Astros shut out for second straight day

The Astros failed to score for the second straight game, wasting a solid performance by starting pitcher Philip Humber. Failure to make contact with the baseball continues to be a big problem for the Houston offense. Astros batters have fanned 15 times in each of the last two games. After suffering through last night’s near-perfect fiasco, today’s game got off to a much more promising start.

Jose Altuve led off the bottom of the first inning with a double and advanced to third base with only one out. But Carlos Pena and Chris Carterboth struck out to end what would be the Astros only serious scoring threat of the game. It was the only time an Astros baserunner would make it to third base all afternoon. The ridiculous number of strikeouts made it impossible for the Astros to score.

Bo Porter is faced with quite a challenge in his first season as a manager (Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports)

The only players who are consistently making contact are Matt Dominguez and Altuve. Dominguez was the only Astro in today’s starting lineup who didn’t strike out at least once. Carter and Justin Maxwell fanned three times apiece.

I know it’s still early but something needs to be done. I’m sure Bo Porter feels the same way, and I expect to see a shakeup in Friday’s lineup. Obviously he can’t bench everyone. There aren’t enough guys on the roster for such a radical move. But there are a couple of guys in particular who need to be sent a message. More on that later.

The Astros have another off day tomorrow before the Oakland Athletics come to town for a weekend series. Maybe it’s time for Porter to break out that curveball pitching machine and make the guys take BP against it on their day off.