Florida @ Houston preview
Minute Maid Park
Last Meeting ( Apr 20, 2010 ) Florida 5, Houston 7
With Lance Berkman back in the fold, it appears like the Houston Astros may be ready to turn the corner.
Aided by the return of their All-Star first baseman, the Astros won their first home game of the season with a 7-5 victory over the Florida Marlins on Tuesday.
Berkman, who spent the first few weeks of the season on the disabled list after undergoing a procedure on his knee in March, had a double and drove in a pair of runs on groundouts. The Astros entered the contest with an 0-6 mark at Minute Maid Park.
The win was the team’s third straight and fourth in five affairs following a dismal start to the campaign.
The Astros are hoping to keep the momentum rolling into the second of the three-game series on Wednesday as they send Bud Norris to the mound.
Norris, who was beaten up to the tune of three runs on six hits over 2 2/3 innings in his season debut against the Philadelphia Phillies, regrouped to strike out nine batters over five innings of four-hit ball in earning the win against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday.
The 25-year-old right-hander has not fared well in two previous starts against the Marlins, going 1-1 with an ERA of 7.59 in 10 2/3 innings. He allowed nine earned runs on 19 hits with 10 strikeouts in those appearances.
Norris will attempt to slow the red-hot bat of Marlins first baseman Jorge Cantu in the process. Cantu extended his hitting streak to 18 games with a home run and a pair of RBIs in Tuesday’s defeat.
Cantu, who opened the season by setting a major league record with 10 consecutive games featuring a hit and an RBI, is batting .304 with four homers and 18 RBIs in the early going. The 28-year-old has 35 total bases, 10 more than his closest teammate, slugging shortstop Hanley Ramirez.
The Marlins will send ace Josh Johnson to the hill in an attempt to get the team back in the win column.
Johnson is coming off a career year in which he went 15-5 with a 3.23 ERA and 191 strikeouts in 209 innings. The 26-year-old notched his first victory of 2010 on Thursday with six productive innings.
Like Norris, Johnson too has struggled against his opposition, going 0-3 with a 7.36 ERA in three appearances versus Houston.
He has, however, enjoyed success against current Astros hitters, holding them to a .226 average and four RBIs in 31 at-bats.