The Houston Astros left Tampa Bay on Sunday lugging a three-game losing skid and a barrel full of stone-cold bats.
One of the favorites to get back to the World Series after winning the title in 2017, the Houston offense produced just single runs in both Saturday and Sunday’s losses Even the return of Carlos Correa on Sunday after battling neck soreness couldn’t spark the offense.
Houston scored just four runs in the last three games after winning the season opener 5-1 against the host Rays, their lone win in the series. In Sunday’s 3-1 loss, Houston managed just four baserunners.
“We didn’t create a lot of opportunities for ourselves, I think we didn’t leave a guy on base until the last inning, and they did,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “They took a couple of good swings and we walk out of here losing three out of four. Needless to say we’re ready to get out of here.”
The Astros will look to wake things up against their division rivals, the Texas Rangers. Those teams begin a three-game set Monday night in Arlington, where Texas’ starting pitchers did not fare well in dropping two of three games against the Chicago Cubs.
“I think we’ll be fine,” said Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, who went 3-for-14 with a home run in the four games against the Rays. “When won the first game here we know what we can do. We’ve just got to clear the mind and go to Arlington, and try to win all three games there.”
The Astros will send Brad Peacock to the mound for his 2019 debut against Rangers left-hander Drew Smyly. Peacock started just once game last season, while boasting a 3.46 ERA in 61 appearances.
He’ll face a Texas offense that chewed up Chicago’s pitchers to the tune of 19 runs in the last two games, both Rangers’ wins and both coming with late-inning heroics. Rangers slugger Joey Gallo crushed a three-run homer in the eighth inning of Saturday’s 8-6 win, and he doubled off the left-field wall to start Sunday’s walk-off ninth inning.
Texas newcomer Asdrubal Cabrera has quickly made his mark with home runs Saturday and Sunday, while hitting .455 against Chicago.
“Cabrera’s at-bat, that was incredible, his homer off the foul pole, just grinding and grinding and grinding,” first-year manager Chris Woodward told reporters after the game, then talking about the team’s overall belief in the process he’s set in place.
“We’ve got 159 more games, so the key is to keep the same mentality, not take a pitch off through nine innings, and you hope it can snowball into more of a belief. To win two games like that against that kind of team should result in more belief.”
Astros ace Justin Verlander will take the mound Tuesday following his stellar outing in the season-opening win against the Rays. Verlander (1-0) allowed one run on three hits and one walk while striking out nine through seven innings.
