TONIGHT’S GAME: The Astros will conclude the first half of their season with a six-game road trip beginning tonight in the nation’s capital with the first of three games against the Nationals.
RHP Mike Burrows (4-8) will open the road trip for Houston opposite RHP Miles Mikolas (2-7) and the Nats.
SPINNING RECORDS:
At 45-47, the Astros are two games below .500 for the third time in the last eight days.A win tonight would move them to just a game below .500, a mark they have not been at since they were
6-7 on April 8.
THE SLOW TURNAROUND: After a slow start to the season, the Astros are 25-16 since May 21, which is 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.
SERIES-LY SPEAKING: The Astros are coming off a series victory over the Rays, the team with the best record in the AL, giving them six series victories in their last seven chances.
The Astros have also won four of their last five road series.
WINNING THE CLOSE CALLS: The Astros are 9-5 in one-run games and 21-11 in two-run games.
Each of the Astros last nine wins and 14 of their last 15 victories have come by two-or-fewer runs.
GET ‘EM EARLY: The Astros and Nationals lead their respective leagues in 1st-inning runs with the Astros leading the AL with 63, and the Nationals leading the NL with 68.
Overall, the Astros rank sixth in the American League in runs scored (413), while the Nationals check in leading the Majors in runs scored with 485 on the season.
ROAD WARRIORS: On the Astros last road trip, the club went 5-2 with stops in Toronto (2-1) and Detroit (3-1).
The Astros are 15-8 on their last three road trips combined and are 21-14 on the road since going 1-9 on their first road trip of the 2026 season.
ASTROS-NATS: The Astros and Nationals, who share a Spring Training complex, are facing each other for their first regular season matchups since July 28-30, 2025, a three-game series that the Astros won two games to one.
SUNDAY FUNDAY: The Astros picked up their seventh shutout win of the season yesterday in Houston with a 2-0 win over the visiting Rays.
RHP Peter Lambert (0ER/5.2IP) was great in his start, allowing just three hits and a walk with six strikeouts en route to his seventh win of the season.
The Astros scored their two runs on solo shots by 1B Christian Walker (1×4) and 3B Isaac Paredes (2×4).
20 SPOT: 1B Christian Walker hit his 20th homer of the year yesterday, giving him 20-plus homers in five consecutive seasons, along with six total seasons in his career (2019, 2022-26).
Yesterday’s homer was also the 194th home run of his career.
ASTROS ROSTER MOVES: The Astros have re-instated IF Braden Shewmake from the 10-day IL today.
Official postgame yesterday, IF Raynel Delgado has been optioned to Triple A Sugar Land.
FROM THE TRAINER’S ROOM: The Astros have eight players on the Injured List.
Updates on a few:
RHP Ronel Blanco (rt. elbow surgery) is expected to pitch tomorrow for Triple A Sugar Land…he last start-
ed last Wednesday for Double A Corpus Christi at NW Arkansas (2ER/4.1IP), tossing 60 pitches (45 strikes).
SS Jeremy Pena (lt. calf strain) is taking part in baseball activities and is expected to begin a rehab assignment at Sugar Land this week.
RHP Lance McCullers Jr. (rt. shoulder inflammation) is also expected to pitch tomorrow for Sugar Land. He last started last Wednesday for Sugar Land (1ER/4IP), tossing 60 pitches (41 strikes).
LHP Bennett Sousa (lt. elbow inflammation) began a rehab assignment at Sugar Land last night, tossing 1.0 scoreless inning on 10 pitches with one strikeout.
RHP Kai-Wei Teng (right knee sprain) continues his throwing progression and will throw a bullpen session in the coming days.
LHP Brandon Walter (lt. elbow surgery) continues his throwing progression in West Palm Beach.
RHP Hayden Wesneski (rt. elbow surgery) made a rehab start for Corpus Christi yesterday, tossing 4.0 innings, allowing one run on two hits with three strikeouts while tossing 46 pitches (29 strikes).
ALL-STAR ALVAREZ: Major League Baseball announced on Saturday that DH Yordan Alvarez was voted by the fans as the starting designated hitter for the American League All-Star team.
This marks the fourth All-Star selection for Alvarez (2022-24, 2026) and the second time that he has been voted as a starter (also in 2024).
MVP-CALIBER: DH Yordan Alvarez has had a torrid first half to his season, currently leading all of baseball in OPS (1.066), OBP (.429), SLG (.637), and total bases (207).
Additionally, he ranks first in the AL in extra-base hits (45), first in HR (29), first in hits (104), first in runs (62), first in RBI (67), second in batting average (.320), and fourth in walks (59).
THE LONG BALL LIST: DH Yordan Alvarez has hit 199 career home runs, needing just one homer to become the sixth player in franchise history to reach the 200-homer plateau.
HIT PAREDES: 3B Isaac Paredes is batting .295 (31×105) with six home runs, 23 RBI and a .913 OPS in his last 29 games since June 3.
Over that span, he ranks tied for sixth in the AL in RBI.
WHAT A RELIEF: LHP Josh Hader is 3-0 with nine saves (in nine chances), has a 0.60 ERA (1ER/15IP), 24 strikeouts in 15.0 innings, a .043 (2×47) opponent average, and a 0.60 WHIP in 15 appearances.
Hader has not allowed a hit in eight straight appearances (8IP), which is the longest hitless streak by an Astro in innings and appearances since RHP Héctor Neris had nine straight hitless appearances (9IP) from Aug. 21-Sept. 13, 2023.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Monday, July 6, 5:45 p.m. CT
Location: Nationals Park, Washington, DC
TV: Space City Home Network
Radio: KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)
