Wandy tries to get Astros on track

The Astros, who have lost four out of five games, will send Wandy Rodriguez to the mound tonight against the Nationals. Rodriguez (0-1, 2.38 ERA) lost to the Braves at home five days earlier after pitching 6 1/3 innings on Opening Day without allowing an earned run. The Astros have made four errors in each of his two starts.

Here are the lineups:

ASTROS

CF Justin Maxwell

SS Jed Lowrie

LF J.D. Martinez

1B Carlos Lee

3B Chris Johnson

RF Travis Buck

C Chris Snyder

2B Jose Altuve

LHP Wandy Rodriguez

NATIONALS

SS Ian Desmond

2B Danny Espinosa

3B Ryan Zimmerman

CF Jayson Werth

1B Adam LaRoche

RF Mark DeRosa

LF Xavier Nady

C Jesus Flores

LHP Gio Gonzalez

Here’s a few notes:

• The Nationals are 21-7 since last Sept. 11, which is the second-best record in baseball in that span behind the Rangers (22-4).
• The Nationals enter Tuesday having only allowed two home runs, the fewest in the Majors.
• After hitting four home runs in the first two games of the season, the Astros have suffered a power outage lately, hitting three homers in their last seven games.
• The Astros’ .339 on-base percentage entering Tuesday is the third-highest in the NL, but their 77 runners left on base is second-most in all of baseball. Which team has stranded the most runners on base this year? The Nationals with 90.
• Entering Tuesday, J.D. Martinez was tied for third in the NL in average (.371), tied for fourth in total bases (25), sixth in slugging percentage (.714) and sixth in OPS (1.150).
• Astros center fielder Jordan Schafer has scored eight runs from the lead-off spot this year, which is tied for the third-most in the Majors. Ian Kinsler has scored 11 and Austin Jackson has scored 10.
• Whether pitching for Boston or Houston, Kyle Weiland has always pitched much better on the road than at home. He’s 0-3 with a 10.26 ERA in his career at home and 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA on the road. I know, it’s a small sample, but interesting nonetheless.

http://brianmctaggart.mlblogs.com/2012/04/17/wandy-tries-to-get-astros-on-track/