BRADENTON, Fla. — The Houston Astros erupted for 10 runs on eight hits Tuesday, rolling past the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-2 at LECOM Park behind a productive offense and another encouraging start from Lance McCullers Jr.
McCullers picked up his first spring win, working four innings and allowing one earned run on three hits while striking out three. The command issues that plagued him last season were nowhere to be found—he worked efficiently, mixed his pitches well, and looked every bit like the pitcher the Astros need him to be.
The offense wasted no time. Joey Loperfido singled to open the game, stole second, and scored on a Shay Whitcomb single to give Houston an early lead. The Astros then blew the game open in the third inning when Brice Matthews launched a two-run homer to right—his first of the spring—and Zach Cole followed two batters later with a solo shot, his second of the spring, to make it 4-0. Cole finished with five RBI, the game’s offensive standout.
Houston kept the pressure on in the fifth, sending nine batters to the plate. Loperfido, Matthews, and Cole all walked to load the bases, and Whitcomb delivered an RBI single before Cavan Biggio capped the rally with a two-run single, pushing the lead to 8-1. Riley Unroe added a two-run double in the eighth to account for the final margin, and Christian Vázquez—making one of his first appearances since returning from Team Puerto Rico’s WBC run—added an RBI single.
Roddery Muñoz and Christian Roa each threw clean innings in relief before Logan VanWey finished the game.
It was a strong day for several players in the outfield competition. Loperfido scored twice and drove in a run, Taylor Trammell played right field, and Cole’s home run came off the bat at an impressive exit velocity. Whitcomb, fresh off his WBC run with Team Korea, went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a stolen base.