ON DECK: ASTROS VS. TAMPA BAY RAYS
When/where: Friday at 7:10 p.m., Saturday at 6:15 p.m., Sunday at 1:10 p.m.; Minute Maid Park.TV/radio: ATTSW on Friday and Sunday, Fox on Saturday, ATTSW2 (Spanish) on Sunday; 790 AM, 740 AM, 93.3 FM (Spanish), 1010 AM (Spanish).
Pitchers: Friday, RHP Cristian Javier (7-2, 4.32) vs. LHP Shane McClanahan (11-1, 2.89); Saturday, RHP Hunter Brown (6-7, 4.19) vs. RHP Taj Bradley (5-6, 5.30); Sunday, RHP Brandon Bielak (5-5, 3.62) vs. RHP Tyler Glasnow (3-3, 3.62).
Astros (58-45) update: After climbing to a season-best 14 games over .500 on Tuesday, Houston lost the finale of its series with the Rangers on Wednesday, leaving it two games behind Texas in the American League West. … The Astros beat the Rays twice in three games at Tropicana Field in April, blanking Tampa in both wins. … Chas McCormick (21) and Kyle Tucker (20) rank second and third in the AL for RBIs in July, trailing only Boston’s Justin Turner (23). … Tucker has a 1.249 OPS for the month, which ranks third in the majors. McCormick’s is 1.144. … Shortstop Jeremy Peña is hitting .307 with an .801 OPS against lefthanders this season but just .207 with a .609 OPS against righthanders. … Having gone 0-for-3 after being activated off the injured list Wednesday, Jose Altuve stands 33 hits shy of 2,000 for his career and two home runs shy of 200.
Rays (62-43) update: Tampa Bay, whose 13-0 start matched the best in MLB history, entered July with the majors’ best record (57-28, .671) but is 5-15 (.250) since, giving it the third-best record behind Atlanta (64-36) and Baltimore (62-40). The Rays are a game and a half behind the Orioles in the AL East and lead the wild-card race by three games over the Astros. … According to Elias, the lowest July winning percentage for a team that entered the month leading its league (AL or NL) belongs to the 1995 Phillies, who, in a strike-shortened season, went 9-20 (.310) after entering the month at 38-21 (.644). … Yandy Diaz, who leads all AL first basemen in batting, on-base percentage and slugging (.318/.401/.508) has reached base in his last 13 consecutive games, hitting .347 with 10 RBIs in that span. … On the flip side, All-Star outfielder Randy Arozarena is hitting .171 (13-for-76) in July with five RBIs, 23 strikeouts and four walks. … Shortstop Wander Franco has experienced similar struggles, hitting .162 (12-for-74) this month with 18 strikeouts and seven walks.
Steve Schaeffer
My Thoughts:
And we wait. Will the Astros be able to make a difference making move prior to the deadline? Will their competition? We don’t know, but in the meantime, the Astros have a big series with the Rays to play. In fact, for the next month, the Astros schedule is pretty difficult, playing virtually all winning teams. So it is critical for the Astros to play good baseball from here on out. Can we get Altuve and Alvarez up to speed quickly? Can we get consistent hitting with runners in scoring position? And most importantly, in my mind anyway, can a faltering pitching staff regroup and deliver the kind of results that Astro fans have become accustomed? All will be revealed, starting now. Let’s Go ‘Stros!!!
