Results tagged ‘ Astros ’
Oberholtzer on his way to join the Astros
The Astros called up left-handed pitcher Brett Oberholtzer on Sunday and sent left-hander Dallas Keuchel back down to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Oberholtzer will wear No. 65.
Oberholtzer made three starts for Triple-A Oklahoma City, going 0-2 with a 9.49 ERA. In 12 1/3 innings pitched, he’s allowed 18 hits, 13 earned runs and four walks. He last pitched Tuesday, allowing five hits and five runs in five innings in a loss to Round Rock.
Keuchel didn’t make the team out of spring camp, but was called up when Travis Blackley went on the disabled list April 6 with a shoulder strain. He’s appeared in four games in relief and has a 3.38 ERA in 10 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits and seven earned runs in 2 2/3 innings in Saturday’s loss to Cleveland.
This will be the first time on a Major League roster for Oberholtzer, who was one of four players acquired from the Braves in the Michael Bourn trade in 2011.
Astros battle Indians, Myers at Minute Maid
The Astros will reunite with old friend Brett Myers tonight at Minute Maid Park in the first game of a three-game series against the Indians, who have lost four in a row as they hit Houston. The Astros, who have lost five in a row, are 10-8 all-time against the Indians, including 7-5 in Houston, but this is the first meeting between the teams as American League foes. Lucas Harrell starts for the Astros.
Here are the lineups:
2B Jose Altuve
CF Justin Maxwell
C Jason Castro
DH Chris Carter
1B Carlos Pena
LF J.D. Martinez
RF Rick Ankiel
3B Matt Dominguez
SS Marwin Gonzalez
—
RHP Lucas Harrell
Twitter alive after Astros win
On the Astros’ bus ride to the hotel following the win over the Angels on Friday, Twitter was alive…
That's what I like to see out of @BudNorris20 great game all around #DefenseSavesLives @JustinMaxwell44 #whatAplayer—
Jason Castro (@J_Castro15) April 13, 2013
#AstrosWin That was a great all around win. Fundamental baseball @J_Castro15 for captain. Keep in rollin tomorrow w/ @LucasHarrell34—
Bud Norris (@BudNorris20) April 13, 2013
Great win!!! @BudNorris20 was solid on the mound. @TheeRickAnkiel with great ab's in the clutch. Great defense again. #itsallaboutthestros—
Justin Maxwell (@JustinMaxwell44) April 13, 2013
Great Win tonight now time for some In N Out #godgiven http://t.co/zelBeAb5vn—
J.D. Martinez (@JDMartinez14) April 13, 2013
Great game by @BudNorris20 tonight. Dominant performance.—
Wesley Wright (@realweswright) April 13, 2013
Day in photos: Astros prepare for Angels
Here are some photos from Friday’s pregame in Anaheim:
Carlos Pena
Bo Porter signs.
Jose Altuve flips a baseball to a fan.
Jason Castro signs.
Jose Altuve signs.
Geoff Blum is still popular with fans. Here he flips an autographed card back.
Carlos Pena and Rick Ankiel
High knees for Altuve
Matt Dominguez, Justin Maxwell and Jason Castro warm up.
Marwin Gonzalez signs.
Bullpen catcher Jeff Murphy and Albert Pujols.
Bo Porter and Mike Scioscia
Bo Porter pretends to interview CSN Houston’s Julia Morales.
Dennis Martinez and Mike Scioscia, who was with the Dodgers when El Presidente tossed his perfect game against them in 1991.
Astros open series tonight against Angels
The Astros will try for their third win in a row tonight when they make their first trip to Angels Stadium as a member of the American League West, taking on the struggling, high-dollar Angels. They’ll send Bud Norris, who struggled on the road last year, to the mound in the series opener Friday night. Be sure to follow all the action on GameDay.
For the Astros, it will be their first look at Mike Trout, the 2012 AL Rookie of the Year, and will mark a reunion with nemesis Albert Pujols, the former Cardinals player who is a career .311 hitter with 32 RBIs and 112 RBIs in his career against Houston.
This weekend’s matchups mark just the third series between the two franchises and the first since the 2007 season. In the previous two matchups, both teams won their home series 2-1, which included a three-gamer in Anaheim in 2007 and a three-gamer in Houston in 2004.
Here is the Astros’ lineup:
2B Jose Altuve
CF Justin Maxwell
C Jason Castro
DH Chris Carter
1B Carlos Pena
LF J.D. Martinez
RF Rick Ankiel
3B Matt Domginuez
SS Marwin Gonzalez.
Lineups for Astros-Mariners
The Astros will try to win their first series of the season tonight at Safeco Field. Coming off a smashing offensive performance Tuesday in which they posted 16 runs and 22 hits in a 16-9 win, the Astros will send right-hander Brad Peacock to the mound in his second start of the season. Be sure to follow along with GameDay for all the stats and play-by-play.
A win tonight would give the Astros their first series win of the season and their third consecutive series win over the Mariners (also, 2007, 2004).
The Astros offense Tuesday night produced many franchise team notes:
• 22 hits: last, 8/3/10 at STL (22H)
• 16 runs: last, 8/3/10 at STL (18R)
• 5 homers: last, 9/16/09 at CIN (5HR)
• 40 total bases: last, 9/9/00 at CHC (44TB)
• 6 runs in inning: last, 9/10/11 at WSH (3rd, 6R)
• 6 runs in 1st inning: last, 8/30/08 vs. STL (8R)
• 7 hits in inning: last, 9/10/11 at WSH (3rd, 7H)
• 7 hits in 1st inning: last, 7/19/10 at CHC (7H)
There were also several Astros set or tied their career highs:
• Altuve ties career high w/ 4 hits (6/5/12 vs. STL)
• Altuve records career high 4 RBI
• Carter records career high 4 hits
• Carter ties career high w/ 3 RBI (7/25/12 at TOR)
• Carter records career high 2 HR
• Gonzalez ties career high w/ 3 hits (4/29/12 vs. PIT)
Here are the lineups:
|
April 10, 2013 – Safeco Field (9:10 p.m.) |
||||||
|
Seattle Mariners (4-5) |
Houston Astros (2-6) |
|||||
|
No. |
Player | Pos. |
No. |
Player | Pos. | |
|
55 |
Michael Saunders (L) | RF |
27 |
Jose Altuve | 2B | |
|
21 |
Franklin Gutierrez | CF |
44 |
Justin Maxwell | CF | |
|
8 |
Kendrys Morales (S) | DH |
15 |
Jason Castro (L) | C | |
|
28 |
Raul Ibañez (L) | LF |
23 |
Chris Carter | DH | |
|
15 |
Kyle Seager (L) | 3B |
12 |
Carlos Peña (L) | 1B | |
|
17 |
Justin Smoak (S) | 1B |
14 |
J.D. Martinez | LF | |
|
13 |
Dustin Ackley (L) | 2B |
28 |
Rick Ankiel (L) | RF | |
|
7 |
Kelly Shoppach | C |
30 |
Matt Dominguez | 3B | |
|
26 |
Brendan Ryan | SS |
9 |
Marwin Gonzalez (S) | SS | |
|
Starting Pitcher |
Starting Pitcher |
|||||
|
49 |
Blake Beavan | RHP |
43 |
Brad Peacock | RHP | |
Mallee says Astros have to be more selective
John Mallee, Houston’s first-year hitting coach, said the hitters were more patient during Spring Training than they have been in the first week of the regular season.
“We had a pretty good Opening Night, but our strikeouts are up and I think it’s because we’re chasing a lot early in the count,” Mallee said. “We’re trying to be more selective now and get better pitches to drive early in the count. I think in the spring we did a really good job of being a little more patient, being ready to hit from the first pitch on, but being selective enough to watch for a pitch we can drive. I think we’re getting a little anxious to try to swing our way out of it and started expanding the zone.”
The Astros have lost six games in a row following an Opening Night win over the Rangers, including three by shutout, and are hitting .188 in that span. They’ve struck out 82 times in seven games, whiffing 13 or more five times a game.
“They’re really good hitters, and sometimes we start to press a little bit,” Mallee said. “We haven’t scored a lot of runs and we try to create those runs by being ultra aggressive. So we need to tone it back a little bit and try to get a better pitch to hit. It doesn’t mean we’re not going to attack early in the count, it’s just making sure we’re attacking the right pitches early in the count.”
Martinez in lineup, ready to move forward
Astros outfielder J.D. Martinez, who was pulled from Monday’s game following his fourth inning at-bat by manager Bo Porter, was back in the lineup Tuesday against the Mariners, starting in right field. Martinez was pulled for what he deemed a “mental mistake,” and the outfielder said he and the manager had a good talk.
Martinez swung at the first pitch in his fourth inning at-bat and popped out, perhaps chasing a pitch out of the strike zone.
“Like I said yesterday to you guys, I understood the situation and we talked about it and put it behind us,” Martinez said. “We still have a lot more games left to play and it’s behind us and we’re ready to move forward. Today’s a new day.
“We settled it and [Porter] said, ‘You’re back in there today because it’s behind us. Time to move forward.’”
The Astros have lost six games in a row following an Opening Night win over the Rangers and are hitting .188 in that span. They’ve struck out 82 times in seven games, whiffing 13 or more five times a game.
“I feel like there’s a little bit of tension in the room,” Martinez said. “You want to win, you want everything perfect. I think it’s just go out there and play baseball, play for each other. They always say, ‘Play for the guy behind you,’ just going out there and enjoying it and having fun and getting the pressure and monkey off our backs.”
Martinez said one good game on offense could get the Astros rolling.
“Every game starts off great and then one things leads to another and then before you know it we have that pressure right back on us again,” he said. “Once we get that pressure off, we’re going to see this team start rolling because now everybody knows the guy behind you is going to pick you up. Now you don’t have that pressure on yourself. You can play and hit and do what you have to do.”
Astros try to snap 6-game streak against Mariners
The Astros will send former Mariners pitcher Erik Bedard to the mound tonight at 9:10 p.m. CT to try to break their six-game losing streak. Seattle starts right-hander Brandon Maurer. Here’s manager Bo Porter’s lineup, which includes the return of J.D. Martinez. He started in left field Monday but was pulled in the seventh inning by Porter for what Martinez called a “mental error.”
|
Seattle Mariners (4-4) |
Houston Astros (1-6) |
|||||
|
No. |
Player | Pos. |
No. |
Player | Pos. | |
|
21 |
Franklin Gutierrez | CF |
27 |
Jose Altuve | 2B | |
|
55 |
Michael Saunders (L) | RF |
44 |
Justin Maxwell | CF | |
|
8 |
Kendrys Morales (S) | DH |
15 |
Jason Castro (L) | C | |
|
38 |
Michael Morse | LF |
23 |
Chris Carter | LF | |
|
17 |
Justin Smoak (S) | 1B |
12 |
Carlos Peña (L) | DH | |
|
63 |
Jesus Montero | C |
14 |
J.D. Martinez | RF | |
|
13 |
Dustin Ackley (L) | 2B |
29 |
Brett Wallace (L) | 1B | |
|
3 |
Robert Andino | 3B |
30 |
Matt Dominguez | 3B | |
|
26 |
Brendan Ryan | SS |
9 |
Marwin Gonzalez (S) | SS | |
|
Starting Pitcher |
|
Starting Pitcher |
||||
|
37 |
Brandon Maurer | RHP |
45 |
Erik Bedard | LHP | |
News and notes:
- Astros starters have performed well this season and have limited the competition to three earned runs or fewer in six of the club’s seven games. RHP Philip Humber leads the staff in inning pitched (11 2/3) and ERA (3.09), RHP Bud Norris leads the club in strikeouts (nine), while RHP Brad Peacock has allowed just a .188 opponent’s batting average this season.
- Astros starting pitchers have received a win or a loss in all seven games this season. The last time Astros starters received a decision in at least the club’s first seven games of a season was in 1989, when Mike Scott, Bob Knepper, Jim Deshaies, Rick Rhoden and Jim Clancy each received a decision in the first eight games of that season.
Porter yanks Martinez for ‘mental mistake’
Astros manager Bo Porter pulled starting left-fielder J.D. Martinez in the middle of the fourth inning Monday night for what Martinez later admitted to be a mental mistake during his at-bat in the top of the inning, a pop out to second base.
Porter was asked following the Astros’ 3-0 loss to the Mariners if Martinez, who was hitting clean-up for the first time this year, had been injured, and he told reporters to ask Martinez what happened.
“That was a manager’s decision,” Porter said. “You go ask him why he didn’t finish the game. I’m actually interested in what he’s going to tell you.”
Martinez admitted to making a mistake during the at-bat, but wouldn’t go much beyond that. He swung at a first-pitch fastball from Joe Saunders and popped out after striking out looking in the first inning. Designated hitter Chris Carter swung at the first pitch the at-bat prior to Martinez, too.
“From a baseball standpoint, I made a mistake today,” Martinez said. “I had a mental error going up to the plate and was totally my fault. I understand everything what Bo did, taking me out and everything. I hold nothing against him in that sense because what I did was unacceptable and it was just a mental mistake that will never happen again.”
Martinez hinted went against the approach that was discussed at the hitter’s meeting prior to the game.
“It was just something going up to the plate, our plan and everything,” he said. “I got caught in the moment and really didn’t take a step back. The game was moving quick and I totally slipped, and I take full responsibility for it.”
Martinez has no problem with how Porter handled the situation.
“I completely get it,” he said. “I don’t want it to come off as me being selfish and not being about the team. That’s not what my intentions were. You just get caught up in the game sometimes and you want to go up there and you want to hit so bad and your plan sometimes just flies out the window.”
Brian McTaggart
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