Houston Astros right-hander Kai-Wei Teng will try to continue fine-tuning his role as a starting pitcher when he faces the host Chicago Cubs on Saturday afternoon in the second contest of a three-game series.
Teng (2-3, 2.61 ERA), acquired from the San Francisco Giants in January, threw five scoreless innings last Saturday in his most recent outing, helping the Astros beat the Texas Rangers 4-1.
It was Teng’s second straight start and third overall this season to go with 13 relief appearances. He threw a season-high 76 pitches in earning the win against the Rangers and went five innings for just the third time in his three-year MLB career.
“As a reliever, I tried to go as deep as we can to help save the bullpen,” Teng said following his last performance. “Being a starter, it’s the same mindset. I just tried to go as deep as I can and use the least pitches and get the most outs, and it really turned out great.”
Teng made seven starts for the Giants last season and just one relief appearance, going 2-4 with a 6.37 ERA.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for that guy,” Astros first baseman Christian Walker said. “Whenever you need him, whatever responsibility we need, he comes through, whether it’s a few innings out of the pen or make a spot start here or there against a good lineup. That’s impressive. He’s been A-plus for us.”
Teng, who has not faced the Cubs in his career, gave up only two hits, struck out seven and walked four against the Rangers.
“I like the tempo and how fast he works,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “I’d like to minimize some of those walks so we can get him deeper in games. His sweeper was really good today. He got us to the fifth, and the bullpen came in and did a nice job.”
Houston won the series opener against Chicago 4-2 on Friday afternoon, handing the Cubs their sixth straight loss and their 10th defeat in the past 12 games.
The Cubs plan to start right-hander Colin Rea on Saturday. Rea (4-2, 4.98 ERA) is winless in his past three outings after winning four of five. He also has not made it through six innings in his past five appearances.
He most recently did not receive a decision after going 4 2/3 innings in a 9-8 loss to the Chicago White Sox in 10 innings last Sunday.
Rea has made three starts against Houston in his career and is 2-1 with a 4.30 ERA.
Meanwhile, the Cubs placed Matt Shaw on the 10-day injured list on Friday because of back tightness. Shaw, who has played both infield and outfield this season, began experiencing soreness on Tuesday, manager Craig Counsell said.
“It kind of went back and forth the last couple of days,” Counsell said. “Woke up today, it didn’t feel good, so we’re going to give him some time to heal.”
Chicago recalled infielder Pedro Ramirez from Triple-A Iowa, where he was hitting .312 with nine home runs.
“It’s probably going to be a shorter stint,” Counsell said of Ramirez. “It’s also good for him to get exposure to the major leagues, get exposure to the group, get exposure to the schedule, so if we run into a situation where it is a lot of playing time, that he doesn’t have to go through it for the first time while playing.”
–Field Level Media
