Astros 7, Marlins 2: Yuli for a grand

Remember when we traded Dan Straily for 15 games of Erik Kratz and his -43 OPS+? Yeah, me neither -- I’m not even sure why I brought it up. On an unrelated note, ‘ol danny boy was no hitting your Houston Astros into the fifth inning tonight, until Evan Gattis tattooed a ball off of his pitching forearm at 108 mph (exit velocity). Straily gutted out the rest of the inning, but he did not return for the sixth (hey, you wouldn’t have either — you could see the bruise on his arm growing darker with every pitch).

Things turned around for the Astros immediately after Straily left the game, with Yulieski Gurriel hitting a grand slam off of Marlins’ reliever Junichi Tazawa in the sixth. Jose Altuve provided the rest of the Astros’ offense, with a two-run single in the seventh and a solo homer in the ninth.

Joe Musgrove allowed 8 hits and a walk over 5.2 innings, but the baserunners were strategically placed — not bunched — so the damage was minimal. With the win tonight, the Astros are 15 games over .500 for the first time since September 22, 2005.

Game 2 of this 3 game set in Miami kicks off tomorrow at 6:10 PM CT.