HOUSTON – With Wednesday night’s 8-0 shutout victory over Toronto, the Houston Astros picked up their first series win of the 2024 campaign. After starting the year 0-4, they now sit at 2-5. That record is far from glamorous, but they’ll be hoping to make it prettier this weekend with a four-game series against the Texas Rangers in Arlington.
The Astros have games scheduled for Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday against the reigning World Series champions. This will be Houston’s first regular season matchup with their neighbors in the Lone Star State since their infamous collapse in Game 7 of the 2023 ALCS.
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Houston made strides against the Blue Jays after a mostly disastrous series with the Yankees to start the year. They won two out of the three games and finished the series with a combined +17 run differential and 10 home runs. Yainer Diaz has a team-leading .462 batting average, as the new catcher has turned a weak point of the offense into a strength. Jose Altuve leads the squad with three home runs, and Diaz, Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker and Jeremy Pena each have two.
The bats have clearly been cracking, but the starting pitching made progress as well. Ronel Blanco stole the show with a no-hitter on Monday night, and Cristian Javier earned his first win with 5.0 dominant innings on Wednesday. Framber Valdez also had a phenomenal 7.2 innings of action on Tuesday, but his night was spoiled by a ninth inning collapse from closer Josh Hader.
The Rangers will enter the weekend with a 4-2 record, after winning back-to-back series hosting the Cubs and visiting Rays. Josh Jung is leading the way at the plate, batting .412 through their six games. Adolis Garcia has built on his reputation as one of the most feared hitters in the majors, with a team-leading three homers and six RBIs this year.
Veteran pitchers Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom are expected to return later this season, but Nathan Eovaldi, Cody Bradford and Dane Dunning have kept the ship steady so far, earning wins in starts.
The series will get underway on Friday night at Globe Life Field, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Will the Astros be able to get revenge against Texas after last year’s postseason heartbreaker? Let us know in the comments below!