Texas @ Houston preview
Minute Maid Park
Last Meeting ( Jul 24, 2023 ) Texas 9, Houston 10
The Houston Astros have every reason to believe that, once Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez return from injury, their lineup will have enough thump to undergird another postseason run.
However, what has become increasingly clear in advance of the upcoming trade deadline is the Astros' need for starting pitching. After right-hander Brandon Bielak failed to complete five innings in a 10-9, walk-off win over the visiting Texas Rangers on Monday, the Astros' taxed bullpen was forced to cover 13 outs in the victory.
The teams will play the second game of the three-game intrastate series on Tuesday.
Houston right-hander Phil Maton, who earlier this season was as reliable as any high-leverage reliever, worked for the third time in four games on Monday. He surrendered three runs on two hits and two walks without recording an out.
Bryan Abreu, Maton and Ryan Pressly, all of whom pitched Monday, have appeared in 49, 48 and 45 games, respectively. Houston played its 101st game on Monday.
"I've got concern, but you've got to be happy today," Astros manager Dusty Baker said of the bullpen workload. "You can be concerned all you want to, but that won't help.
"You look around the league and most teams are in the same position as we are as far as using your bullpen. We're happy to be where we are. We'll worry about the other stuff later."
Rookie right-hander J.P. France (5-3, 3.13 ERA) is the scheduled starter for the Astros on Tuesday. He has recorded quality starts in seven of his past eight outings, including one on Thursday against the Oakland Athletics. He allowed one run on six hits and one walk with five strikeouts over seven innings in a 3-1 victory.
France, who is 4-2 with a 2.66 ERA during the eight-game hot streak, will face the Rangers for the first time in his career.
The Rangers did not name a starter for the Tuesday contest. Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (11-3, 2.69 ERA) had his turn in the rotation skipped after reportedly displaying a decline in velocity in his previous start against the Tampa Bay Rays on July 18.
The Monday game marked the second time in as many meetings that the Rangers dropped a high-scoring, back-and-forth affair to the Astros. Three weeks ago, the Rangers rallied from an eight-run deficit only to fall 12-11 when the Astros scored twice in the top of the ninth to claim that four-game series in Arlington, Texas.
With the Monday result, Texas saw its lead in the American League West sliced to two games and fell to 3-5 against the Astros this season. While the Astros have been injury-ravaged for most of this season, Texas was without sluggers Corey Seager (thumb, 10-day injured list) and Adolis Garcia (hand, day-to-day). The Rangers' offense thrived without those big bats, but Texas was undone when its pitchers issued seven walks.
"Somehow we've played these types of games and come out on the wrong end a couple times," Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. "You can't say enough about how they kept going, they kept fighting."
--Field Level Media