Houston Astros (45-92) vs. Minnesota Twins (60-76), 7:10 pm (CT)

Minnesota at Houston, 1:10 pm (CT)

TV: CSN Houston, MLB.TV
Radio: KBME 790 AM, KLAT 1010 AM
Twins SBNation Blog: Twinkie Town

Pitching Match

LHP Pedro Hernandez (3-1/ 5.54 ERA / 1.69WHIP) vs. RHP Jarred Cosart (1-1 / 1.59 ERA / 1.27 WHIP)

Preview

The Astros once again found a new catastrophic way to end a baseball game yesterday. On top of that, the baseball gods have poured salt in the wound - Jason Castro left yesterday's game with was later diagnosed as a cyst on the medial side of his knee.

In response to the fact that catchers have been dropping left and right, the Astros have made a deal with the Braves. The Astros have acquired Matt Pagnozzi in exchange for cash considerations; Pagnozzi is 31 years old and has had a total of 109 at-bats in his major leagues career. He is batting .210 (61-290) with 17 extra base hits and 32 runs batted for Gwinnett Braves. Pagnozzi is expected to be in uniform tonight.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming - The Jarred Cosart Show already in progress. The Astros' young fireballer takes the mound tonight in his ninth start this season. He has given up more than one run in just two of his previous eight starts. Cosart has left with the game tied or Astros winning in seven of his previous eight starts. The bullpen has given up 20 runs during his starts, compared to Cosart's 10 runs allowed thus far in 2013. The Astros have only mustered two or less in five of his eight starts this year.

In his previous outing against the Twins, Cosart went seven and allowed only one earned run to score. He scattered five hits, walked one, and struck out four. Joe Mauer accounted for the one run batted in, and Justin Morneau had a double off Cosart - both are no longer in the Twins' lineup as result of injury and trade respectfully. Oswaldo Arcia, Pedro Florimon, Trevor Plouffe, and Clete Thomas have singles off the right-hander - Thomas scored the Twins lone run in the game.

Cosart's counterpart today is Pedro Hernandez; Hernandez won't blow the Astros away but has the command to keep him in the game. He was part of the Francisco Liriano trade with the White Sox. Hernandez has been on the shelf since July with a strained left forearm. This will be his first start since June 23, as a starter he has 6.19 ERA and record 3-1.

Jose Altuve is coming off a four-hit game yesterday. Chris Carter had two hits and two runs batted in his the first game this series. Jonathan Villar was 1-for-2 with two walks yesterday. Robbie Grossman is batting .319 (22-69) against left-handed pitching.