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MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL WEEKLY NOTES THURSDAY, MAY 31, 2018 HOUSTON'S DOMINANCE ON THE MOUND On Memorial Day against the New York Yankees, All-Star starting pitcher Justin Verlander delivered 6.2 innings of one-run ball to lead Houston to a 5-1 victory. Monday's team pitching performance was the 36th outing this season in which the Astros limited the oppositioin to two earned runs- or-fewer, and the 23rd contest that Houston surrendered one earned run- or-fewer. Playing in their 57th game of the season last night, this year's Astros Club is just the 10th team in Baseball to limit opposing Clubs to two earned runs-or-fewer in at least 35 of its team's fi rst 57 games, since 1930. The Club is the fi rst to accomplish the feat since the 1972 Baltimore Orioles, who were led by Hall of Famer Jim Palmer. As seen from the detailed chart below, the 2018 Astros logged the most strikeouts (363) of any Club, while also limiting the opposition to the fewest hits (192). Having limited opponents to one earned run-or-fewer in 23 contests thus far this season, this year's Astros Club is the 20th in the Majors since 1940, and the fi rst since the 1989 San Francisco Giants, to post at least 23 such games in its fi rst 57 contests. The 1968 Cleveland Indians hold the Major League record since 1940, logging 28 such outings. Entering play today, three Astros starting pitchers rank in the top-four in ERA among qualifed AL hurlers. Verlander paces the Majors with his miniscule 1.11 mark, while in the AL, Gerrit Cole (2.05) ranks third and Charlie Morton (2.26) occupies the fourth spot. As a Club, the Astros pitching staff holds the lowest team ERA in the Majors (2.68), while its starters also pace the Majors with a 2.54 mark. Lastly, Houston's bullpen leads the AL with a 3.02 ERA on the season. Club Year Games W-L IP H BB SO Cleveland Indians 1968 39 29-9 351.1 193 100 294 Los Angeles Dodgers 1968 37 27-10 351.0 240 97 239 Chicago White Sox 1966 37 22-14 338.0 226 96 198 Baltimore Orioles 1972 37 31-6 329.0 226 65 186 Los Angeles Dodgers 1966 36 29-7 323.2 238 63 259 Houston Astros 2018 36 31-5 322.0 192 73 363 St. Louis Cardinals 1943 35 21-12 311.1 211 102 124 New York Mets 1968 35 23-12 323.1 213 88 235 Detroit Tigers 1945 35 30-5 317.0 214 101 142 Chicago White Sox 1967 35 28-7 327.0 209 89 223 SIX AMATEUR PLAYERS TO ATTEND 2018 MLB DRAFT ON MONDAY Six amateur players are scheduled to attend Major League Baseball’s 2018 Draft, which will be held on Monday, June 4th at MLB Network’s Studio 42 in Secaucus, New Jersey, it was announced today. The six scheduled attendees include third baseman Alec Bohm; fi rst baseman Triston Casas; shortstop Xavier Edwards; catcher Anthony Siegler; right-handed pitcher Carter Stewart; and outfi elder Travis Swaggerty. ALEC BOHM, 3B Wichita State University HT: 6-5 WT: 220 B/T: R/R Born: 8/3/96 Hometown: Omaha, NE In 57 games played this season, Alec hit .339 (76-for-224) with 16 home runs, 55 RBI, 14 doubles, 57 runs scored, nine stolen bases, a .436 on-base percentage and a .625 slugging percentage. He played for the Falmouth Commodores in the Cape Cod League last summer and was named an All-Star after batting .351 with fi ve homers, 28 RBI and 10 doubles. Bohm started in 58 games during his sophomore season in 2017, batting .305 with 11 home runs, 40 RBI, 44 runs scored, 71 hits, 13 doubles, two triples and fi ve stolen bases. He was selected First Team All-Missouri Valley following the season one year after being named Second Team All-Missouri Valley in 2016 following his freshman season. In 2016, Alec was also named a Collegiate Baseball First Team Freshman All-American after hitting .303 with six home runs, 30 RBI, 20 runs scored, 54 hits, 13 doubles and one triple. TRISTON CASAS, 1B American Heritage School (Florida) HT: 6-4 WT: 238 B/T: L/R Born: 1/15/00 Hometown: Pembroke Pines, FL Prior to the 2018 season, Triston was named First Team All-American and Florida All-Region First Team by Rawlings-Perfect Game. In addition, he was selected 2017 Underclass First Team and 2016 Underclass Third Team by Rawlings-Perfect Game. Through 28 games played this season, he was batting .387 (29-for-75) with seven home runs, 34 RBI, six doubles, fi ve triples and 30 runs scored. On the mound, he had made seven appearances without surrendering an earned run to go along with two saves and 19 strikeouts over 9.0 innings pitched. As a junior, he slashed .446/.559/.702 with four home runs, 18 RBI, fi ve doubles, 33 hits and 22 runs scored. Following the season, he was selected to play in the Under Armour All-American Game for a second consecutive year. At 16 years old, Triston was the youngest player on the Team USA 18U National Team. He hit .333 with a pair of home runs and 11 RBI, while also pitching 3.0 innings in the tournament. During the summer of 2015, Casas hit .429 with two home runs and 10 RBI to lead USA Baseball’s 15U team to a championship. XAVIER EDWARDS, SS North Broward Prep H.S. (Florida) HT: 5-10 WT: 195 B/T: S/R Born: 8/9/99 Hometown: Wellington, FL Xavier joins Triston as a 2018 Rawlings-Perfect Game First Team All-American and Florida All-Region First Team. Additionally, he was selected 2017 Underclass First Team, 2016 Underclass Third Team and 2015 Underclass High Honorable Mention. Through 80 at-bats this season, he had slashed .434/.550/.658 with a home run, 14 RBI, 33 hits, four doubles, fi ve triples, 35 runs scored and 20 stolen bases. As a junior, Edwards batted .425 (34-for-80) with a home run, 10 RBI, four doubles, two triples, 34 runs scored and 14 stolen bases. Xavier also participated in the 2017 Area Code Games and the Perfect Game All-American Classic. ANTHONY SEIGLER, C Cartersville H.S. (Georgia) HT: 6-0 WT: 190 B/T: S/S Born: 6/20/99 Hometown: Cartersville, GA Anthony has been named 2018 First Team All-American and Southeast All-Region First Team; 2017 Underclass First Team; and 2016 Underclass High Honorable Mention by Rawlings-Perfect Game. Seigler hit .421 this season with 16 stolen bases and 16 extra-base hits, including 13 home runs, to lead Cartersville to the Georgia AAAA State Championship. As an ambidextrous pitcher, he compiled a 1.09 ERA and 29 strikeouts over 25.2 innings pitched. Behind the plate, he threw out 12 of 21 baserunners attempting to steal. In 2017, he helped his team to the state semifi nals, fi nishing with a 9-3 record and a 2.12 ERA over 62.2 innings pitched. In addition, he hit .283 with a .437 on-base percentage, 27 runs scored and 19 RBI at the plate. Anthony was selected to USA Baseball’s 18U National Team Trials roster and was chosen by Pefect Game for the East roster of the 2017 All-American Classic. CARTER STEWART, RHP Eau Gallie H.S. (Florida) HT: 6-6 WT: 200 B/T: R/R Born: 11/2/99 Hometown: Melbourne, FL Carter was named First Team All-American and Florida All-Region First Team by Rawlings-Perfect Game prior to the 2018 season, following his Underclass First Team selection in 2017. Through 11 appearances on the mound this season, he was 6-4 with 128 strikeouts and a 0.91 ERA over 62.1 innings of work. At the plate, he was batting .313 with seven home runs and 22 RBI through 64 at-bats. During his junior season, Carter compiled an 11-2 record with a 0.81 ERA and 104 strikeouts over 69.1 innings pitched. Additionally, he slashed .313/.357/.563 at the plate with four home runs, 22 RBI, 20 hits and four doubles. Stewart was selected to play in the 2017 Tournament of Stars, as well as the Perfect Game All-American Classic. TRAVIS SWAGGERTY, OF University of South Alabama HT: 5-11 WT: 180 B/T: L/L Born: 8/19/97 Hometown: Mandeville, LA Prior to his junior season this year, Travis was named a First Team All-American by Baseball America, D1Baseball, NCBWA and Perfect Game. Additionally, he was selected Sun Belt Preseason Player of the Year, All-Sun Belt Conference and was named to the Preseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List. In 57 games played this season, Swaggerty hit .296 (63-for-213) with 13 home runs, 38 RBI, 10 doubles, 57 runs scored, nine stolen bases, a .455 on-base percentage and a .526 slugging percentage. As a sophomore in 2017, he led the Sun Belt in on-base percentage (.484), runs scored (55) and RBI (60), while ranking second in batting average (.356). He appeared in 19 games for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, ranking second on the team in hits (21) and on-base percentage (.449) and helping the team to a 15-5 mark. During his freshman season in 2016, he posted a .422 slugging percentage and a .432 on-base percentage en route to being named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American.