Jiminy Christmas. Do these men have no respect for dads? Unbelievable. The Reds completed a weekend Father's Day sweep of the Houston Astros. Houston is 39-33, 20-18 at Minute Maid Park, and are now in 3rd place in the AL West, 5.5 back of North Mexia, 1.0 back of Anaheim.
*The Astros had leads of 2-0, 2-1, 3-1, 3-2, and 5-2 in Sunday's "game."
*It's the first time the Astros have been in 3rd place since May 1, 2022. Tonight will be the 31st game since the beginning of 2021 that the Astros have been in 3rd place or worse.
*The Astros have lost four straight, five of their last seven, and ten of their last 14 games.
*Houston is 0-6 when the game goes to extra innings in 2023. They're 16-27 in extra innings since the Ghost Runner Rule was implemented at the beginning of 2020 (a season which did not exist).
*Houston is now 13-2 when they score 7+ runs, 0-2 in the last two instances of scoring 7+ runs.
*The Astros gave up 19 runs in the last two games of the series with the Reds, the most runs allowed in back-to-back games since they got whooped by the Orioles on June 28-29, 2021.
*Houston went 5x29 with runners in scoring position over the three-game series. They haven't hit a home run with a runner on base since beating Cleveland 6-4 on June 10.
This isn't anything like us. We'll play better, though. We're just a little injured, but we have to find ways to win. Everyone wants to come beat us because we're world champions. Us winning last year is in the past, so we just have to play better.
*Alex Bregman was (wink) a homer shy of the cycle in a 3x5, BB, RBI day. It's his 4th 3-hit game of the season, and it came on the heels of Brian McCann calling him to give him a hitting tip.
*Yainer Diaz also had a three-hit day, going 3x5 with an RBI. In 12 June games, Diaz is hitting .341/.348/.659. Eight of his 15 hits have been for extra-bases. He has more home runs (5) than walks (3) in 2023.
*Kyle Tucker was 2x4 with two walks and an RBI. He has four multi-hit games in his last five, and in 16 June games is hitting .339/.400/.516.
*After going 2x12 against Cincinnati, Jose Abreu's OPS is now back under .600.
*Ronel Blanco: 5.2IP, 7H/5ER, 5K:2BB, with two homers that accounted for three runs.
*Chandler Rome: The Jeremy Pena Leg-Kick is back!
*Check out new Chronicle beat writer Matt Kawahara's piece on Shawn Dubin's journey to the Majors.
*It has been 51 weeks since Michael Brantley last played a Major League game.
*Jose Urquidy feels "really good" after a bullpen session.
*MLB: The History of the Baseball Cap.
*Lance Lynn struck out 16 batters in a [squints] 5-1 White Sox loss.
*How a grad student uncovered the largest known slave auction in the US.
*Esquire: The Long Fall of One-Eleven Heavy.
*The bastards at AFC Bournemouth hired the manager I wanted Leeds United to manage.
*A Musical Selection:
