Twins win rubber game but hey, the Astros outscore Twins 13 to 11 for three game series.
LP: Brett Oberholtzer (4-8)
WP: Kyle Gibson (11-9)
SV: Glen Perkins (30)
contributed by Sphinx Drummond
Brett Oberholtzer pitched another good game and picked up anther loss. One mistake to the great Joe Mauer leading off the sixth inning was all it took to send hard luck Brett to Loserville. It was the only run Oberholtzer surrendered in his 7 innings of 6 hit, 4 strikeout, 0 walk pitching.
Former first round pick Kyle Gibson had a line similar to Olberhotzer’s as far as hits and strikeouts go, except he lasted 7.2 innings, also walked 2, and got the victory.
Josh Fields didn’t pitch well, giving up two runs on three hits and a walk in his third of an inning of pitching. Jose Altuve got another hit, he leads the AL and is one point behind MLB leader Troy Tulowitzski–who is set to undergo season ending surgery.
Dexter Fowler returned after missing 40 games with a right intercostal strain and was slotted into the clean-up position in the batting order. I think intercostal is a fancy medical term for rib-cage muscles. It seemed a bit odd to bat him fourth him in his first game back, but the Astros don’t do things that would be considered conventional.
Chris Carter didn’t hit a homer but his total of 28 is third in the league and just 3 HRs behind the co-leaders Abreu and Cruz. His totals come with 30 fewer ABs than Abreu and 80 fewer than Cruz. If he keeps hitting them at the current pace he’s on, he just might end up leading the league in home runs. Wow, that would be something.
The Astros head east Thursday to face Boston, Head East? Wasn’t that the band that sang that song about the guy who wanted someone to shave his wife before he went down for the last time? Anyway, there’s never been any reason not to bring that up. Scott Feldman takes the bump for the Astros and Allen Webster climbs the hill against the Astros in a game that starts at 6:10 pm CST.
I wonder if Albers will ever make it back, or if Crane will play at all this year?
Game Time: 2:45.
Umpires: HP–James Hoye. 1B–Adrian Johnson. 2B–Bob Davidson. 3B–Bill Welke.
Weather: INDOORS
Wind: 0 mph, .
Attendance: 16,480.
