It wasn’t long ago when Andrew Cashner bombed versus Houston. That was when he allowed five earned runs on 11 hits in six innings of a 6-5 home loss on June 3. Tonight, Cashner gets his third shot at beating the Astros this season after going 0-2 with a 5.25 ERA versus the Astros so far this year.
Cashner recovered quickly from that abysmal showing, taming the Washington Nationals in a 5-2 win on June 9, giving up just an earned run on six hits in seven innings of mound duty. On the season, Cashner is 3-5 with a 3.17 ERA.
Texas’ hitters, meanwhile, will get to face Astros prospect Astros prospect Francis Martes and will look to get him a rude awakening as he makes his first career start.
Delino DeShields is 7-for-20 in his last six games, while Shin-Soo Choo is 5-for-18 with two homers in his last six as well.
With Lance McCullers getting placed on the disabled list, the Astros needed to find a pitcher to replace him on the rotation. They got their guy (for now) in Francis Martes, who is regarded as Houston’s best pitching prospect.
Martes made his big league debut back in a 9-4 home loss to the Angels on June 9, pitching 3.2 innings of relief and allowing four earned runs on four hits, while striking out two and issuing two walks. While he continues to get his feet wet in the majors, the Astros’ elite offense has to make him comfortable on the mound.
Perhaps it’s a good thing for Martes that the Astros will be facing Texas’ Cashner, against whom the current Astros’ lineup has a career batting average of .291. Carlos Beltran is 4-for-7 with a homer in his career against Cashner. Jose Altuve, on the other hand, is 3-for-9 in the same matchup.
