Transactions: Time to expand the roster and up from Durham are OF
Kyle Deckard, who gives us a decent glove and a RH bat of marginal utility along with swingman
Christian Rodriguez.
Game 1: 6-12 L. LP-Fragoso (6-3, 3.2 6 7 7 5 1). HR-Lowe (4), E.Bell (3), Gurrola (19). After a fine start in his return to the rotation Fragoso was downright horrible today and Houston took an 11-0 lead before we started bashing some homers late.
Game 2: 14-8 W. WP-Khattak (1-0). Starter-Buckman (3 10 7 7 0 4). HR-Pino 3 (40), Rutschman 2 (23), K.White (40). A wild one as you can tell by the football score final. Rays went up 5-1 only for Buckman to give up 5 in the 2nd but they turned it around with a 5-run 6th to take the lead for good. Pino was the obvious star, going 4-5 with 3 HR and 6 RBI, Rutschman went yard twice and knocked in 4, and Gurrola was 3-6 with a 2-run double. Rutschman, Pino and White went back-to-back-to-back in the 8th and while I'm sure teammates have each hit their 40th homer in the same game I wonder if any ever did it back-to-back like these two.
Game 3: 12-1 W. WP-Vargas (11-5, 7 4 1 0 1 6). HR-K.White 2 (42), E.Bell (4), Pino (41). Another homer fest (they hit 13 in the 3-game series) with White and Pino leading the way again (White was 2-3 with 2 walks, 2 homers and 5 RBI) while Bell had his second 3-hit game of the series which included a longball. And for a change they got some good starting pitching with Vargas spinning a gem and lowering his ERA to 2.31.
Team record: 80-57. The lead over Toronto has been extended to 3 games. Next up: Home for 3 against the White Sox.
And hot on the heels of winning AL Batter of the Month for August, Pino is looking to repeat in September:
