#Whiff tweets can benefit Astros RBI program

HOUSTON -- Fans can raise money for the Astros' Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities program by using the hashtag #Whiff every time an Astros pitcher registers a strikeout.

The top seven clubs that finish with the most #Whiff tweets each month of the regular season will receive between $2,000-$10,000 for distribution to their affiliated RBI League from Procter and Gamble. A minimum of 1,000 tweets must be hit each for any team to finish in the top seven.

All tweets must include the official @Astros handle and #Whiff.

"What we do as an organization for the Astros, we help kids and don't charge them anything, and this is another opportunity for us to do more," said Daryl Wade, the director of the Astros' Urban Youth Academy. "Everything we do here at the Academy for RBI is done through the [Astros] Foundation, so all the funds we can raise is only going to benefit the program. We've been pretty successful here with the RBI program and our kids going to the next level."

RBI is MLB's youth initiative giving young people from urban and underserved communities the opportunity to play baseball and softball and encouraging academic success and achievement.