Brett Oberholtzer Solid, Alex White Struggles in Astros Loss

Another day, another spring training game. This time the Astros wound up on the short end, losing to the Cardinals 5-2. Friday’s starter Brett Oberholtzer pitched a good two innings, giving up an unearned run on four hits, while striking out two in his first action this season.

Brett Oberholtzer is a near lock as the fourth starter in the rotation, which would leave Dan Straily, Brad Peacock and Asher Wojciechowski as the top candidates for the final rotation spot, while Roberto Hernandez and Alex White are long shots at the back-end of the rotation.

Alex White had a day he wishes he could forget. White came on in the sixth, with the Astros down 1-0 and proceeded to give up four runs on three hits and two walks in one-third of an inning. James Hoyt (traded with Evan Gattis), Sam Deduno, Will Harris and Kevin Chapman also pitched on Friday, and allowed a combined three hits.

The big news offensively was Carlos Correa singling home a run in his first at-bat of the spring in the top of the seventh, which cut the lead to 5-2. Unfortunately, the Astros were unable to close the gap any further. Domingo Santana recorded an rbi groundout earlier in the inning, but has yet to get a hit this spring.

As we mentioned earlier in the day, there is a battle between Jon Singleton and Jake Marisnick for a roster spot this spring, and thus far Singleton has the upper hand. On Friday, Marisnick went 0-for-1 with a walk, while Singleton went 0-for-2 with a strikeout, but Singleton is batting .250 thus far, while Marisnick is still searching for his first hit.

Gattis made his Astros debut, going 1-for-3 before being replaced by pinch-runner Joe Sclafani. Sclafani would later score on Santana’s ground out.

Next: Astros AM: Why Vogelsong Chose The Giants

Brett Oberholtzer Solid, Alex White Struggles in Astros Loss

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