Losing streak stands at five

Last night’s 6-1 loss to the Dodgers extended the Astros current losing streak to five games. It was an ugly effort that included three errors and very few good at-bats. An eighth inning RBI double by J.D. Martinez was all that stood between the Astros and a second straight blanking.

Martinez plated Jason Bourgeois with a shot into the right-field corner. But J.D. ran the Astros out of the inning when he made the last out at third base on a grounder to Casey Blake. Martinez was then lifted from the game so Brad Mills could give him a base running refresher course in the dugout during the final inning.

After blowing out the D-backs in the first game of the road trip and getting off to a quick start in game two, the Astros have fallen flat. The pitching staff allowed 25 runs in the final three games in Arizona and the offense has only scored once in 19 innings in L.A. Add in the three error performance last night and the Astros are officially firing on no cylinders. Wandy Rodriguez continues to look like an unhappy millionaire with his pouty body language. I like Wandy a lot, but at this point I can’t say I’d be disappointed if he were to be traded. His demeanor on the mound is just not that of a winner. He is not the type of player that is going to be  an inspiration to the youngsters on this team. At the other end of the spectrum is Jordan Lyles. Today’s starter, the 20 year-old  Lyles is already the epitome of a team player. The rookie has had next to nothing in the area of run support while getting off to a 1-6 start as a big-leaguer. Yet he makes no excuses and continues to go about his business like a seasoned veteran. Hopefully the Astros can put some runs on the board today and Lyles can get his second win. It won’t be long before Jordan reaches his innings limit and is shut down for the rest of the season.