Charlie Morton
Houston Astros
********************
ASTRO*NOTES.
Charlie Morton
Ten-Year MLB veteran pitcher Charlie Morton is having his best season in 2017 as a member of the much beleaguered starting rotation of the Houston Astros. Morton’s six innings of 1-run on 5-hits to the Seattle Mariners came Friday night with a side order of 7-strikeouts and only 1-walk. Charlie’s big night pushed his 2017 season record further into the best-ever column as his W-L mark jumped to 12–7 and his ERA descended to 3.75. If the 6’5″ Morton is peaking, it is happening at just the right time. Friday’s win at MMP reduced the Astros’ AL West # to “2” and opened the door for a possible Saturday division crown clinch with a win over Seattle here in Houston and an Anaheim loss by the Angels to the Rangers later in the day.
Other Good News. The Cleveland Indians’ 4-3 loss at home to the Kansas City Royals on Friday night sealed the end of their new AL record game winning streak at 22, also dropping their lead over the Astros in the race for home field advantage in all rounds of the 2017 AL Playoffs to 1.5 games.
C’mon, Jose Altuve! Jose Altuve got a partial rest Friday, going 1 for 4 as a DH in a two-week pattern that has dropped his league-leading batting average from .368 to .347. In the meanwhile, the heated up bat of Avisail Garcia of the diminished Chicago White Sox has been doing a happy dance on pitched baseballs of late, moving his BA up to .334 – a mere .013 points back of our guy.
C’mon, Jose! Time to get your mojo working in high gear!
********************
AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST STANDINGS
THRU GAMES OF FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2017
| RANK | AL WEST | W | L | PCT. | GB |
| 1 | ASTROS | 89 | 58 | .605 | |
| 2 | ANGELS | 75 | 72 | .510 | 14.0 |
| 3 | MARINERS | 74 | 74 | .500 | 15.5 |
| 4 | RANGERS | 72 | 75 | .490 | 17.0 |
| 5 | ATHLETICS | 65 | 82 | .442 | 24.0 |
********************
AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST GAME SCORES
THRU GAMES OF FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2017
ASTROS 5 – MARINERS 2
ANGELS 7 – RANGERS 6
ATHLETICS 4 – PHILLIES 0
********************
AMERICAN LEAGUE BATTING AVERAGE LEADERS
THRU GAMES OF FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2017
| RANK | PLAYER | TEAM | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BA |
| 1 | JOSE ALTUVE | HOU | 550 | 191 | 38 | 4 | 23 | .347 |
| 2 | AVISAIL GARCIA | CWS | 470 | 157 | 23 | 4 | 17 | .334 |
| 3 | ERIC HOSMER | KC | 552 | 179 | 29 | 1 | 24 | .324 |
| 4 | JOSH REDDICK | HOU | 452 | 142 | 31 | 3 | 13 | .314 |
| 5 | JOSE RAMERIZ | CLE | 545 | 171 | 50 | 6 | 27 | .314 |
| 6 | JOSE ABREU | CWS | 572 | 176 | 38 | 6 | 31 | .308 |
| 7 | JOE MAUER | MIN | 474 | 144 | 32 | 1 | 6 | .304 |
| NR * | CARLOS CORREA | HOU | 373 | 113 | 20 | 1 | 20 | .303 |
| 8 | LORENZO CAIN | KC | 539 | 163 | 26 | 5 | 14 | .302 |
| 9 | ELVIS ANDRUS | TEX | 585 | 176 | 42 | 4 | 20 | .301 |
| 10 | JONATHAN SCHOOP | BAL | 567 | 170 | 33 | 0 | 32 | .300 |
| RANK | OTHER TOP 40 ASTROS | TEAM | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BA |
| 12 | YULI GURRIEL | HOU | 481 | 141 | 36 | 1 | 17 | .293 |
| 16 | MARWIN GONZALEZ | HOU | 416 | 121 | 29 | 0 | 21 | .291 |
| 17 | GEORGE SPRINGER | HOU | 496 | 143 | 26 | 0 | 31 | .288 |
| 27 | ALEX BREGMAN | HOU | 506 | 142 | 35 | 5 | 16 | .281 |
NR * LOST TIME ON THE DL HAS TEMPORARILY REMOVED CORREA FROM AN OFFICIAL QUALIFYING PLACE IN THE RANKING OF TOP 40 HITTERS.
********************
Bill McCurdy
Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher
The Pecan Park Eagle
Houston, Baseball, & Other Musings.
The Pecan Park Eagle 