Astros fall to 0-4 for the second straight year

The Houston Astros drop their fourth straight to open the season, this time an 8-2 decision against the undefeated Cincinnati Reds. It seemed like this game was over even before it started as the Reds put up five runs in the first two innings and it was smooth sailing for them from their on out.

The story of the game for the Astros is another starting pitcher struggling in their first start, this time lefty J.A. Happ. He only went four innings, giving up seven earned runs, five walks and only two strikeouts. Happ had control problems all game as he walked in two runs and hit a batter for a third run. Happ seemed to start each at bat behind 1-0 as he only threw first pitch strikes to 14 of the 25 batters he faced.

Some of the bright spots from this game has to be Angel Sanchez continuing to hit as he knocked in the only two runs for the Astros on a single to right field. Wilton Lopez also had a strong appearance, only needing 11 pitches to get through one inning of work with one strikeout. It was also good to see Brandon Lyon get back on track getting an inning of work and not giving up any runs, hopefully this doesn’t change when it is a save opportunity.

The Astros are back at it tomorrow for a 7 PM Eastern start where Nelson Figueroa gets the ball for the Astros. He will try and break this trend of starting pitchers struggling for the Astros. However, it doesn’t get any easier for the Astros offense as they go up against Edinson Volquez.

Brandon Croce is the Lead Writer for Climbing Tal’s Hill. Click here to follow him on Twitter and click here to follow CTH.