The Houston Astros might have caught a break in advance of their Friday night road game against the Boston Red Sox.
Houston was scheduled to face Boston ace Garrett Crochet in the opener of a three-game series but will send rookie left-hander Jake Bennett to the mound to make his major-league debut instead.
The Red Sox placed Crochet on the 15-day injured list with left shoulder inflammation on Wednesday. He said he began to feel some fatigue in his shoulder on Saturday when he pitched against the Baltimore Orioles and hopes he can rejoin the rotation when he’s eligible in about two weeks.
Bennett, 25, was scratched from his start for Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday. He is 2-1 with a 0.86 ERA in five starts with Worcester this season and has 16 strikeouts with three walks in 21 innings.
Boston acquired Bennett from Washington for pitching prospect Luis Perales last December. The Nationals selected Bennett in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft. He missed the 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
“Big-time strike thrower,” Boston interim manager Chad Tracy said. “The velocity and the fastball has obviously ticked up. He was coming off an arm injury when he was with Washington. But when he’s sitting there 94 (mph) — another guy kind of like (Payton) Tolle, doesn’t throw as hard, but big guy that really gets down the mound with big extension. So he tends to get in on hitters, too, because the fastball plays up.”
“He’s in the zone a lot,” Tracy added. “Does a good job of holding runners. He can go from a slide step, he can use a leg kick, lands all stuff. But he’s really, really good, at least down there has been, getting the ball in the strike zone. And he gets a lot of weak contact.”
Houston is scheduled to start right-hander Mike Burrows (1-3, 6.25 ERA) in the series opener. He is 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA in two career appearances against the Red Sox.
Boston, which is coming off back-to-back losses to the Toronto Blue Jays, is at the bottom of the American League East standings. The Red Sox were held to one total run in those two losses.
Houston split a doubleheader with Baltimore on Thursday. Yordan Alvarez had his 13-game hitting streak end in the opener, a 10-3 loss, but he hit his 12th home run during Houston’s 11-5 victory in the second game. Few Boston pitchers have had success against Alvarez, who is hitting .391 with nine home runs and 25 RBIs in 26 regular-season games against the Red Sox.
Alvarez is tied for the AL lead in home runs (12) and is first in RBIs (27) and batting average (.356).
Houston won the second game without veterans Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa, both of whom were held out of the lineup after playing in the first game.
“It’s going to take the whole entire team,” Houston manager Joe Espada said. “Those guys (Altuve and Correa) have been playing every day, they’re grinding through it. We need some of these other guys to come in and support, do some things on the bases, at the plate, defensively. And those guys did that today.”
The Astros, who are tied with the Los Angeles Angels for last place in the AL West, swept a three-game series against the Red Sox in Houston from March 30-April 1. Both the Astros and Red Sox have 12 wins this season.
–Field Level Media
