You got a ride a hot team, and there's no hotter team than the Houston Astros, who have won nine of their last 10 games and are now in first place at 56-55. The Astros were once 11 games under .500 on May 20th. The Rangers have lost three games in a row to fall right at .500 and a half game out of first. Jacob deGrom goes for the Rangers, but they've lost his last two games. Ronel Blanco goes for the Astros, and he's allowed nine runs in his two starts this year. But this is an Astros squad finding new ways to win each night, and they'll survive poor pitching from Blanco. The bonus is if Blanco pitches well. Astros to win.
Burger went 3-for-4 with a solo home run and a second RBI in Sunday's 5-2 loss to the Athletics.
Bradford allowed two runs on eight hits and a walk while striking out four over four innings in a no-decision versus the Athletics on Sunday.
Vazquez is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Mariners.
Jung (calf) did some running on the field Sunday and could be cleared to begin a defensive progression within the next few days, Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News reports.
Trammell is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Mariners.
Smith is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Mariners.
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said that deGrom (triceps) responded "really well" to playing catch Sunday, Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News reports.
The Astros optioned Blanco to Triple-A Sugar Land on Sunday.
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said that imaging on deGrom's injured right triceps Saturday revealed encouraging news, but the right-hander may not make his next scheduled start, Theo DeRosa of MLB.com reports.
Houston demoted Blanco to Triple-A Sugar Land on Sunday, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.
