Series Recap: Astros Drop 2 of 3 Against Tigers

After splitting the opening series with the Chicago White Sox, Houston's next opponent was another team from the AL Central, the Detroit Tigers. This series looked appealing because it was a great opportunity to sweep a below average team at home before traveling to Minnesota to face the Twins.

Well, that wasn't the case--here is the series recap:

Game 1, Tigers defeat Astros 7-6

The Detroit Tigers were coming off of being swept in Tampa Bay, not looking like a baseball team that would give Houston any trouble in this three-game series. The Tigers ended up scoring first in the top of the second inning on a 2-run single from Eric Haase off of Hunter Brown.

Detroit then scored two more runs in the top of the fifth inning from a Javier Baez base hit and a Spencer Torkelson walk with the bases loaded. Hunter Brown just couldn't close batters out when he got to a two strike count and Detroit took advantage of that.

Then in the bottom of the fifth inning, Houston got things going starting with a RBI fielders choice from Jeremy Pena and then a 3-run homer from the one and only, Yordan Alvarez.

Bryan Abreu came on in relief in the 7th inning, but gave up a solo home run to CF Riley Greene that gave the Tigers the lead later in the game.

Things weren't looking great for Houston's offense up until Jose Abreu hit an RBI double off the left-field wall to tie this game up and send it to extra innings. Former Phillies OF Matt Vierling was having himself a game that night, and continued it with a 2-run homer in the 11th off of Hector Neris to give the Tigers a 7-5 lead. Houston came close to making a comeback but failed and lost 7-6.

Player of the game - OF Matt Vierling

Game 2, Tigers defeat Astros 6-3

After losing to Detroit and having Framber Valdez on the mound for the next game, you would think the Astros would easily get back on track with a win. The Tigers got things going early as they took a 1-0 lead in the first inning from a Spencer Torkelson RBI double.

It seemed as though Kyle Tucker was tired of being down early and hit an RBI single in the bottom of the first to tie this game up. Then, in the bottom of the fourth inning, Kyle Tucker stayed hot and hit a solo home run to give the Astros a 2-1 lead.

Framber was dealing, but was also giving up a good amount of contact. He allowed 8 hits while striking out 9 in 7 innings pitched. He caught himself in some trouble in the fifth inning, giving up an RBI single off of Jake Rogers that tied this game up. Then in the sixth inning, Detroit took the lead from an Eric Haase fielders choice that brought one run in making it a 3-2 game.

Houston's bullpen has been very questionable early on this season and that was evident in this game when Spencer Torkelson hit a 2-run homer off Ryne Stanek. The Astros attempted a comeback but once again fell short to Detroit, losing 6-3.

Player of the game - 1B Spencer Torkelson

Game 3, Astros defeat Tigers 8-2

A must-win game in April doesn't sound right, but this was close to one of those games. The defending champs getting swept at home against the Tigers isn't great.

Houston jumped on top early in this game on a Chas McCormick 2-run homer in the second inning. Then in the fourth inning, Kyle Tucker went deep once again in this series to give the Astros a 3-1 lead.

Cristian Javier was solid from the mound, finishing with a final line of: 6 IP/ 5 K's/ 5 Hits / 1 ER. As I mentioned earlier, the bullpen has been an issue but they did the job, only giving up one run from an Austin Meadows RBI base hit. Then, Jeremy Pena finally hit his first home run of the season that extended the Astros lead to 8-2.

Player of the game - Jeremy Pena