<\/p>\n
Cristian Javier lasted just three innings in his start Sunday, which once again put the Astros’ bullpen in an unfavorable situation that left Houston’s options limited late in a 6-5 loss to Texas.<\/p>\n
John Bunch\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Houston Astros center fielder Brice Matthews can\u2019t make a leaping play on a triple by Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung during the first inning of a baseball game at Globe Life Field on Sunday, July 12, 2026, in Arlington.<\/p>\n
Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Josh Jung of the Texas Rangers is a safe with a triple ahead of the throw to Houston Astros third baseman Isaac Paredes during the first inning of a baseball game at Globe Life Field on Sunday, July 12, 2026, in Arlington.<\/p>\n
Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom looks out from the dugout prior to a baseball game against the Houston Astros at Globe Life Field on Sunday, July 12, 2026, in Arlington.<\/p>\n
Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Texas Rangers pitcher MacKenzie Gore tosses a rosin bag as Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros round the bases after hitting a home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game at Globe Life Field on Sunday, July 12, 2026, in Arlington.<\/p>\n
Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
ARLINGTON, TEXAS – JULY 12: Yordan Alvarez #44 of the Houston Astros singles against the Texas Rangers during the sixth inning at Globe Life Field on July 12, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Ron Jenkins\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
ARLINGTON, TEXAS – JULY 12: Jose Altuve #27 of the Houston Astros celebrates after hitting a solo home run against the Texas Rangers during the fourth inning at Globe Life Field on July 12, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Ron Jenkins\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
ARLINGTON, TEXAS – JULY 12: Jose Altuve #27 of the Houston Astros hits a solo home run against the Texas Rangers during the fourth inning at Globe Life Field on July 12, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Ron Jenkins\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
ARLINGTON, TEXAS – JULY 12: Jose Altuve #27 of the Houston Astros celebrates after hitting a solo home run against the Texas Rangers during the fourth inning at Globe Life Field on July 12, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Ron Jenkins\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
ARLINGTON, TEXAS – JULY 12: Bryan Abreu #52 of the Houston Astros delivers against the Texas Rangers during the fifth inning at Globe Life Field on July 12, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Ron Jenkins\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
ARLINGTON, TEXAS – JULY 12: Cristian Javier #53 of the Houston Astros pitches against the Texas Rangers during the first inning at Globe Life Field on July 12, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Ron Jenkins\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Texas Rangers left fielder Wyatt Langford looks away as a halftime by Houston Astros outfielder Cam Smith lands in the seats during the eigth inning of a baseball game at Globe Life Field on Sunday, July 12, 2026, in Arlington.<\/p>\n
Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Texas Rangers left fielder Wyatt Langford celebrates reaching second base on an error after hitting a leadoff single during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros at Globe Life Field on Sunday, July 12, 2026, in Arlington. Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve is at left.<\/p>\n
Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Houston Astros center field Taylor Trammell can\u2019t make a play on a triple by Texas Rangers right fielder Brandon Nimmo during the fifth inning of a baseball game at Globe Life Field on Sunday, July 12, 2026, in Arlington.<\/p>\n
Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Texas Rangers right fielder Brandon Nimmo pumps his fist as he heads down the line after hitting a walk-off single during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros at Globe Life Field on Sunday, July 12, 2026, in Arlington.<\/p>\n
Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Texas Rangers right fielder Brandon Nimmo celebrates with teammates after hitting a walk-off single during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros at Globe Life Field on Sunday, July 12, 2026, in Arlington.<\/p>\n
Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
ARLINGTON\u00a0\u2014 At the end of an arduous first half, the Houston Astros<\/a> attempted to wring three more outs from a key reliever. Bryan King, who had already expended 21 pitches in a seventh inning in which he left the bases loaded, trotted back to the mound for the eighth with a newfound lead.<\/p>\n Three seasoned Astros relievers had already entered Sunday\u2019s finale against the Rangers. Cristian Javier lasted three innings in his first start since a shoulder injury, pressing the bullpen into early action. Javier totaled 60 pitches as Texas built a three-run lead against him.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were prepared for that, we knew that Javi was going to be limited,\u201d Astros manager Joe Espada said of the right-hander, who had pitched twice in relief since his IL stint. \u201cBut we had a fresh bullpen, and we deployed it. And they kept us in the game. We had a shot to win that game.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Enyel De Los Santos, Bryan Abreu and Steven Okert all worked as the Astros turned a 3-0 deficit into a 4-4 tie. King preserved it with an escape in the seventh. Cam Smith struck a home run in the eighth to give Houston a 5-4 edge. Nobody warmed in the visitors\u2019 bullpen at Globe Life Field.<\/p>\n A night earlier<\/a>, AJ Blubaugh had thrown 43 pitches in two innings. Nate Pearson and Alimber Santa were both ostensibly fresh, but neither is a high-leverage preference for Houston. Closer Josh Hader<\/a> is limited to one-inning appearances after returning from a 10-month injury hiatus.<\/p>\n King is among Houston\u2019s most trusted relievers, and has been one of its most effective. Before allowing two homers Friday<\/a>, the left-hander had allowed one run over his previous 17 outings. A dearth of other options prolonged this one, and he returned for the eighth inning.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cIt was tough,\u201d King said. \u201cBut game\u2019s on the line, so we had to do it. Had to dig deep, and it didn\u2019t work out, but that\u2019s how it goes sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n What ensued punctuated Houston\u2019s pallid first half. King got two outs before Kyle Higashioka hit a game-tying home run, the Rangers strung three soft singles off Hader in the ninth, and the Astros were walked off in a 6-5 loss<\/a> that underscored an issue a 47-51 team must address in order to salvage its season.<\/p>\n Lack of reliability in the starting rotation is taxing Houston\u2019s bullpen and testing the limits of its lineup\u2019s ability to be resilient. Just six major-league clubs are averaging fewer innings per game by their starters. The Astros\u2019 5.26 rotation ERA is higher than that of all but two teams, the Athletics and Rockies.<\/p>\n BATTERS Team Totals Alvarez Pe\u00f1a Correa Delgado Shewmake Paredes Wade Diaz Allen Walker Altuve Trammell Dezenzo Harris V\u00e1zquez Smith Loperfido Meyers Matthews Price Cole Johnson Whitcomb Salazar ___<\/p>\n PITCHERS Team Totals Ullola Meyers Hader Santa VanWey Okert King Lambert Brown Pearson Blubaugh De Los Santos Teng Arrighetti Roa Bolton Abreu Burrows Imai McCullers Murray Weiss France Sousa Salazar Alexander Javier Gordon Mu\u00f1oz A bullpen that began Sunday with baseball\u2019s lowest ERA since May 15 has lent balance, but the formula seems unsustainable. Only six bullpens amassed more innings in the first half than the Astros. Only four logged more appearances of more than three outs prior to Sunday.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Twenty-five American League relievers have at least 40 outings this season. Three reside in the Houston bullpen: Okert, De Los Santos and King, the club\u2019s de facto setup man. In his 40 outings, King has made 10 that spanned multiple innings. Okert and De Los Santos have combined for 27.<\/p>\n That the Astros have the fewest blown saves in baseball reinforces how well the relief corps has pitched. But it is being asked to shoulder a heavy burden. In six of the last 10 games before the break, the Astros received fewer than five innings from their starting pitcher.<\/p>\n Peter Lambert<\/a>, arguably the staff\u2019s most reliable starter in the first half, authored two of the exceptions. Hunter Brown<\/a> and Spencer Arrighetti<\/a> each accounted for one. Brown and Lambert are perhaps the lone certainties right now in a rotation that could be in flux in the second half.<\/p>\n Ronel Blanco, who threw 4 \u2153 scoreless innings in a Triple-A rehab start Sunday, appears on the cusp of returning from his Tommy John recovery. Hayden Wesneski, who threw 4 \u2154 innings in a Triple-A rehab outing Saturday, may not be far behind.<\/p>\n If both return, the Astros will face some interesting decisions. They already hinted at one, putting Javier, the highest-paid pitcher on their roster, in the bullpen initially<\/a> upon his return from the IL. Sending Mike Burrows to Triple-A<\/a> amid his struggles opened a spot that Javier filled Sunday.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Javier had thrown 30 and 39 pitches in his two relief outings, leaving him limited, but the start still may have offered the right-hander a chance to make a case for more. Javier allowed three runs in his three innings, with four hits allowed, three walks and four strikeouts.<\/p>\n \u201cI really liked the fastball today,\u201d Espada said. \u201cThey actually barreled a few balls that were well-executed pitches, that were down, and were able to find some holes. But I thought it was a good showing by Javi.\u201d<\/p>\n Javier, who did generate 10 whiffs on 30 swings, said through an interpreter he felt \u201cmy stuff was great\u201d and he \u201chad the confidence to compete with every one of my pitches.\u201d Javier said he has \u201cfelt great\u201d in each of his outings since returning from a Grade 2 shoulder strain.<\/p>\n Asked if he is open to pitching in the bullpen if that becomes his role again in the second half, Javier said: \u201cYeah, of course. I\u2019m here just to try to do the best I can do out there and try to help the team in any way possible.\u201d<\/p>\n Other starters, still, have struggled. Arrighetti\u2019s past seven starts yielded an 8.74 ERA. Tatsuya Imai posted a 6.06 ERA in his first 13 starts in MLB, with no semblance of consistency<\/a>. The Astros received fewer than five innings from starters in 36 of 98 first-half games, more than one-third.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n A dreadful division remains in reach despite that. The\u00a0Astros entered the break only three games behind first-place Texas in the AL West and 1 \u00bd games out of an AL wild-card spot, proximity that reinforces their need to shore up the rotation, whether by internal reinforcement or at the trade deadline<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019re in a great spot,\u201d first baseman Christian Walker said Sunday afternoon. \u201cAt the end of the year, you want a chance, you just need to be close. Anybody can get hot at the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n No better method for it may exist than stringing together quality starts. The Astros did not receive three straight quality starts at any point in the first half, inviting the question of whether rotation help may be the greater trade deadline need than general manager Dana Brown\u2019s stated desire for a left-handed bat<\/a>.<\/p>\n Internal options could provide more consistency, as well, but it seems Houston must find it somewhere. Four idle days offer a chance to consider possibilities before the Astros resume a months-long effort to claw their way back to the .500 mark, and beyond.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got to walk into the clubhouse every single day believing that we can win, preparing ourselves to win and execute, doing the small things that we do very well,\u201d Espada said. \u201cIf we do that, we\u2019re going to stay in this fight.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cristian Javier lasted just three innings in his start Sunday, which once again put the Astros’ bullpen in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370772,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-370771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\n7
\n3
\n6
\n6<\/p>\n