The Houston Astros are back at .500. Or, rather, they are .500 for the first time this season. Wednesday afternoon the Astros moved their record to 40-40 by completing a two-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies (HOU 7, COL 1). The win pushed their winning streak to seven games. They have won 15 of 22 games since entering June with a 25-33 record.
This hot streak has coincided with a tough spell by the AL West-leading Seattle Mariners -- Seattle had lost six of seven prior to their win Wednesday afternoon (SEA 5, TB 2) -- and moved Houston to within 4.5 games of the division lead. It is the closest they've been since May 27. The Astros started the season 0-4 and bottomed out at 7-19 on April 25, a dozen games below .500.
The Astros swept the Baltimore Orioles this past weekend and, as our R.J. Anderson explained, they've been able to turn their season around because the pitching has improved and their stars are playing like stars. On Wednesday, rookie Spencer Arrighetti held an admittedly weak Rockies lineup scoreless across seven innings. He struck out a career high 10.
Wednesday was not all good news for the Astros, however. Righty J.P. France will have season-ending shoulder surgery, the team announced. France had a 3.83 ERA in 136 1/3 innings last year. This year, he had a 7.46 ERA in five starts before being demoted to Triple-A. He landed on the minor-league injured list after one Triple-A start.
Earlier this month, GM Dana Brown acknowledged the Astros may have rushed France back from a spring training shoulder issue. Now the 29-year-old is going under the knife, and shoulder surgery always comes with the risk it will be career-altering. From The Athletic:
"When he got hurt in spring training and he felt the discomfort, we were really pressing to get him back and maybe we may have rushed him a little bit," Brown told the team's pregame show. "Especially with Verlander being out at the same time, we were trying to really plug holes in this rotation. He felt pretty good and so we pressed him a little bit and he tried to pitch through it. I think this time we're probably going to be more patient."
The Astros lost Cristian Javier and José Urquidy to Tommy John surgery earlier this month and Justin Verlander is currently out with a neck issue. He is not recovering as quickly as the team expected and there is no timetable for his return, manager Joe Espada said earlier this week. Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr. are working their way back from last year's elbow surgeries.
Even with Hunter Brown's resurgence and Arrighetti's brilliant outing Wednesday, Astros starters have a 4.26 ERA this year, ranking 18th in baseball. They have ranked bottom five most of the season, so things are trending in the right direction, but their depth has taken a hit with the France, Javier, and Urquidy injuries. Houston has a clear need for another starter at the trade deadline.
Following an off-day Thursday, the Astros begin a 10-game road trip that will see them play the New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays, and Minnesota Twins in that order. The Blue Jays series is a four-gamer. The Mets and Twins series are three games apiece.
