Pena went 3-for-4 with a solo home run in a 9-4 loss to the Yankees on Wednesday. Pena had been in a small funk coming into the contest, going 2-for-14 over his previous four games. He bounced back Wednesday with his fourth three-hit performance of the campaign, which included his first long ball in May. Pena has been a pleasant surprise for Houston this season, slashing .326/.367/.464 with four homers, 14 RBI, 21 runs and five stolen bases through 147 plate appearances.
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Pena went 3-for-4 with a solo home run in a 9-4 loss to the Yankees on Wednesday. Pena had been in a small funk coming into the contest, going 2-for-14 over his previous four games. He bounced back Wednesday with his fourth three-hit performance of the campaign, which included his first long ball in May. Pena has been a pleasant surprise for Houston this season, slashing .326/.367/.464 with four homers, 14 RBI, 21 runs and five stolen bases through 147 plate appearances.
Astros manager Joe Espada said Wednesday that Urquidy (forearm) is likely to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Sugar Land this weekend, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports. The right-hander threw live batting practice Tuesday and has now been cleared to pitch in minor-league games. Urquidy was shut down with a forearm strain in mid-March and will likely require a handful of rehab starts before making his season debut for the Astros.
Manager Joe Espada said Wednesday that McCormick (hamstring) could begin a rehab assignment this weekend, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports. The 29-year-old landed on the injured list with hamstring soreness last week, and he is now on the cusp of returning to game action. McCormick will likely only need a few games in the minors to get back up to speed due to the brevity of the absence, though he could use a few extra at-bats given his .603 OPS through 21 games.
Astros manager Joe Espada said Wednesday that Pressly is managing lower-back soreness but that it's "nothing worrisome right now," Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports. The 35-year-old hasn't pitched since Friday due to the injury, and it's unclear if he'll be available for Wednesday's matchup with the Yankees. Pressly was able to play catch, so it doesn't appear as though he's in danger of needing a trip to the injured list.
Tucker went 1-for-2 with a walk and a solo home run in Tuesday's 10-3 loss to the Yankees. He took Luis Gil deep in the first inning, but things quickly went off the rails for the Astros after that. Tucker has gone yard in back-to-back games and has five long balls in his last nine contests, a surge that has him tied for second in the majors with 10 HR, one behind Shohei Ohtani. Tucker is slashing .279/.396/.566 through 35 games with five steals, 24 runs and 24 RBI.
Verlander (1-1) took the loss Tuesday, coughing up seven runs on eight hits -- including three home runs -- and three walks over five innings as the Astros were routed 10-3 by the Yankees. He struck out two. The 41-year-old right-hander looked his age, managing only six swinging strikes among his 97 pitches as he got tagged for his most earned runs in a start since July 2, 2017 against Cleveland. Verlander has served up five homers in four starts and 22.1 innings, which isn't unusual for him, but he's beginning to have trouble keeping traffic off the basepaths ahead of the long balls -- he's walked at least three batters in three straight starts. He'll take a 4.43 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and 15:10 K:BB into his next outing, which lines up to come at home early next week against the A's.
Astros manager Joe Espada said Tuesday that Javier (neck) will return from the injured list this weekend to start against the Tigers, Julia Morales of AT&T SportsNet Southwest reports. Javier will return this weekend after missing just under a month due to the neck issue, though it's unclear exactly which day he'll take the mound in Detroit. The 27-year-old threw 68 pitches over 3.1 frames in his lone rehab outing and may face some minor workload limitations in his first outing back with the Astros.
Astros manager Joe Espada said Tuesday that Abreu has "no timetable" to return to the major-league team, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports. Abreu was optioned to the rookie-level Astros' Arizona Complex League affiliate last week after slashing just .099/.156/.113 in 77 plate appearances this season. He's been working on getting his swing right and is "doing very well," per Espada, although Abreu hasn't played in any official games yet. The 37-year-old will likely be assigned to a higher minor-league affiliate eventually as he works his way back to the big-league club.
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