The Houston MF Astros "swept" the "Rockies" 6-4 in Wednesday's game. Houston is 49-38, 2.0 games back of Watauga. The Astros have won four in a row, seven of their last eight, eight of their last ten. Houston is 24-19 at Minute Maid Park, and 25-19 on the road. The Astros have won three straight series.
*Yainer Diaz hit two home runs to bring his season total to 10, and he did it in just 48 games (174 PAs), which is a 34-homer pace extrapolated to a 162-game season. Diaz joins Yordan Alvarez as the only Astros to have a 2HR game in 2023 (Yordan did it May 22 and May 28). Pena:
It feels like he hits a homer every other game.
McTaggart notes that Diaz is the first Astros rookie catcher with a multi-homer game since Mitch Meluskey (September 3, 2000 vs Atlanta).
*Jeremy Pena also joined the 10HR Club, giving the Astros five players with double-digit homers.
*It was the Astros 17th straight game with a home run - their longest streak since an 18-gamer from July 19-August 8, 2021.
*Alex Bregman was 0x2 with 2BB. In the last six games Bregman is hitting .095/.296/.143.
*Kyle Tucker was caught stealing for the 3rd time this season. The Astros are 63-for-80 (78.8%) when attempting to steal a base. On one hand, they're just 20 steals short of their entire 2022 total, but are just a tad worse than they were in 2022, when they went 83-for-105 (79%) when stealing bases.
That said, the American League is 923-for-1177 (78.4%) when trying to steal a base. So..teams with a worse basestealing rate than the Astros:
Rangers: 78.4%
Guardians: 78.2%
Royals: 77.4%
Tigers: 75.9%
Mariners: 75%
Yankees: 73.2%
Angels: 72.1%
*J.P. France: 6IP, 6H/3ER, 4K:1BB - his seventh consecutive Quality Start, and 9th in first eleven starts of 2023.
*Ryan Pressly saved his 19th game of the season. He has 95 saves as an Astro, 4th all-time, and just 28 behind Brad Lidge for 3rd in franchise history. Pressly's last ten appearances: 10IP, 0H/1R (0ER), 11K:3BB.
*The Astros are skipping Cristian Javier's next start, giving him until after the All-Star Break to remember how to pitch. Dana Brown:
This is his first full season as a starter. I think guys [get] tired at times and they get dead arm and they just don't have the zip that they usually have on their stuff. And so at the end of the day, I think giving him a little bit of a break is what we're trying to talk about now. Could be a good thing.
*The Astros will know more about Altuve's oblique today, but they (a) don't think it's as serious as it was the first time he went through it this season and (b) Altuve likely won't play a minute of any of these four Mariners games before the All-Star Break.
*Chandler Rome: How Dana Brown is approaching the Draft.
*If you're trying to off-ramp Twitter, I'm on Threads, but I don't know exactly what I'm going to do with it. Here's a little guide to Threads, hailed as the "Twitter Killer."
*Yankees reliever Jimmy Cordero has been suspended for the remainder of the season under MLB's Domestic Violence policy.
*I love two kinds of music: Sad, Bourbon-Soaked Sad Bastard Music and Sugary-Sweet, Cavity-Inducing Pop Music. That said, the WHAM! documentary on Netflix is fan-freaking-tastic.
*Town & Country: The Joy of Traveling Solo.
*I'm not one to pass judgment on the mental health of another, but this lady at DFW is SPOOKED.
*A Musical Selection: