Having labored through a stretch from May 1-June 5 during which they had only two days off, the Houston Astros opened a two-game interleague series against the visiting Colorado Rockies on Tuesday with off days bracketing the opener and the series finale.
Managing that time off often presents a different sort of challenge, especially with a team as hot as the Astros, who extended their winning streak to six games with a 5-2 victory on Tuesday.
Houston starter Hunter Brown tossed six shutout innings and left a relatively rested bullpen with just nine outs to cover.
With another day off coming Thursday after the Astros complete the series with the Rockies, Houston manager Joe Espada called on closer Josh Hader in the ninth despite it being a non-save situation. Hader also pitched in a non-save situation on Saturday in the middle game of a three-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles.
“We’re trying to win games,” Espada said. “That’s going to decide how we’re going to use our ‘pen. We score a ton of runs. It would be nice to give those relievers a breather there, but we’re just trying to win games and then we’ll go from there. One game at a time.”
Rookie right-hander Spencer Arrighetti (3-6, 6.36 ERA) is the scheduled starter for Houston on Wednesday. He did not factor into the decision of the Astros’ 5-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday after allowing three runs on five hits and four walks over 4 1/3 innings.
Arrighetti is winless in four June starts, going 0-1 with a 7.53 ERA and a .984 opponents’ OPS. He will make his first career appearance against the Rockies.
Right-hander Ryan Feltner (1-6, 6.02 ERA) has the starting assignment for the Rockies. He did not factor into the decision in Colorado’s 7-6 walk-off win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 19. He gave up six runs on seven hits and two walks, with six strikeouts, over five innings.
Feltner is winless over his past 12 starts, going 0-5 with a 6.68 ERA. He has walked two or fewer batters in 17 consecutive starts dating back to last year.
Feltner has yet to oppose the Astros in his four major league seasons.
Rockies manager Bud Black viewed an in-game adjustment from Austin Gomber on Tuesday as a teaching moment for the left-hander and the rest of his rotation.
The Astros’ five-run first inning came via a deluge of singles against Gomber, who showed an early lack of commitment to his fastball. When Gomber switched gears and became more fastball-heavy, he retired 13 consecutive batters and worked into the sixth.
Philosophically, Black wants starters who work off the fastball early. The turnaround Gomber experienced following his ragged first inning underscored that belief.
“The starting-pitcher game has to revolve around the fastball for me,” Black said. “It’s tough to throw a ton of secondary pitches as the starting pitcher. It just takes too much out of you. For me, that instinct of when to use the fastball (is critical).”
–Field Level Media
