HOUSTON — The New York Yankees come to Daikin Park this weekend, and the Houston Astros could use a statement series.
At 10-16, Houston has been treading water in a season defined more by the injury report than the box score. The offense has held the team together—the Astros lead the majors in runs scored—but a pitching staff decimated by injuries has made winning a grind. A strong series against one of the American League’s marquee franchises would go a long way toward steadying the ship.
Lance McCullers Jr. gets the ball Friday night in the series opener, and there are few better settings for the veteran right-hander than a packed Daikin Park for a Yankees game. McCullers is 1-1 with a 6.20 ERA through four starts this season, numbers that don’t fully reflect the difficulty of his situation—he has been asked to anchor a rotation missing Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, Tatsuya Imai, and Cody Bolton. A quality start Friday would be a significant boost for a staff that badly needs one.
He’ll face Will Warren, who gets the nod for New York. The 26-year-old right-hander has shown flashes of the stuff that made him a prospect, and he figures to keep Houston’s lineup honest. Still, this is an Astros offense that has punished pitchers all season, and Yordan Alvarez, who enters the series with 11 home runs and 26 RBI, is the most dangerous hitter in the game right now.
Yankees series at Daikin Park tend to draw a crowd and carry an edge, and this one should be no different. For a Houston team that has spent most of April managing chaos, Friday night offers something simpler: a chance to beat a good team at home in front of their fans and remind the rest of the American League that the Astros aren’t going anywhere.
First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.
Heading to Daikin Park soon? Check the Astros promotions schedule before your next game.
