Buried beneath the rubble of an eight-game losing streak was the fact that the Houston Astros entered a six-game homestand on Tuesday leading the American League in several offensive categories.
With their rotation weakened by injuries and their bullpen stretched thin, the Astros will have to slug their way to victory more often than not.
Houston followed that script in the opener Tuesday of a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies with a 7-6 white-knuckle win, and the teams will meet again Wednesday night.
“Our offense is relentless when they get good pitches to hit, score a lot of runs and allow us to deploy some of our relievers and put them in better spots,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “Our offense has been phenomenal. They understand the situation that we are in. They continue to grind at-bats.”
The Astros needed five relievers to cover the final 5 1/3 innings Tuesday after starter Colton Gordon departed in the fourth. With closer Josh Hader on the injured list and his replacement in the role, Bryan Abreu, scuffling, Espada is having to piecemeal his way through the latter frames.
“My focus is trying to get these guys matched up with the right pockets,” Espada said. “Try to put these guys into the position to deploy their pitches, go through the areas where they can get people out, and try to get them rolling that way. Once the dust settles, some of these guys will start falling into those roles.
“But right now, we’re trying to get going that way. We’re trying to get these on a positive note.”
Right-hander Spencer Arrighetti (1-5, 5.35 ERA in 2025) was announced as the Astros’ starter for Wednesday. He was added to the taxi squad on Tuesday after posting a 1.26 ERA and 20 strikeouts across 14 1/3 innings and three starts with Triple-A Sugar Land.
He made just seven starts during an injury-plagued 2025 after finishing 7-13 with a 4.53 ERA across 29 appearances (28 starts) during his rookie season in 2024.
Arrighetti threw seven shutout innings in his lone appearance against the Rockies on June 26, 2024, allowing three hits while recording 10 strikeouts in a 7-1 home victory.
Left-hander Jose Quintana (0-0, 4.15 ERA) will be reinstated from the 15-day injured list to start Wednesday for the Rockies, who have lost five straight games. Quintana landed on the IL with a right hamstring strain on March 30, one day after allowing two runs on four hits and four walks with two strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings in the Rockies’ 4-3 road loss to the Miami Marlins.
That marked the first career start with Colorado for Quintana, who went 11-7 with a 3.96 ERA for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2025. The Rockies are his ninth MLB team.
Quintana is 3-1 with a 3.08 ERA in 11 career appearances (nine starts) against the Astros.
Colorado optioned pitcher Valente Bellozo to Triple-A Albuquerque following Sunday’s game and recalled pitcher Tanner Gordon.
Another move will be required to make room on the roster for Quintana, with left-hander Kyle Freeland a likely candidate to land on the IL after he was scratched before his start on Sunday.
The Rockies swept a three-game series against the Astros last week in Denver.
–Field Level Media
