Astros’ hitters go silent against Martín Pérez. Lose 3-0 against Rangers

Friday night wasn’t so enjoyable for the Astros. Rangers’ starter Martín Pérez outpitched Astros’ Cristian Javier pitching a complete game for the first time since 2014. Despite having registered seven hits (two more than Texas), the Astros finished the night getting shut out for the third time during the 2022 season.

On the Astros’ side, Cristian Javier was almost untouchable with the exception of a solo homer from Kole Calhoun in the fourth inning. Javier, who took the loss, recovered from an abysmal start on May 14 with six innings of three hits and one earned run, along with one walk and nine strikeouts, tying a career-high for him. His ERA lowered to 2.87.

Offensively, the Astros didn’t make much noise. They were no-hit until Jeremy Peña hit a single in the fifth inning. And in the sixth, they wasted a huge opportunity to tie the score after Chas McCormick was stranded at third base with a strikeout from Pérez to Michael Brantley.

In the seventh, the Astros began the inning with two straight singles from Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker but then Yuli Gurriel struck out swinging and Peña hit a grounder for a double play to end the inning. In general, Houston finished 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and left five runners on base.

In the eighth inning, the worst happened for the ‘Stros. With men on first and second against Rafael Montero, Eli White hit a sacrifice bunt to Montero and the right-hander made a throwing error in a throw to third base that wasn’t grabbed by Bregman. With the score 2-0, Marcus Semien hit an RBI single to make it 3-0.

On Saturday, Justin Verlander will take the ball for Houston against veteran righty Jon Gray for the third game of the series.

VIDEOS AND BOX SCORE HERE.