Charlie Blackmon

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HOUSTON — For most of the season http://www.bluejaysfanproshop.com/authentic-aledmys-diaz-jersey , Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch has worked the line between managing the workload of his starters while letting his veteran pitchers do what they’ve always done, which is take pride in their ability to make their turn in the rotation on schedule.As a result of optimal health, the Astros (97-57) feature three pitchers ranked in the top 10 in the majors in innings: right-hander Justin Verlander, who worked six strong in a 10-5 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday to run his season total to 208 innings; left-hander Dallas Keuchel (196 2/3 innings), and right-hander Gerrit Cole (194 1/3). Only four pitchers besides Verlander have worked 200 innings this season. The Astros could finish with three.“There’s something compelling for the starters to get to 200 innings,” Hinch said. “So while it seems like that’s fatigue there’s also a great accomplishment that comes with that. There’s great pride in those guys so they’re as strong as they’ve been the entire season.Article continues below ...“Certainly, I’d like to have that time off if we win the division quickly and be able to set it up properly, but I don’t have a lot of concern with those guys. Everybody else is pretty fine when it comes to inning totals Steve Pearce Jersey , but I think everybody’s sightline has changed over the last five to 10 years to where there are so few guys that can last deep into games or that are allowed to last in games to get to the 200-inning mark. They look a little more like a unique pitcher than the norm.”Right-hander Charlie Morton (15-3, 3.15 ERA) will start the regular-season home finale for the Astros on Sunday. He is 2-0 with a 3.27 ERA across two starts this month following a stint on the 10-day disabled list. Morton is five strikeouts shy of his first 200-strikeout season and nine innings from eclipsing his previous high of 171 2/3 pitched in 2011 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. With his 29th start, Morton will match the number he achieved with Pittsburgh seven years ago.Morton did not factor into the decision in his lone start against the Angels this season, allowing four runs, five hits and two walks with five strikeouts in four innings of an 8-7 home loss on April 24. He is 3-0 with a 3.86 ERA against the Angels in six career starts.Left-hander Tyler Skaggs (8-8, 3.69 ERA) will start seeking to help the Angels snap their four-game skid. He is 4-3 with a 2.96 ERA in nine career starts against the Astros, including 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA in two starts in 2018. Skaggs’ four wins are his most against any opponent.Rookie designated hitter Shohei Ohtani hit cleanup for a fourth consecutive game, the 11th time this month and 18th time overall this season for the Angels (75-80). Ohtani entered Saturday with an .860 OPS batting fourth behind MVP candidate Mike Trout and http://www.bluejaysfanproshop.com/authentic-aaron-loup-jersey , after going 1-for-4, is hitting .266 with three homers and 10 RBIs occupying that spot in the order.“Right now, we’re going with him behind Mike and he’s fine,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “Mike is getting pitched to and that’s important. And Shohei adjusted and hopefully we’re going to see guys on base or whatever Mike can create and that will help us to be productive.” SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants get a chance to play the role of spoiler against the Colorado Rockies for the second straight September when the National League West clubs open a three-game series on Friday night.Giants right-hander Chris Stratton (9-9, 4.99 ERA), bombed in back-to-back starts against the Rockies earlier this season, and Rockies left-hander Tyler Anderson (6-8, 4.89) Matt Adams Jersey , winless in his last 11 starts, draw the starting assignments in the opener.The Rockies (81-65) begin a nine-game trip in first place in the NL West, having moved a healthy 4 1/2 games up on third-place Arizona (77-70) with a 10-3 shellacking of the Diamondbacks Thursday at Colorado to complete a 3-1 series win.Article continues below ...The Los Angeles Dodgers (80-67) are in second place, 1 1/2 games behind the Rockies.The Rockies will visit Los Angeles and Arizona for three games apiece next week to complete its road — and NL West — schedule. Colorado finishes the season at home against Philadelphia and Washington.The Rockies found themselves battling the Diamondbacks, Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers in mid-September last season when they went into San Francisco and lost two straight to a Giants team well out of contention.Colorado then had to scramble just to claim the second wild-card spot in the NL by one game.This year’s San Francisco club finds itself in the same situation, having lost a West Coast era-record 11 straight.Stratton has started two of those games and pitched pretty well in 4-1 and 4-3 losses to the New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers, respectably. He allowed just seven hits in 11 innings in those games.That was a marked improvement over the 13 runs and 19 hits he gave up in 9-8 and 8-1 losses in a home-and-home sequence with the Rockies bridging June and July. Nolan Arenado homered in both of the games. The star third baseman hasn’t been the only Colorado player who has rocked the 28-year-old Stratton in the past. Ian Desmond (.625), Trevor Story (.556) http://www.nationalsfanproshop.com/authentic-kevin-long-jersey , Charlie Blackmon (.500), DJ LeMahieu (.500) and Gerardo Parra (.500) all have .500 or better career batting averages against Stratton.He has gone 1-1 with a 7.89 ERA in five games, including four starts, in his career against Colorado.Anderson will face a Giants team that has hit even worse than he has pitched of late.The 28-year-old hasn’t won since July 4 and now leads the NL in home runs allowed with 29.He was taken deep by the Giants’ Gorkys Hernandez in a 9-8 Rockies home win on Sept. 3. Anderson did not get the win, pulled after 5 1/3 innings having allowed three runs and six hits.Anderson has made six starts in his career against the Giants and went 1-2 with a 4.25 ERA.Hernandez has two career homers against him in 10 career at-bats.The Giants enter the series having scored one run in five straight home games. They’ve totaled just nine home runs (none in the last three outings) during their 0-for-September run of 11 games.
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