There will be no Hot Links tomorrow (Sunday) as I will be returning from a wedding in which I've spoken maybe six words to the bride and have never met the groom. Things are great. The Astros beat the Angels 6-2 to improve to 34-23. The Rangers obviously won again so Houston is still 2.5 back. Houston goes to South Ardmore July 1-3.
*Houston is 6-2 in their last eight games and have won 17 of their last 22 games.
*Anaheim is 13-30 against Houston since the beginning of the 2021 season.
*Yordan Alvarez hit a two-run home run in the 1st Inning to bring him to 50 RBI in 2023, in his 51st game (the 57th game of the Astros season). After 51 games, 2006 Lance Berkman was at 46 RBI.
*Chas McCormick went 3x4 - his first three-hit game since October 5, 2022.
*Corey Julks hit his 4th home run of the season, and the first one that featured a runner on base when it happened.
*Kyle Tucker was 2x4 with a double and an RBI. He's 5x8 with three doubles in these last two games against the Angels.
*Framber shoved: 7IP, 5H/0ER, 7K:1BB. Framber, since giving up 4ER in 4IP against the Cubs on May 15: 3GS, 22IP, 13H/1ER, 19K:4BB.
Shohei Ohtani vs Framber, career: 4x31, .129/.270/.226.
Mike Trout vs Framber, career: 2x19, .105/.292/.105.
Framber, on facing Shohei Ohtani:
I definitely get excited sometimes pitching against Ohtani. Obviously, he's probably the best player in the league right now - the MVP. But whenever I go up there, I see it as, I'm pitching against his teammates, and my teammates are the ones that also help me beat him, as well.
Danielle Lerner: How Framber cleaned up his defense.
*Phil Maton gave up his first earned run since May 3, allowing three hits in the process. He had allowed three hits in his previous seven games combined.
*Drew Gilbert has some elbow discomfort, Will Wagner had hamate bone surgery, and Forrest F. Whitley will be out 3-4 months with his right lat strain, effectively ruling him out of playing for the Astros this season. Dana Brown blamed it on something with his delivery.
*Tyler Brown was promoted from Corpus to Sugar Land. His numbers are a little Yikes, but he had 19 strikeouts in 19.1IP for Corpus.
*Shoutout to Former Astros Great Jon Singleton, who was recalled by the Milwaukee Brewers yesterday. He's hitting .258/.384/.483 for Triple-A Nashville this season. It'll be his first major-league game since October 2, 2015.
*The Ringer: Dril is everyone. More specifically, he's a guy named Paul.
*A Musical Selection, because it's been stuck in my head for six weeks: