Astros Crawfish Boil: June 20, 2016

Astros News

Reds blanked by Astros in series finale, 6-0
The Reds dropped their second of three in Houston.

Gattis, Valbuena homer as Astros shut out Reds | MLB.com
HOUSTON -- Luis Valbuena and Evan Gattis each hit solo homers and Mike Fiers tossed 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball as the Astros took Sunday's game and the series from the Reds with a 6-0 win at Minute Maid Park. Valbuena led off the fifth inning with his ninth home run of the season and second RBI of the game. He added a run-scoring single to put Houston up 2-0 in the second inning, notching his first multi-RBI game since May 26. Gattis homered for the second consecutive game, and he also put Houston on the board with a two-out RBI double in the second.

Angels-Astros preview (Jun 19, 2016) | FOX Sports
HOUSTON -- In posting their second shutout victory of the season Sunday, Houston capped an interleague series win over the Cincinnati Reds and set the stage for a critical three-game set against the Los Angeles Angels, who will arrive 21/2 games behind the third-place Astros in the American League West.

Astros report: Extra-inning games run up relief appearances - Houston Chronicle
Extra-inning games run up appearances by relief pitchers The Astros are tied with the Braves for the most extra-inning games played this season with 11. Ken Giles entered Sunday tied for fourth in the American League with 33 appearances, while Will Harris (31), Luke Gregerson (30) and Tony Sipp (29) aren't far behind. Missing holidays and special occasions isn't something Collin McHugh loves, but the Astros starter understands it's part of the lifestyle in playing professional baseball. The Astros, along with the rest of the league, wore special Father's Day jerseys and hats for the first time. MLB will donate royalties from the sales of Father's Day jerseys and hats to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

Preview: Angels at Astros | Sports - WPTZ Home
The Houston Astros made a seemingly innocuous move after falling a season-worst 11 games below .500 late last month, moving George Springer up one spot to bat atop the order. The Astros are 17-8 since making the change and attempt to move t...

Quick Hits: Mets, Astros, Nats, A's, ChiSox - MLB Trade Rumors
Zack Wheeler returning from 2015 Tommy John surgery and replacing Bartolo Colon in the Mets’ rotation, as originally planned, is now far from a sure thing, writes David Adler of MLB.com

MLB News

College World Series 2016 scores and bracket: Coastal Carolina shocks Florida on Day 2 - SBNation.com
The Gators became the third national seed to lose in Omaha, shut down by a brilliant performance from Coastal's Andrew Beckwith.

The Pirates aren’t made of pitching magic, but their pitching magic can save them - SBNation.com
The Pirates can't pitch, so they're likely to try Plan B. That might have been better than Plan A the whole time.