Houston @ Washington preview
Nationals Park
Last Meeting ( Sep 21, 2010 ) Houston 4, Washington 8
The Houston Astros’ second-half turnaround has had everything to do with pitching - led by Wandy Rodriguez.
The left-hander will be looking to dominate again when the Astros face the Washington Nationals on Wednesday.
One of the best teams in the National League at 33-19 since July 27, Houston’s success can be traced directly to a marked improvement in the performance of its starting pitchers.
The Astros ranked 13th in the National League in team ERA at 4.43 prior to the All-Star break and have seen that number improve to 3.42 in the second half - good for second place in the NL behind the San Francisco Giants.
Rodriguez has been the most impressive of the group, turning his season around completely in the middle of June. After posting a 3.02 ERA and striking out 193 in 2009, Rodriguez was expected to be a leader of the staff coming into the 2010 campaign, but instead began the season 3-10 with a 6.09 ERA through June 18.
But the ace has come back in a big way since then, posting an 8-2 record with a 1.93 ERA and 112 strikeouts in 107 1/3 innings over his last 16 outings.
Rodriguez took a no-hitter into the sixth inning in his last start and struck out 10 but did not factor in the decision against the Cincinnati Reds. He has allowed three earned runs or less in each of his last 11 starts while punching out 10 in each of the last two.
One of his lone strong outings in the first half came against Washington on June 2, when he earned a win by allowing one run on five hits in five innings while striking out eight. Rodriguez has had mixed success against the Nationals in his career, owning a 4-1 record but a 5.09 ERA in seven starts.
Houston’s Bud Norris tossed 6 2/3 strong innings to earn a win in Monday’s series opener and J.A. Happ was even better on Tuesday, taking a no-hitter into the fifth and finishing with three hits allowed in six scoreless innings. Unfortunately, the bullpen was not quite as sharp as the Nationals pulled even in the series with an 8-4 victory.
The Astros are down a couple of key pieces on offense, as NL stolen base leader Michael Bourn is suffering from an oblique injury and Hunter Pence, who leads the team with 24 homers, had to leave Tuesday’s contest in the first inning with discomfort in his right hip flexor.
The weakened offense will be taking its cracks against Jason Marquis on Wednesday. The veteran right-hander is coming off one of the worst starts of his career last week against the Philadelphia Phillies, when he was charged with six runs on six hits while recording just one out.
The Astros have given him trouble in the past, with Marquis owning a 9-8 record with a 5.61 ERA in 28 games - 23 starts.