With a 6-3 victory over the Miami Marlins on Thursday, the Houston Astros completed a three-game sweep and stretched their home winning streak to nine games.
Houston has won 16 of its past 20 games and shaved eight games off what was a 10-game deficit behind the American League West-leading Seattle Mariners.
The Astros will attempt to extend their in-season turnaround when they host the Texas Rangers for a three-game weekend set starting Friday.
Houston was 12 games under .500 through May 8 with a laundry list of injuries to the rotation.
“Yeah, definitely persevered,” Astros manager Joe Espada said of his squad. “We have come a long way. There was no doubt in my mind that we were going to get back into this race. There was no doubt. I’m just proud of how we’ve done it in a way where we never lost hope. We never panicked. We know how good we are as a team and we have fought our way back into a race.
“If I’m running a race, that’s the team I want to have my back.”
Hunter Brown (6-6, 4.48 ERA) has the starting assignment for Houston on Friday. He had his streak of eight consecutive quality starts snapped by the Minnesota Twins on Saturday when he allowed seven runs on 12 hits and one walk with six strikeouts over six innings in a 9-3 loss.
The right-hander had won his five previous starts, posting a 0.29 ERA with four scoreless appearances.
Brown is 2-2 with a 3.60 ERA over four career starts against the Rangers. He took a 10-2 road loss to Texas on April 5 after allowing five runs on eight hits and four walks with three strikeouts over three innings.
Andrew Heaney (3-9, 3.80 ERA) is scheduled to start the series opener for the Rangers. He did not factor into the decision of Texas’ 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday despite tossing 5 1/3 scoreless innings and allowing three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.
The left-hander has surrendered three or fewer earned runs in his past 13 appearances (12 starts), going 3-6 with a 2.96 ERA and a .699 OPS allowed during that span.
Heaney is 4-5 with a 3.89 ERA over 17 career starts against the Astros. He faced Houston in back-to-back starts in April and allowed eight runs on eight hits and seven walks with three strikeouts over a combined 7 1/3 innings. He absorbed a 10-5 loss on April 8 and did not factor into the decision of a 9-2 loss on April 13.
The Rangers had their five-game winning streak end with a 7-2 road loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday. Texas, 7-3 since a six-game skid from June 24-29, owns three wins in seven meetings with the Astros this season entering the latest edition of the Lone Star Series.
“It’s time to start another streak,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “Guys will get a break (with the off day Thursday) and try to get back rolling here.”
–Field Level Media
