Houston Astros Visit Detroit Tigers — Series Preview

The Astros have three dates against the Tigers in Detroit starting Friday night.

Houston will close out their season series against the Tigers with three games this weekend. The two clubs met earlier, with Detroit winning two-of-three at MMP in April. Houston saved face with a victory in the final game, 8-2 on April 5. Jeremy Peña (1), Chas McCormick (1) and Kyle Tucker (3) all went deep. Cristian Javier (1-0, 3.27) got the win, striking out five and walking zero over six five-hit innings, allowing one earned run.

Houston is 44-35 in regular season history against the Tigers, their fifth-best record against an opponent. They’ve never played against Detroit in the postseason.

Houston just finished a seven-game homestand, winning two and losing five. The Astros were swept in three by the Seattle Mariners and split four with the Boston Red Sox. Of course, some losses are worse than others, and Houston lost the finale, 17-1 on Thursday afternoon. The following highlights, however, are from Houston’s last victory, a 7-3 win against the Red Sox on Tuesday. Kyle Tucker (25) went deep, and Jon Singleton led the offense with a pair of doubles.

The Tigers are three games down into a 10-game homestand, losing two-of-three to the Chicago Cubs. In the finale, on August 23, Chicago earned a 6-4 win despite a Kerry Carpenter (20) grand slam. Beau Brieske (0-2, 3.15) was charged with the loss.

Gametime and Starting Pitchers

Friday at 5:40 PM CT — Framber Valdez (9-9, 3.55) vs. Matt Manning (5-4, 4.31)
Saturday at 5:10 PM CT — Hunter Brown (9-9, 4.50) vs. Eduardo Rodriguez (9-6, 3.03)
Sunday at 12:40 CT — Justin Verlander (9-6, 3.19) vs. Alex Faedo (2-4, 4.91)

After this series, Houston will conclude their six-game road-trip with three games at Fenway, while the Tigers will host the bottom-feeding New York Yankees four times.