The Houston Astros head into Wednesday night looking to build on Tuesday's wild 9-7 win, and take the series lead in the process.
First pitch is 6:05 PM at Yankee Stadium. After what they have endured lately, a series win against the New York Yankees would be huge, and it would keep the Astros right at .500. They're currently tied with Texas atop the AL West, but the Rangers hold the tiebreaker, so there's no room for error here.
Here is a look at Wednesday night's pitching matchup:
Peter Lambert (8-7, 3.68 ERA, 120 SO) gets the ball for Houston. He's been the one arm in this rotation you can actually count on, and after everything the pitching staff has been through, that consistency matters more than ever right now. While his last outing was a rough one, giving up a career high of nine runs, that was likely a fluke, and the Astros should be in good hands.
Elmer Rodríguez (0-2, 4.76 ERA, 10 SO) takes the mound for the Yankees. He's a 22-year-old rookie out of Puerto Rico still finding his footing at the big league level. This is exactly the kind of matchup the Astros should be looking to take advantage of.
Here's how both lineups are looking for Wednesday:
Astros (66-66):
- Jeremy Peña (R) SS
- Yordan Alvarez (L) DH
- Isaac Paredes (R) 3B
- Jose Altuve (R) 2B
- Daulton Varsho (L) CF
- Christian Walker (R) 1B
- Taylor Trammell (L) LF
- Cam Smith (R) RF
- Christian Vázquez (R) C
Yankees (74-57):
- Trent Grisham (L) CF
- Ben Rice (L) DH
- Luis García Jr. (L) 1B
- Cody Bellinger (L) LF
- George Lombard Jr. (R) SS
- Spencer Jones (L) RF
- Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L) 2B
- Austin Wells (L) C
- José Caballero (R) 3B
After the way Tuesday's game went, back and forth, three separate ties, and a final lead that didn't come until the eighth, nothing about this series feels settled. Lambert giving the Astros length would go a long way toward making sure this one doesn't turn into another slugfest.
Houston's got more riding on this than just the series. They're sitting in a virtual tie for the division lead, and every game like this matters just as much as the flashy ones. A win tonight doesn't just take the series, it's another step toward putting some real distance between them and Texas.
