Milwaukee @ Houston preview
Minute Maid Park
Last Meeting ( Aug 8, 2010 ) Houston 6, Milwaukee 11
Brett Myers has been solid all season long. Now his teammates are starting to follow his lead.
Myers looks to extend a club record and the Houston Astros seek to keep the good times rolling when they open a three-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday at Minute Maid Park.
After starting the season 53-70, the Astros won for the 10th time in 15 games on Sunday with a 7-4 triumph against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Red-hot Hunter Pence had three hits, including a home run during a four-run first inning, to spark the win. Pence leads the National League with 44 RBIs since the All-Star break.
Myers (11-7, 2.91 ERA) has set a Houston club record and is one of only 10 pitchers since 1920 to start the season by tossing six-plus innings in his first 29 starts of a season. He is the first major leaguer to achieve the feat since Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Curt Schilling opened the 2002 season with 35 straight.
In the midst of his best season, Myers is three wins shy of his career-best total of 14 - set with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2003. The former first-round selection is 6-1 with a 2.08 ERA in his last 13 starts, allowing three runs or fewer in 12 of those outings.
The right-hander tossed seven scoreless frames in Wednesday’s 4-0 triumph at the Chicago Cubs, but Myers hasn’t broken through against Milwaukee this season. He is 0-2 with a 6.50 ERA in three starts against the Brewers and 4-3 with a 3.35 ERA in his career.
Myers will pitch against a Brewers club that went 22 consecutive innings this weekend without scoring until Ryan Braun delivered an RBI double in the fifth inning of Casey Coleman.
Yovani Gallardo backed Braun and a homer by Casey McGehee with seven scoreless innings in the 2-0 win.
Milwaukee will also send out a hot pitcher.
Left-hander Chris Narveson (11-7, 5.20 ERA) is 3-0 with a 3.38 ERA in his last seven starts.
He defeated the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2, on Tuesday, yielding a pair of runs and four hits with nine strikeouts in seven frames. Narveson is 0-1 with a 4.20 ERA in four games all-time against Houston.