Astros Set Pitching Probables for Upcoming Angels Series

The Houston Astros and Los Angeles Angels meet up for a three-game set starting Tuesday at Daikin Park. The Astros have announced their starting pitching for two of the games with Wednesday being designated as a “TBA”.

Series Probables:

Tuesday: Cristian Javier vs. George Klassen

Wednesday: TBA vs. Walbert Ureña

Thursday: Peter Lambert vs. Grayson Rodriguez

The Astros come into the series fresh off a 3-3 week with a 2-1 series win on the road over the Giants and a 1-2 series loss at home against the Mariners. The Angels took three of four at home against the Rangers before losing two of three to the Royals also in Anaheim.

The Angels are 14 games back of Houston and in last place in the major leagues. The Astros hold a narrow two-game lead over Texas with the tiebreaker and a four-game lead over Seattle without the tiebreaker.

Tuesday Probables

Cristian Javier earns his seventh start of the season on Tuesday and his fourth since coming back from a midseason injury. He has a 1-3 record with a 6.68 ERA. Houston has lost the last five starts of Javier.  In August, Javier has a 5.73 ERA in two starts with a low strikeout total of two in each start.

George Klassen starts for the Angels on Tuesday. The rookie has made four major league starts with a 1-1 record and a 5.52 ERA. His WHIP is an extremely high 2.114 in 14.2 innings. He has struck out 14 batters.  Last time out, he earned the win with 6.0 innings of two run baseball against Texas. His first three starts lasted four innings or less each.

Wedenday Probables

The Astros haven’t announced their starter for Wednesday. There is potential for it to be Ethan Pecko who was pulled before his last start at Triple A Sugar Land. It could also be Tatsuya Imai who hasn’t appeared in a game since Aug. 12. Perhaps, the Astros could throw another bullpen game. The Angels are starting Walbert Ureña. Ureña is also a rookie with an 8-8 record and a 2.67 ERA in 22 appearances including 20 starts. He has posted a 2.6 bWAR, second among AL rookie pitchers.

Thursday Probables