April 7, 2016: Tyler White hits his first MLB HR as an Astro on the road. Last night, on August 4, 2017, White bagged the 9th and 10th HR of his big league career at home in MMP to pace the Houston Astros 17-6 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST STANDINGS
THROUGH GAMES OF FRIDAY, AUGUST 4, 2017
| RANK | AL WEST | W | L | PCT. | GB |
| 1 | ASTROS | 70 | 39 | .642 | |
| 2 | MARINERS | 56 | 55 | .505 | 15.0 |
| 3 | ANGELS | 55 | 55 | .500 | 15.5 |
| 4 | RANGERS | 52 | 57 | .477 | 18.0 |
| 5 | ATHLETICS | 48 | 62 | .436 | 21.5 |
AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST SCORES
GAMES OF FRIDAY, AUGUST 4, 2017
ASTROS 16 – Blue Jays 7.
MARINERS 5 – ROYALS 2.
ANGELS 8 – ATHLETICS 6
TWINS 8 – RANGERS 4.
AMERICAN LEAGUE BATTING AVERAGE
THROUGH GAMES OF FRIDAY, AUGUST 4, 2017
| RANK | PLAYER | TEAM | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BA |
| 1 | JOSE ALTUVE | HOU | 414 | 151 | 33 | 3 | 16 | .365 |
| 2 | JOSE RAMERIZ | CLE | 410 | 132 | 34 | 5 | 18 | .322 |
| 3 | CARLOS CORREA | HOU | 325 | 104 | 18 | 1 | 20 | .320 |
| 4 | JEAN SEGURA | SEA | 337 | 107 | 20 | 1 | 6 | .318 |
| 5 | ERIC HOSMER | KC | 415 | 131 | 22 | 1 | 16 | .316 |
| NR * | MARWIN GONZALEZ | HOU | 296 | 92 | 19 | 0 | 20 | .311 |
| 6 | JOSH REDDICK | HOU | 331 | 103 | 24 | 3 | 10 | .311 |
| 7 | GEORGE SPRINGER | HOU | 368 | 114 | 22 | 0 | 27 | .310 |
| 8 | BEN GAMEL | SEA | 342 | 105 | 19 | 4 | 6 | .307 |
| 9 | STARLIN CASTRO | NYY | 316 | 97 | 14 | 1 | 12 | .307 |
| 10 | DUSTIN PEDROIA | BOS | 336 | 103 | 17 | 0 | 6 | .307 |
| 22 | YULI GURRIEL | HOU | 370 | 108 | 30 | 0 | 14 | .292 |
| 36 | ALEX BREGMAN | HOU | 356 | 97 | 27 | 2 | 13 | .272 |
NR * = NEEDS MORE “AB”S TO QUALIFY FOR RANKING.
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ASTRO*NOTES
Was last night the awakening that many fans have hoped to see? Or was the 16-7 cruncher that the Astros put on the Blue Jays at MMP last night simply what happens when these two clubs meet? The last time these teams played in Canada, the Astros put a 19-1 stomp-and-sting upon the Jays. Maybe the Astros batters simply see the words “Toronto” or “Blue Jays” sprawled out upon the breastplates of those Canadian team jerseys and read something that looks more like “Five-Hour Energy Drink” to their hit thirty eyes.
Perspective. The only thing that last night demonstrated was the fact that, “yes, this is the Astros team we’ve been watching all season.” Even with Correa, Springer, and Altuve all out of the lineup for reasons of injury and rest, the dynamo at work here seems to even have the power to positively infect the performance of everyone else in the lineup. Recent call-up Tyler White kicked in 5 RBI and 2 HR to a mauling that also included homers by Gonzalez, Bregman, and Gurriel. Perspective again. Astros starter Peacock pitched well enough to win a game backed by 16 runs of support, but he still gave up 7 runs in 6 innings of work. Without the flood of run support, a 7-0 loss last night would hardly have won Peacock any confidence medals.
The real test still awaits the Astros in October. Will the Astros be healthy and good enough to put this kind of offense into play, at least, some of the time against the great kinds of pitching they can expect to see in a short playoff series? Scoring one more run per game against their opponents each time remains as all that’s needed. And can this Astros pitching staff hold back the kinds of batters they will be facing in return, come October?
We’ll see. And we can hardly wait.
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Bill McCurdy
Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher
The Pecan Park Eagle
The Pecan Park Eagle 
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