The Astros are rolling into a four-game set with the White Sox at Daikin Park, and Monday night’s opener sets the tone for a matchup between two AL division leaders. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. CT.
Houston will send Peter Lambert to the mound opposite Chicago left-hander Anthony Kay. Lambert has been the Astros’ most valuable pitcher with a 2.8 bWAR, but August has been a tougher stretch.
He hasn’t gotten through six innings in any start this month and is carrying a 6.12 ERA in August, even though his 3.88 FIP suggests the results haven’t matched the underlying work. Kay, meanwhile, has turned into a steady option for the White Sox after bouncing around for the previous seven seasons and spending the last two years in Japan.
He enters with a 9-6 record, a 4.09 ERA and 2.0 bWAR, and even after allowing four earned runs in his last outing, he’s posted a 3.49 ERA across 28.1 innings this month.
Houston’s lineup opens with Jeremy Pena, who has been doing damage at the top. He homered in three of the six games on the road trip, put up a 1.013 OPS and hit .280 over that stretch. August has been quieter overall, with a .679 OPS and a .202 average, but he comes in on a four-game hitting streak.
Yordan Alvarez is right behind him in the two spot, and he remains in the middle of the triple crown chase. He went 0-for-5 on Sunday, just the third time that’s happened all season, but he also homered Saturday for the first time in 13 games. Heading into Monday, Alvarez leads the batting race by .008 over Chandler Simpson, is tied with Junior Caminero for the home run lead, and sits two RBIs ahead of Pete Alonso.
Isaac Paredes bats third after drawing a walk in seven straight games, a stretch that has produced a .406 on-base percentage. That run already places him among the top 25 longest walk streaks in Astros history.
Daulton Varsho gets the cleanup spot, though he’s 0-for-his-last-8. Before that skid, he was swinging it well, going .308 with two homers and a .910 OPS over the previous six games.
Christian Walker hits fifth, and August has been a rough month. The 35-year-old went 1-for-11 in the Mets series and is hitting .209 with a .607 OPS in August. Since his 11-game hitting streak ended on Aug. 9, he’s at .154 with a .450 OPS.
Cam Smith starts in the sixth spot against the lefty, and his career numbers show why that matchup matters: a .759 OPS against left-handers compared to .634 against right-handers.
Nelson Velazquez is making his third start for Houston and is still looking for his first hit with the Astros after going 0-for-11 with one RBI. Nick Allen follows at eighth after a strong Sunday, when he went 3-for-4 with a double.
He’s 9-for-29 in August with an .812 OPS, his best month of the season. Christian Vazquez rounds out the order behind the plate, and he enters after going hitless in his last three games following a four-game hitting streak.
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