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Happy Mark Appel Day, everybody! This is a day many Astros will hopefully look back on in a couple years as a big day, but it was not a memorable one for the big club.
Lucas Harrell tied a season-high in home runs allowed (three) and walks (six) in a downright ugly outing against the Texas Rangers on Friday night. It's a very discouraging outing for Harrell, who had only allowed four homers in all of June, as he seemed to be finding a groove after a solid outing against the Angels last time out. The trade value for the righty can't be too good after this appearance.
The command wasn't there for the righty from the start - evidenced by the six walks. But the three bombs to David Murphy, Nelson Cruz (a grand slam prefaced by a single and two walks) and Adrian Beltre made this one really hurt.
The bright side is that Brett Oberholtzer and Travis Blackley combined for 4.1 innings of four-hit, one-run ball in relief.
They held it down for the Astros offense that actually outhit the Rangers 10-9, but Houston did not score until the sixth inning. Jason Castro (3-for-4, RBI single), Chris Carter (two-run double) and J.D. Martinez (2-for-4, RBI single) contributed run-scoring hits in the four-run sixth. The Astros tacked one on in the eighth as Castro scored on an error by the Rangers' Mitch Moreland.
The defeat makes it nine losses in eleven games for the Astros. Time for Jeff Luhnow to create some excitement in the trade market for the Astros fan base. We have to be entertained somehow!