Milwaukee @ Houston preview
Minute Maid Park
Last Meeting ( Sep 13, 2010 ) Milwaukee 2, Houston 4
The surprising Houston Astros owe their recent resurgence in large part to their starting rotation. They will turn to their youngest starter on Tuesday to keep the Milwaukee Brewers struggling.
Bud Norris takes the hill on Tuesday as the Astros seek to continue a surge that has made them one of the best teams in the National League over the last month of the season.
Brett Myers pitched seven excellent innings as Houston defeated Milwaukee on Monday for the fourth straight time at Minute Maid Park. The right-hander improved to 8-1 in his last 14 starts, and he has allowed three runs or fewer in 13 of those outings.
Myers, however, isn’t the only starting pitcher who has been performing well for Houston. The starting rotation has a 2.56 ERA over its last 33 games. In fact, the club’s overall ERA of 2.48 since Aug. 13 is the best in the majors and its 21-10 record is second best in the National League.
After starting the season with a 17-34 record, Houston has posted a 51-41 mark.
Norris (7-8, 5.16 ERA) has done his best to keep the roll going.
Houston has won eight of his last nine starts, and the left-hander has gone 5-1 with a 3.93 ERA over that span with 55 strikeouts in 55 innings. He is 1-0 with a 3.94 ERA in three career starts against Milwaukee.
Norris is getting Milwaukee at the right time. The Brewers have scored a total of four runs in their last four games and have lost nine of 13 overall.
Milwaukee counters with a left-hander of its own in Chris Capuano (3-3, 4.09 ERA). The 32-year-old went 19 consecutive starts in 2007 without recording a victory – tied with Bruce Chen of the 2006 Baltimore Orioles for the longest such streak since 1996.
Because of injuries and ineffectiveness, Capuano did not pitch in the majors the next two seasons, but is rebounding well in 2010.
Capuano cruised to an 8-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday, allowing one run and four hits in seven frames. In his previous start, Capuano pitched five innings but dropped a 1-0 decision to the Philadelphia Phillies.
This will be Capuano’s sixth start of the season and 21st appearance. He is 2-2 with a 4.56 ERA in starts and 4-3 with a 3.49 ERA all-time against Houston.
He will have his hands full with the red-hot Astros, who are 25-14 against left-handed starters.