Houston hosts the Diamondbacks three times at Minute Maid Park starting tonight.
Tonight the Houston Astros open a three-game set against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
After sweeping the Kansas City Royals in four games, the Astros dropped three in a row to the Cincinnati Reds, the third straight sweep at the hands of that particular team. Tonight, they’ll start a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Astros are 67-79 when playing Arizona, for a .459 winning percentage that ranks as their worst against a National League team.
Despite Houston’s historic lack of success against the D-Backs, they did manage to sweep Arizona in their last common series, closing out the 2023 season between September 29 and October 1. In the final game of the regular season for both teams, Cristian Javier (10-8, 4.56) earned the win with six shutout innings, allowing three hits and striking out four. Alex Bregman (25) and Jose Abréu (18) each went deep, and along with Kyle Tucker finished with multiple hits. Houston clinched the AL West Division and a first-round bye with the victory.
It feels good to get in the playoffs, especially to win the division. With how hard it was there at the end of the season, with our ups and downs, I think this says a lot about these guys. We never stopped fighting all the way to the finish line. — Chas McCormick
GameTimes and Starting Pitchers
Friday, 7:10 PM CT: Brandon Pfaadt (9-7, 4.32) Framber Valdez (13-6, 3.11)
Saturday, 3:10 PM CT: Eduardo Rodriguez (2-1, 5.33) vs. Yusei Kikuchi (7-9, 4.24)
Sunday, 6:10 PM CT: Ryne Nelson (10-6, 4.15) vs. Justin Verlander (3-5, 4.52)
Standings
Houston Astros: 75-65, .536, first in the AL West, 4 1⁄2 games ahead of the Seattle Mariners. Sixth in the American League, one game behind the fourth-place Minnesota Twins. 13th in MLB. Last 10: LLWWWWWLLL. On pace for 87-75. Fangraphs projects 88-74 with a 95.8 percent chance at reaching the playoffs.
Arizona Diamondbacks: 79-62, .560, third in the NL West, 5 1⁄2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. Fifth in the National League, eighth in MLB. Last 10: LWLLLWLWWL. On pace for 91-73. Fangraphs projects 90-72 with an 86.5 percent chance at postseason play.