The Baseball Report: Astros Tie Franchise Record, Bartolo Colon Passes Marichal
Ryan Mayer
Alex Bregman doubled home Marwin Gonzalez and Brock Stassi to give the Astros a 5-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night and in the process, helped tie a franchise record. With the win, the Astros have now earned 12 consecutive victories, continuing their scorching hot June, and tying the 2004 and 1999 teams for most consecutive victories.
That puts this iteration of the team in solid company as both of those teams made the playoffs, though both did come up short of making the World Series. Regardless, this streak has continued a season-long trend for the team as they've run roughshod over much of the league to the tune of a +158 run differential good for the highest, by 50 runs (Boston is currently +108) in the game.
The recipe remains the same with timely hitting throughout the line-up and a dominant rotation led by an otherworldly season to this point from Justin Verlander (9-2 1.61 ERA in 100.1 innings). Second baseman Jose Altuve once again enters Tuesday with the league lead for the batting title hitting .342 with an on-base percentage just under .400 (.398). First baseman Yulieski Gurriel has certainly done his part during the streak as well, hitting .361 with four doubles and 10 RBI during the winning streak. Despite the streak, the 'Stros are just two games ahead of the Mariners in the American League West who have won seven of their last 10 games.
While the Astros have tied a team record, their in-state rivals, the Texas Rangers, had a player pass a personal milestone on Monday night. 45-year-old pitcher Bartolo Colon went six innings against the Kansas City Royals to earn the 244th win of his career, passing the legendary Juan Marichal for most wins all-time by a Dominican-born pitcher. Colon is now just one win behind Dennis Martinez, of Nicaragua, for most wins all-time by a pitcher from Latin America. Granted, Colon needed five more years than Marichal to pass the 243 win mark as he is now in his 21st season, but it's still quite the accomplishment for "Big Sexy".
This year has been a struggle for Colon, as he's pitched to a 4.91 ERA with 49 strike outs in 80 and a third innings pitched for Texas this season. Still, he continues to climb the all-time wins list, now just two wins away from cracking the Top 50 of the all-time list. For more on this and other big stories this week in Major League Baseball, check out the video above.