Astros Weekend News and Notes

At least the Astros don’t have to play in Tampa again for the remainder of the regular season.

Ever since the acquisition of Aubrey Huff from the then-Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the Astros have never seem to fare well there. I may be wrong in terms of the win-loss record, yet that seems to be the public perception around the Astros online following.

Anyway, the Astros actually performed admirably in Tampa this weekend. Two-out-of-three wins against a competitive Rays club is not easy work. The series finale in particular was a come-from-behind victory.

Unfortunately, the Astros didn’t come out unscathed. Saturday, for example, we witnessed George Springer leave the game with a hamstring injury. He didn’t partake in Sunday’s game, which broke an impressive league-leading streak of 205 consecutive games played.

Another tense moment in terms of injuries came in yesterday’s nail biter.

You see, Jake Marisnick collided with the outfield wall and later left the game with concussion-like symptoms.

Unlike Springer, who may return to the lineup Tuesday following the Astros off day today, Marisnick may take a bit longer. After all, concussions isn’t an injury to take lightly. Only time will tell.

Outside of the injuries, the Astros received some timely hitting from multiple batters in this series. Carlos Correa, for one, managed to hit his second home run of the season, and his first extra-base hit since Opening Day.

Evan Gattis and Jose Altuve also added their first home runs of the season this weekend. The only Astros regular position player that has yet to hit a home run is Alex Bregman. But don’t you worry as his moment will come in due time.

Talking about Altuve for a second, did you happen to see his hustle on the base paths? Well, I’ll just leave this here for your reading pleasure.

From a pitching perspective, the Astros received a well-pitched game from Dallas Keuchel once again on Friday. It is encouraging to see the bearded southpaw continue his bounce-back season in convincing fashion. Maybe the return of generating soft contact has played a part in the tale?

The other two starting pitchers for Houston, Charlie Morton and Joe Musgrove, each had their fair share of issues. For example, Musgrove had a rough start to Sunday’s game as he surrendered four runs in the first inning. But he then settled down to hold the Rays zero runs in his remaining five frames.

Morton, on the other hand, had a terrific beginning to his latest start. He also had a noteworthy moment against one of the Rays best players in Kevin Kiermaier.

Unfortunately, Morton only lasted five innings while surrendering eight hits and five runs in the 6-3 defeat.

Next: Astros: Is Chris Devenski changing the game for relievers?

Overall, this was a somewhat weird weekend for the Astros. There were injuries, first home runs and up-and-down pitching performances. But it’s hard to complain about winning a road series and improving to 13-6 on the young season.

**Statistics courtesy of Fangraphs and MLB.com**