Jake Meyers is ready to provide the latest jolt of energy to the Houston Astros.
Meyers played center field and went 1-for-3 in his return from the injured list on Tuesday, and he will look to keep the momentum going when Houston faces the Minnesota Twins in the decisive game of a three-game series Wednesday afternoon in Minneapolis.
“I feel ready to go,” said Meyers, who was out for six weeks due to an oblique strain. “It was more about getting my body ready to go to play a full game and whatnot. The training staff did a great job of setting me up for that.”
The Astros need all the help they can get. They have had more than a dozen players go on the injured list this season, including key performers such as Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa. Houston had lost seven of 10 games before holding on for a 2-1 win on Tuesday.
The latest injured Houston player is right-hander Lance McCullers Jr., who was scratched from his scheduled start on Tuesday because of right shoulder inflammation and was placed on the 15-day IL.
“He’s been pitching through it,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “He’s been recovering well, kind of your normal, typical post-start soreness. But, this week, he wasn’t able to get rid of it. We decided to get him seen by our doctors.”
Minnesota has enjoyed better health, but this week has not been without its challenges. Ryan Jeffers broke his left hamate bone on Monday and was placed on the IL, and the team promoted catcher Alex Jackson from Triple-A Saint Paul to take his roster spot.
Victor Caratini started behind the plate on Tuesday, but Jackson could get a chance in the series finale. He has appeared in 160 games over parts of six big-league seasons with the Atlanta Braves, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles.
One player who is improving for the Twins is left-handed reliever Anthony Banda, who fired a scoreless inning Tuesday. He has allowed one run in his past 6 1/3 innings spanning his seven most recent appearances out of the bullpen.
“Early on, I don’t know if it’s the cold where he struggled because he saw his ‘velo’ down, we saw the ability to spin the ball was not consistent,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said. “But since he’s been in the zone over the last five, six outings, it’s been really effective. I think that’s the guy we expected when we acquired him.”
In the series finale, the Twins will give the ball to right-hander Joe Ryan (2-3, 3.20 ERA). Ryan is coming off back-to-back quality starts against the Cleveland Guardians and Milwaukee in which he allowed two runs on six hits in 12 innings.
In his seven career starts against the Astros, Ryan is 2-4 with a 6.63 ERA.
Houston is scheduled to counter with Mike Burrows (2-5, 5.72 ERA). The right-hander will try to bounce back from a rough performance on Thursday against the Seattle Mariners, who tagged him for seven runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Burrows will hope his second career appearance against the Twins is better than the first. Last July 12, while pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates, he took the loss after Minnesota tagged him for six runs on five hits in 1 1/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
