Houston Astros’ slate Fernando Abad as starter for opener against St. Louis Cardinals – MLB News
Houston Astros have named Fernando Abad as their opener of the three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals, starting Tuesday. Abad, who has pitched four games in the Major League has so far not demonstrated the kind of effectiveness and superiority he put on display in the Minor League.
Abad has a 0-for-4 record with an unimpressive 6.89 ERA in the Majors. Compared it to the Minor League, he had been doing well with a 2.37 ERA with 15-11 record.
The last encounter that Abad had was against the Cubs wherein the Astros lost 5-1. That was a setback for the young pitcher whom the Astros see as a big asset for the club’s rotation.
"It was tough to watch him early," Astros' manager Tony DeFrancesco said. "There were a lot of deep counts and he fell behind and didn't seem he could locate his fastball early, and it was time for him to come out of the game when the situation came."
Tuesday’s opener will be an opportunity for Abad to put things in order again.
"Abad is going to have to battle," DeFrancesco said. "We're trying to get him to make quality pitches and he's working hard in his bullpens and his sides and he's just got to bring it across the lines."
Be that as it may, the Astros are currently in excellent form, having just beaten the Philadelphia Phillies 3-1 in the four-game series. With that resounding success, they have already been coming across as intimidating rivals.
Facing Astros on Tuesday is Kyle Lohse whom the Cardinals hope will come down hard on the rival team, keeping the Cards’ lead in Wild Card race intact. But Astros’ 7-6 win over the Phillies on Sunday is a thing to reckon with for the Cardinals.
While both teams will try their level best to get the upper hand in the series, Lohse will have an advantage of having a 2.81 ERA with a 14-3 record in 30 starts.
Astros, nonetheless, will have an opportunity to have a better finish this season if they exhibit the kind of performance they showed against the Phillies.
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