The Astros come off their 1-6 AL East roadtrip and head home for a ten-game homestand against Detroit (four games), Los Angeles (three games) and Texas (three games). The Astros are 4-8 at home this season with one win on Opening Night, one against Cleveland, and two against Seattle.
Houston actually leads the all-time series 9-6, winning two of three in an Inter-league series in 2009
The Tigers are 5-7 on the road, but are coming off a hot homestand in which they went 6-2 against the Royals, Braves, and Twins. They're 15-11 on the season, a half-game back of the Royals for the AL Central lead.
*Taking the mound for the Tigers is Rick Porcello. The 24-year old Rick Porcello who it feels like has been in baseball for eighteen years.
*He was the 2006-07 Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year.
*Porcello was drafted by the Tigers with the 27th overall pick in the 2007 draft - the same round that the Astros didn't pick anybody because they're stupid and signed Carlos Lee.
*Porcello came out of Seton Hall Prep in West Orange, New Jersey - and is currently the only player from the school to make it to the Majors. His brother, Jake, was selected by the Tigers in the 48th Round of the 2009 draft. His grandfather, Sam Dente, played with the Cleveland Indians when they won the 1954 World Series.
*Advised by a demon, Scott Boras, Porcello fell to the 27th pick, and the Tigers signed him to a 4yr/$7.28m deal and a $3.5m signing bonus.
*Porcello finished his rookie season with a 14-9 record, 3.96 ERA/1.34 WHIP and finished 3rd in AL Rookie of the Year balloting, behind Andrew Bailey and Elvis Andrus.
*Porcello's WHIP has climbed in each of his four full seasons - from 1.34 in 2009 to 1.53 in 2012. In 2012, Porcello allowed the most hits in the AL at 226 - his second straight 200+ hit season.
*Porcello will be making his 6th appearance of the season. His first five:
Apr 04 @ MIN: 5.1IP, 6H/3ER, 2K:2BB (L)
Apr 10 vs TOR: 5.0IP, 8H/4ER, 1K:0BB
Apr 14 @ OAK: 2IP, 0H/0ER (in relief)
Apr 20 @ LAA: 0.2IP, 9H/9ER, 0K:1BB, -3 Game Score
Apr 27 vs. ATL: 6.1IP, 5H/3ER, 5K:2BB
So he really bounced back from that Bedard-esque start against the Angels to earn his first win of the season, and note all splits and stats are going to look bad thanks to that game.
*RHBs vs Porcello: .400/.438/.644. LHBs vs. Porcello: .263/.300/.289
*Porcello on the road, 2013: 13.50 ERA/2.25 WHIP, .395/.439/.632
*Porcello, with RISP: .647/.684/.941 (11x17, 2BB)
*1st PA of the game: .780 OPS; 2nd PA: 1.270 OPS; 3rd PA: .607 OPS.
*Porcello has never faced Houston, but Carlos Pena is 3x11 with a HR, Ronny Cedeno is 3x7 with A HR, and Rick Ankiel is 1x3.
The Astros send out Jordan Lyles to make his season debut for the Astros after getting called up to replaced Brad Peacock.
*Lyles was 2-2 for OKC in six starts and two really bad ones. His start against Albuquerque on April 23 was particularly ugly: 1IP, 8H/5ER, 0K:1BB. But he bounced back on April 27 with 5IP, 3H/1ER, 4K:2BB against New Orleans.
*Jose Altuve is working on a three-game multi-hit streak, getting two hits in each of the games against the Yankees.
*In six games in the 2-hole, Altuve is hitting .250/.259/.333 as opposed to .359/.410/.467 in 22 games (100 PAs) when he leads off.
*In his last four games, Carlos Pena is hitting .500/.588/.643 with a likely-unsustainable 1.000 BABIP.
*After going 0x11 in the opening series against Texas, Jason Castro is hitting .325/.366/.494 with 19K:5BB in 82 PAs (.421 BABIP).
*Brandon Barnes continues to swing a hot bat. After beginning the season hitting .294/.429/.353, Barnes is hitting .423/.483/.615 in nine games (30 PAs), with "only" seven strikeouts.
