Bryan Abreu’s struggles continued last night, and the Astros lost their second straight game at home in a 9-4 defeat at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals at Daikin Park.
Bryan Abreu entered the game last night with the Astros down 4-3 in the 7th inning. 16 pitches later, the game was 7-3 and effectively over.
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Abreu allowed 3 runs in his single inning of work, allowing a walk and 2 hits, including a 3-run home run to Nolan Gorman. Gorman entered the game hitting .208 with a paltry .611 OPS. He had not homered since March 30, and was in the midst of a 2 for 18 slump.
Abreu’s velocity continues to be a problem, as it is not only 2 MPH slower on average (97.3MPH in 2025, 95.4 MPH in 2026 per Statcast/Baseball Savant), but the velocity continues to be inconsistent pitch to pitch. Abreu’s fastball ranged from 96.4 on the high end (resulted in HR) to 94.7 on the low end (fly ball to right). The slowest one was his final fastball he threw.
Abreu’s slider has not been impacted velocity-wise, as his average slider last season was 86.5 MPH and this season it is 87.1 MPH.
Abreu’s command has also been off significantly this season. He threw only 8 of his 16 pitches last night for strikes, and has walked 13 batters in 7.1 IP this season. Last night, he walked Jordan Walker on 4 straight sliders, 3 of which weren’t close. He then threw 3 straight fastballs to Gorman, 2 of which were similar eye level. The second of those was hammered for a home run.
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Houston called up Peter Lambert to start the game for them due to their rash of injuries, and Lambert gave them a decent performance. He was able to get through 5 innings, which has been an accomplishment for Astros’ starters.
He allowed 4 runs on 7 hits, walked 1 and struck out 8. The 1 walk and 8 strikeouts were strong points. He also hit 2 batters. However, he gave them 5 innings, which the team desperately needed. He left trailing 4-3, but he gave the team a chance to compete and win.
Abreu removed that chance in the 7th.
Down 3-0 in the third, the Astros would answer with a pair of solo homers:
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Christian Vazquez continued his torrid start at the plate:
The Yordan Alvarez would follow 2 batters later with his 8th HR of the season:
Vazquez is now hitting .400 on the season with an 1.171 OPS. While certainly not sustainable, it should earn him more playing time over the struggling Yainer Diaz (.186 AVG, .476 OPS, -0.4 WAR). Vazquez’ defensive superiority has been evident as well.
Alvarez is now batting .333 with a 1.229 OPS, hitting like the monster at the plate that he is.
After the Cardinals added a run in the fourth, Jose Altuve got the Astros another run in the 5th:
Altuve’s 3rd HR of the season got Houston back to within 4-3. Altuve is now batting .293 with an .897 OPS, looking more like the Jose Altuve fans have come to expect over the last several seasons after struggling somewhat while playing through injury in 2025.
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J.P. France pitched the 8th and 9th innings, allowing a 2-run home run. Taylor Trammell had an RBI single in the 8th off old friend Ryne Stanek to score the Astros final run at 9-4.
With the loss, the Astros are now 8-13, tied for last place in the AL West with the Seattle Mariners. They are 3.5 games behind the division-leading Texas Rangers.
NOTES: Joey Loperfido left the game last night due to right quad tightness. He appeared to suffer the injury running to first base on a groundout in the bottom of the 6th. He was replaced by Brice Matthews.
Isaac Paredes also left the game last night. Manager Joe Espada said after the game that his “legs weren’t feeling good” after he ran down a foul pop. Shay Whitcomb replaced him in the 8th.
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