
Guardians try to end 3-game road skid, play the Astros
Cleveland Guardians (40-48, fourth in the AL Central) vs. Houston Astros (55-35, first in the AL West)
Houston; Monday, 8:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Guardians: Tanner Bibee (4-9, 4.10 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 87 strikeouts); Astros: Colton Gordon (3-1, 4.37 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 41 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Astros -162, Guardians +136; over/under is 7 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Cleveland Guardians will try to break their three-game road losing streak in a matchup with the Houston Astros.
Houston has gone 32-14 at home and 55-35 overall. The Astros have the fourth-best team ERA in baseball at 3.48.
Cleveland is 20-25 in road games and 40-48 overall. The Guardians have a 23-10 record in games when they did not allow a home run.
The matchup Monday is the fourth meeting between these teams this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jake Meyers has 15 doubles, two triples, three home runs and 21 RBIs for the Astros. Jose Altuve is 13 for 39 with two doubles, a triple and four home runs over the last 10 games.
Jose Ramirez has 14 home runs, 30 walks and 39 RBIs while hitting .297 for the Guardians. Steven Kwan is 10 for 42 with three doubles, a triple and four RBIs over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 8-2, .304 batting average, 3.84 ERA, outscored opponents by 22 runs
Guardians: 0-10, .166 batting average, 4.44 ERA, outscored by 33 runs
INJURIES: Astros: Yordan Alvarez: 60-Day IL (hand), Luis Guillorme: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Jeremy Pena: 10-Day IL (rib), Jacob Melton: 10-Day IL (ankle), Shawn Dubin: 15-Day IL (forearm), Pedro Leon: 60-Day IL (knee), Brendan Rodgers: 10-Day IL (oblique), Spencer Arrighetti: 60-Day IL (thumb), Chas McCormick: 10-Day IL (oblique), Ronel Blanco: 60-Day IL (elbow), Zach Dezenzo: 10-Day IL (hand), Hayden Wesneski: 60-Day IL (elbow), Luis Garcia: 60-Day IL (elbow), Cristian Javier: 60-Day IL (elbow), J.P. France: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
Guardians: Lane Thomas: 10-Day IL (foot), Gabriel Arias: 10-Day IL (ankle), Will Brennan: 60-Day IL (forearm), Andrew Walters: 60-Day IL (lat), Ben Lively: 60-Day IL (forearm), Shane Bieber: 60-Day IL (elbow), Trevor Stephan: 60-Day IL (elbow), John Means: 60-Day IL (elbow), Sam Hentges: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
The five key statistics that have kept the Houston Astros' offense afloat in 2025
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So can adding balance during the upcoming trade deadline. But, after 90 games, here are the five numbers that have kept Houston's offense afloat. The Astros awoke on Sunday sporting the platoon advantage in 28.4 percent of their plate appearances. Every other lineup in the sport had it at least 37.5 percent of the time. The major-league average is 54.2 percent, a number the Astros won't reach even if they acquire a left-handed bat at the trade deadline and welcome Alvarez back to their lineup. Including the Astros, only five offenses have taken fewer than 50 percent of their plate appearances with a platoon advantage. Three of them — the Giants, Royals and Angels — all awoke on Sunday with an OPS+ at least four points below league average. Houston entered its series finale against the Dodgers with a 106 OPS+, neutralizing what is supposed to be a drastic disadvantage. Thirty-two right-handed batters entered Sunday with at least a .770 OPS against right-handed pitching. The Astros employ four of them. No other team has more than three. Altuve and Isaac Paredes' success against right-handed pitching is part of their career-long trends. Meyers, meanwhile, had a .621 OPS and a 24.5 percent strikeout rate against righties across the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Peña posted a .659 OPS against right-handers during that same timeframe. Advertisement Just seven right-handed hitters entered Sunday with a higher OPS against right-handed pitching than Peña's .854 mark. Meyers' .782 OPS against righties is another marked improvement amid his breakout season, one that is helping Houston's unbalanced lineup to thrive. The number itself inspires little confidence, but consider that Houston finished last season with a minus-10 baserunning run value. Only the Angels, Blue Jays and Yankees were worse. Last year, the Yankees and Astros took an extra base on hits less than any team in the sport. The Yankees are authoring a repeat performance this season. 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Houston's lineup hammers fastballs, a fact opponents are beginning to respect. No offense in baseball has a higher batting average against all fastballs — four-seamers, two-seamers and cutters — than the Astros' .291 mark. As a result, Houston's lineup is seeing just 53.6 percent fastballs. Only five teams are seeing fewer. Fewer fastballs means a higher percentage of secondary pitches and spin, patterns that can become easy to predict, but still difficult to hit. The Astros entered Sunday seeing breaking balls 34.1 percent of the time. Just three teams see spin more often — the Angels, Phillies and Diamondbacks — but none of them have been as successful handling the secondary stuff. The Angels, for example, are hitting .191 against the major-league high 34.4 percent of breaking balls they see. The Astros' .232 batting average against breaking balls is the eighth highest in baseball, but only one team ahead of them — the Dodgers — is seeing spin at higher than a 31.9 percent clip. Remember, Houston is seeing it 34.1 percent of the time. Unsurprisingly, teams are attacking the Astros' free-swingers and fledgling players with spin. Meyers, Yainer Diaz and Cam Smith all entered Sunday seeing at least 35 percent breaking balls. Meyers, who hit .163 against spin last season, has increased his average to .223. Smith has the same batting average, which is more than adequate for a rookie. Diaz's has dropped from .293 last season to .207 through the first 89 games of this one, but his backup is helping to pick up the slack. Victor Caratini crushed a sweeper for a grand slam during Friday's 18-1 destruction of the Dodgers, continuing a renaissance Houston needed. Victor Caratini hit .234 against breaking balls last season. His recent grand slam upped his average to .302 in this season. Solving all spin is crucial for any lineup, but for one as right-handed as Houston's, holding its own against sliders is crucial. Sliders are a right-handed pitcher's preferred putaway pitch against a right-handed hitter. Advertisement Houston leads the major leagues in right-handed plate appearances, so it is no surprise that its lineup is seeing the second-most sliders of any offense in baseball. Only the Los Angeles Angels are seeing more — and are slashing a meager .192/.243/.369 against them. The Astros, meanwhile, entered Sunday with baseball's fourth-highest slugging percentage against sliders. No team has more hits off of sliders — then again, few get as many opportunities — but Houston's performance against the pitch can't be overstated. Peña's improvement at recognizing sliders has been chronicled. He's one of six Astros who entered Sunday hitting at least .247 while seeing at least 700 sliders — success that must be maintained for however long the lineup remains so right-handed. (Photo of Christian Walker and Yanier Diaz celebrating: Harry How / Getty Images)


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