a 3.48 ERA before getting lit up for 5ER. Prior to last night, Burnes had made 144 appearances (83 starts) and had never given up 4HR in a game before.
*Yordan Alvarez hit two home runs, one a grand slam on the first pitch of the AB. It was his 4th career grand slam and the 14th multi-homer regular season game of his career, both of which feel low. Those were also Yordan's 3rd and 4th career homers against the Brewers, and the 2nd and 3rd at Not Miller Park.
Yordan's homers vs. Milwaukee:
June 11, 2019 at Minute Maid Park vs. Matt Albers (his second career home run).
September 2, 2019 at Not Miller Park vs. Brent Suter.
May 22, 2023 at Not Miller Park vs Corbin Burnes and something called a "Hoby Milner." In the year of our Lord 2023 there are people walking around that answer to the name "Hoby." Of course he's from Fort Worth.
I mean, he's one of the best hitters in the league. I don't care what pitcher we're putting in there. It's a challenge.
*Mauricio Dubon hit a home run before Jose Abreu. Just like we all drew it up in March.
*Martin Maldonado was 2x3 with a homer and a walk. Since April 30 (15 games), Maldonado is hitting - and I swear this is true - .319/.396/.511. Maldonado became the 69th player in MLB history a home run against all 30 MLB teams.
*Jeremy Pena took a 98.9mph heater off the hand, but stayed in the game.
*In his last six games, Jake Meyers is hitting .389/.560/.722.
*Cristian Javier threw 6IP, 4H/1ER, 5K:1BB. In the 54 starts in his career, 23 of them have been Quality Starts. The Astros are 17-6 when Javier goes at least six innings and allows three or fewer earned runs.
*It was a routine day off yesterday for Jose Altuve.
*The Astros need five more wins this season for Dusty Baker to pass Joe McCarthy for 8th on the all-time managerial wins list. 38 more wins put him past Bucky Harris for 7th, 74 will pass Sparky Anderson for 6th.
*Something I'm sure everyone will be extremely level-headed about: Chandler Rome, on Kyle Tucker's terrible defensive metrics.
*Carlos Correa is hitting .213/.302/.396. FanGraphs says not to worry about that. Correa also talked to ESPN about his tumultuous free agency saga.
*1916 Watch:
2023 A's: 10-39
1916 A's: 15-33-1
*Three people have been arrested over racial abuse of Real Madrid's Vinicius Jr.
*How Leeds United's impending relegation would affect Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Brendan Aaronson, and the San Francisco 49ers.
*Rufus Wainwright's debut album was released 25 years ago last Friday. This is hard, for me. So in honor of that...
