The Houston Astros were absolutely destroyed by the Los Angeles Angels Thursday night, allowing the worst team in the league to take the series from the division leader.
Aside from Peter Lambert having his worst start of the season and his career, giving up a career-high of nine runs on eight hits over 3.2 innings, Bryan King came in and managed to make things worse. Tatsuya Imai stepped in as well and contributed to the damage right before the Astros threw in the towel and put LaMonte Wade Jr. on the hill; even LaMonte Wade Jr gave up a home run.
Pitching has been the biggest struggle all season for Houston, and Thursday night was a brutal display of that. A rough night, especially for Lambert, who has been the one constant, the one pitcher giving length and consistency. At least he was due for a rough start. King and Imai, on the other hand, have already had their fair share of poor performances.
They can't afford to have the same issue heading into their series against the A's. The A's might be one of the worst teams in baseball right now, but it doesn't mean they can't crush the Astros despite being the division leader. The Angels just proved that with a lopsided 18-3 win.
Coming off a loss like that is a tough way to enter a series even if the A's are one of the worst teams in baseball.
Something has to change when it comes to pitching. The Astros desperately need length from their starter. So here is a look at the pitching matchup for the series opener Friday night.
Hayden Wesneski will take the mound for the Astros. He is currently 2-1, with a 5.16 ERA, and 18 SO. The right-handed pitcher is still finding his footing after recovering from Tommy John, but he definitely gives the Astros the most hope when it comes to their pitchers returning from serious injuries. However, his last start was not the best against the Seattle Mariners, allowing five runs on seven hits over four innings. He needs to be on top of his game to set the tone for his team.
J.T. Ginn will take the mound for the A's and he is currently 8-7, with a 3.53 ERA, and 114 SO. Ginn isn't having a historical season by any means, but he is having a solid major league season, and that is pretty much all it takes to take down the Astros lately.
It is easy to say that a series opening win would give the Astros the momentum they need, but momentum has proven to provide no help for Houston. After Thursday's loss, it's hard to know what to expect from this team despite leading the division.
