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Astros News
- Maldonado was the hero last night after mashing a three-run homer late in the game to put the Astros on the cusp of October baseball (Astros.com)
- Framber Valdez was also masterful yesterday, and he attributes part of his success to a psychologist he talked to in the offseason (Twitter - Brian McTaggart)
- Valdez has become so good that it’s now presenting a problem for the team as to where to put him in the postseason (Texas Sports Nation, $$$)
- The bullpen has been quietly improving, starting with the performances of Ryan Pressly and Enoli Paredes (Astros.com)
- The Astros Foundation is partnering with the Texas Council on Family Violence to provide grants to organizations fighting domestic violence (Twitter - Mark Berman)
Around the League
- Rob Manfred had a chat with USA Today where he talked about keeping expanded playoffs and possibly other rule changes beyond 2020 (USA Today)
- Could AJ Hinch return to baseball as the manager of the Tigers? (Houston Sportsmap)
- Another night, another bunch of teams punching their tickets to the playoffs (MLB.com)
- Andrelton Simmons has opted out of the remaining games this season (MLB Trade Rumors)
- The AL MVP is tight as a drum and may come down to voters’ personal preferences rather than numbers (FanGraphs)
- The Yankees are sending team president Randy Levine to court to argue why they shouldn’t have the details of their cheating exposed (The Athletic, $$$)
- Former Astro Daniel Mengden, he of the Rollie Fingers moustaches, has been outrighted by the A’s (MLB Trade Rumors)
- Josh Donaldson bought some special and rather warm gifts for his teammates (MLB.com)