TONIGHT’S GAME: The first-place Astros will host their intrastate rivals, the Rangers, for the middle game of their huge three-game series between the top two teams in the AL West.
RHP Ronel Blanco (0-1) will make his third Major League start of the season tonight as he opposes RHP Jacob deGrom (7-6) and the Rangers.
SILVER BOOT SECURED: With last night’s win, the Astros improved to 7-4 against the Rangers this season, securing them the 2026 Silver Boot.
The Astros have now won the Silver Boot in 10
consecutive seasons (since 2017), during which the Astros have gone 100-55 vs. the Rangers.
THE TURNAROUND: After a slow start to the season, the Astros are 36-24 since May 22, which ties as the best record in the AL in that span.
On that date, the Astros were 20-31, 11 games under, which is their low water mark for the season.
Winning Percentage since May 22, AL
T1. Astros 36-24 (.600)
T1. Red Sox 36-24 (.600)
T3. Orioles 33-27 (.550)
T3. White Sox 33-27 (.550)
MEASURING UP: The Astros are 31-19 vs. teams currently at .500 or better, the second-best mark in the Majors, trailing only the Brewers (34-17).
Also, Houston is a combined 14-7 vs. the five other AL clubs currently holding playoff spots, with a 4-2 record vs. the two other AL division leaders (2-1 vs. TB, 2-1 vs. CWS) and a 10-5 record vs. the three current AL Wild Card teams (5-1 vs. BOS, 4-2 vs. CLE, 1-2 vs. NYY).
ROAD WARRIORS: On Wednesday, the Astros completed a 5-1 road trip that took them to Chicago-AL (2-1) and Anaheim (3-0).
The Astros are 22-13 (.629) on their last five road trips and are 28-19 (.596) on the road since going 1-9 on their first road trip of the season.
Houston is 29-28 overall on the road in 2026.
TONIGHT’S BROADCASTS: Tonight’s game will be televised by Space City Home Network with Todd Kalas, Geoff Blum and Julia Morales on the call.
The Astros English radio broadcast on SportsTalk 790 will feature Robert Ford and Kevin Eschenfelder Francisco Romero and Alex Treviño will be on the call on the Astros Spanish radio broadcast on TUDN 102.9 FM.
FRIDAY NIGHT FIREWORKS: The surging Astros smashed three homers and recorded 18 hits in their 11-2 series-opening win over the Rangers last night.
Five different Astros had multi-hit games, including C Yainer Diaz (4×5, RBI) and 3B Isaac Paredes (2×3, HR, 2RBI), who both homered in the contest.
RHP Hunter Brown (2ER/5.2IP) started for the Astros, picking up his third win of the year.
WINNING WAYS: The Astros are above .500 and in first place for the first time this season since they were 6-5 on April 6.
Last night’s victory gave them wins in nine of their last 10 games, which included a five-game winning streak (July 20-25).
THREE-HOMER GAMES: Last night marked the Astros 22nd time to hit three homers in a game, which are the most three-homer games by any team in the Majors this season.
Overall, the Astros rank third in the Majors in home runs (154), trailing only the Nationals (164) and Yankees (155).
MVP-CALIBER: Yordan Alvarez is a strong AL MVP candidate as he leads the league in all three Triple Crown categories, ranking first in batting average (.324), HR (35), and RBI (82).
Additionally, he currently leads MLB in OPS (1.077), OBP (.436), SLG (.641) and TB (253), and in the AL, he ranks first in hits (128), extra-base hits (55), and runs (74), and tied for third in walks (75).
HOT IN JULY: DH Yordan Alvarez hit .360 (31×86) with nine home runs, 22 RBI, a .467 OBP, a .721 SLG, and a 1.188 OPS in 23 games in July.
In the month, Alvarez led the AL in home runs, RBI, OPS and SLG, while ranking second in walks (15), second in hits, and fourth in batting average and OBP.
PEÑA’S STREAK: SS Jeremy Peña has hit safely in 12 straight games at a .431 (22×51) clip with six homers and 12 RBI in those contests.
It it also the longest active hitting streak in the AL and the 2nd-longest in the Majors behind only PIT IF Nick Gonzales’ 15-game hitting streak.
FOUR-HIT YAINER: C Yainer Diaz has back-to-back four-hit games for the first time in his career, marking the 16th time in Astros history for a player to record consecutive four-hit games.
Of course, the last Astro to do so was DH Yordan Alvarez (Sept. 3-4, 2025), but the only other Astros catcher to do so was C John Bateman from Sept. 5-6, 1966.
BLANCO’S BACK!: RHP Ronel Blanco is making his third start of the season after missing the first few months while recovering from right elbow surgery.
Blanco was a mainstay in the Astros rotation prior to his injury, making 45 starts over the 2023-25 seasons, going 18-11 with a 3.36 ERA (94ER/251.2IP) and a .200 opponent average in that span.
WHAT A RELIEF: LHP Josh Hader, who is 14-for-14 in save opportunities with a 1.23 ERA, enters tonight with 76 career saves as an Astro, needing one more to move past RHP Fred Gladding for fifth place all-time among Astros relievers.
DOWN AT TRIPLE A: The Sugar Land Space Cowboys picked up a walkoff win last night over Salt Lake, improving them to 18-6 in July, which ties as the most wins in a month in franchise history.
In the victory, 2B Shay Whitcomb, who scored the winning run on a wild pitch, recorded his 381st career hit for Sugar Land, making him the Space Cowboys all-time franchise leader in hits.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Saturday, August 1, 6:10 p.m. CT
Location: Daikin Park, Houston, TX
TV: Space City Home Network
Radio: KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)
