Series 26 (of 52) Preview: Rockies visit Houston

The Astros host the Rockies twice starting tonight at 7:10 p.m. CT.

The two clubs have already met this season, with Houston winning both games against the Rockies at the Alfredo Harp Helú Stadium in Mexico City on April 27 and 28. The Astros won the final 8-2. The offense supported a solid start by Framber Valdez (1-0, 2.60). He allowed two runs on five hits, managed zero walks and six strikeouts. Kyle Tucker (7), Jose Altuve (7) and Jeremy Peña (3) contributed significantly to the victory.

He was out of control the first few innings, but then he settled in. He threw some really good changeups and gave us five innings. That’s exactly what we wanted from him. — Joe Espada on Valdez

The Astros have a 104-85 record against the Rockies, a .550 winning percentage that is their fifth-best record against any team.

Playing times and starting pitchers

Tuesday, 7:10 p.m. CT: Austin Gomber (1-4, 4.36) vs. Hunter Brown (4-5, 4.72)
Wednesday, 1:10 p.m. CT: Ryan Feltner (1-6, 6.02) vs. Spencer Arrighetti (3-6, 6.36)

The Astros just completed a three-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles, winning 8-1 on Sunday afternoon. Jose Altuve (12) hit a home run and collected two hits, while Alex Bregman struck out four for four, Yainer Diaz three for three and Jeremy Peña three for five hits. Framber Valdez (6-5, 3.68) earned the win by going seven innings and allowing just one run on six hits and two walks. He struck out seven times and got 69 of 104 pitches across the plate. Bryan King and Luis Contreras both made their major league debuts for Houston, each pitching one scoreless inning.

I’m very proud of the effort and preparation of the guys and we have to keep it up. — Bregman

The Rockies just won one of three games at Coors Field against the Washington Nationals. In their lone win on Saturday, Ryan McMahon scored the game-winning walk-off run on a pitch-clock validation with the bases loaded against Nats closer Kyle Finnegan.

He’s just slow, that’s the way he is. He’s a closer. That hurt him today, but it usually doesn’t hurt him. — Nats manager Dave Martinez

Table position

Houston Astros: 38-40, .487, second in the AL West, six games behind the Seattle Mariners. Tied with the Tampa Bay Rays for 8th in the American League. Tied with the Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks for 15th in the MLB. Last 10: LWLWLWWWWW. Heading to 79-83, FanGraphs predicted 84-78 and a 43.3 percent chance of making the postseason.

Colorado Rockies: 27-51, .346, fifth in the NL West, 20.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. Last in the National League, 29th in MLB. Last 10: LWLLLWLLWL. On the way to 56-106, FanGraphs predicted 60-102, 0.0 percent chance of making the postseason.

Heroes and losers (Houston’s five highest and lowest WPAs versus Baltimore)

Jake Meyers (28.2)
Ronel Blanco (25.1)
Yainer Diaz (21.1)
Jose Altuve (18.6)
Framber Valdez (18.1)

Shawn Dubin (-1.1)
Cesar Salazar (-1.5)
Jake Bloss (-1.5)
Rafael Montero (-2.9)
Trey Kohl (-6.0)