Morning Rewind, 9/10: Hungry Astros expand their division lead

By JOHN DORN

The Houston Astros are weeks away from their first playoff appearance in 10 years. As you can imagine, they're hungry. Literally.

That's Evan Gattis, or "El Oso Blanco" (the White Bear), snacking on a handful of gummy bears after smacking a two-run home run in the fifth inning to put Houston up 6-0. Mmmm.

It was just one of four Astros home runs on Wednesday, part of a run barrage that had Houston up 7-0 at one point and ended in an 11-5 rout of the Oakland Athletics. Starter Colin McHugh hurled his 16th win of the season, allowing five runs to cross the plate over his 5.1 innings, but no matter, thanks to his offense's hefty cushion.

Paired with a Texas Rangers loss, the Astros now lead the West by two games.

Astros 11, Athletics 5


Around the League
STL 4, CHC 3
St. Louis was able to salvage a game after dropping the first two of the series to the surging Cubs. Matt Carpenter and Stephen Piscotty drove in runs in the eighth off Clayton Richard to clinch the victory.

BAL 5, NYY 3
Former Yankee Steve Pearce capped off the Orioles' rally in the eighth inning off Adam Warren, knocking a solo home run over the left field wall to break a 3-3 tie. The Yanks have now dropped two straight, and are still trying to grab sole possession of first place for the first time since Aug. 22.

NYM 5, WSH 3

Yoenis Cespedes is a man on a mission. His eighth-inning home run was the 14th of his Mets career -- which began on Aug. 1 -- and put the Mets on top for good. It capped off a three-game sweep of second-place Washington, creating a seven-game cushion in the standings with 23 games to play.

BOS 10, TOR 4
It's happened quietly, with all the talk about the Blue Jays and Yankees, but the Red Sox have pieced together an impressive second half. Falling to 14 games under .500 on July 29, Boston has crept back to 66-73, two games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for third place in the East.

MIN 3, KC 2
It took 12 innings, but the Twins were able to take advantage of Texas' loss and creep to 1.5 games of a Wild Card spot. Miguel Sano did the honors with a solo jack, and Kevin Jepsen was able to shut the door in the bottom of the inning.

ARI 2, SF 1
They benefitted from a Cubs loss, but the Giants can't afford to drop very many games any more. A few more days in their current standing, and the postseason will be an afterthought.

PIT 5, CIN 4
%vine-url="https://vine.co/v/etQEexDLDqU"%

As the Reds attempted to rally in the eighth, Joey Votto got very upset at home plate ump Bill Welke. After getting ejected over a relatively mild protest to two strike calls, Votto went absolutely ballistic on the field, as did his manager, who soon joined him. The Reds lost, like they had 80 times previously.

LAA 3, LAD 2
The Dodgers couldn't finish off a sweep of the crosstown rival Angels, but thanks to a Giants loss, their magic number has shrunk to 15. Chase Utley tied the game with a double in the eighth, but Albert Pujols put the Angels back on top with an RBI single in the bottom half of the frame.

SEA 6, TEX 0
Not how Texas wanted to come out, particularly with Minnesota winning and gaining a game on them in the Wild Card standings. These two teams wrap up their four-game series tonight.


Other Scores

• ATL 8, PHI 1

• TB 8, DET 0

• MIA 5, MIL 2

• CLE 6, CWS 4

• SD 11, COL 4

More from AOL.com:
Ex-U.S. tennis star James Blake slammed to ground as victim of mistaken identity: report
Mexican TV broadcast station uses Trump's remarks in the best way ever
Serie A football club A.S. Roma launches 'Football Cares' refugee campaign