Hey guys, it’s Ari Alexander with the Astros as they get ready for spring training as the defending champs.

Rookie Hunter Brown pitched six strong innings in his hometown and the Houston Astros beat the Detroit Tigers 6-3 on Tuesday.

Framber Valdez threw seven shutout innings, Martín Maldonado and Alex Bregman homered with three RBIs each, and the Houston Astros beat the Texas Rangers 7-3.

Justin Verlander struck out a season-high 12 in seven sparkling innings, Yordan Alvarez hit a two-run homer and the Houston Astros beat the Seattle Mariners 4-1.

Salvador Perez broke a scoreless tie with a two-run homer in the sixth inning and the Kansas City Royals ended a five-game losing streak, beating the Houston Astros 6-0.

The Houston Astros announced Saturday they’ve placed left-handed relief pitcher Blake Taylor on the 15-day injured list due to left elbow discomfort.

Yuli Gurriel and José Siri had two hits each, Cristian Javier tied a career high with nine strikeouts and the Houston Astros beat the Cleveland Guardians 2-1 to win their series.

Jose Altuve hit a leadoff home run and José Urquidy tied a career high with 10 strikeouts to lead the Houston Astros to a 5-2 win over the Texas Rangers.

Justin Verlander missed out on his fourth no-hitter by five outs but still faced the minimum through eight innings, and the Houston Astros beat the Minnesota Twins 5-0 for their eighth straight win.

Kyle Tucker hit a tiebreaking pinch-hit homer in the eighth inning and the Houston Astros beat the Texas Rangers 3-2.

George Springer hit a leadoff homer in the first game against his former team, and Santiago Espinal homered for the second straight game to lift the Toronto Blue Jays to a 3-2 win over the Houston Astros.

Two-way star Shohei Ohtani pitched perfect ball into the sixth inning, tied a career-best with 12 strikeouts and also had two hits and two RBIs to lead the Los Angeles Angels over the Houston Astros 6-0.

The Astros released their finalized ALCS roster on Friday, and their ace, Lance McCullers Jr., is not listed.

Astros ace Lance McCullers Jr. has been left off the team’s roster for the AL Championship Series against Boston, a huge blow to a team looking to advance to the World Series for the second time in three seasons.

AL batting champion Yuli Gurriel hit a winning RBI single in the ninth inning, and the AL West champion Houston Astros headed to the postseason with a 7-6 win over the Oakland Athletics.

José Marmolejos hit a tiebreaking, two-run single with two outs in the ninth inning and J.P. Crawford padded the lead with a two-run homer as the Seattle Mariners avoided a sweep with an 8-5 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday.

Kyle Tucker hit a tiebreaking two-run home run in the eighth inning and Carlos Correa’s three-run shot in the fourth ended a 22-inning scoreless streak for the Houston Astros, who beat the scuffling San Diego Padres 6-3.

Abraham Toro hit a grand slam against a player he was traded for last month, connecting in the eighth inning and sending the Seattle Mariners over the Houston Astros 4-0.

Hunter Dozier hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning, and the Kansas City Royals earned their third straight win over Houston, beating the Astros 3-2 Wednesday night.

Jake Odorizzi and four relievers combined on a five-hit shutout, Taylor Jones had a two-run double and the Houston Astros beat the Colorado Rockies 5-0.

The San Francisco Giants hit five home runs, including four off Astros ace Zack Greinke, and beat Houston 8-6 in an interleague matchup of division leaders.

Jose Altuve hit a three-run homer and Kyle Tucker’s tiebreaking solo shot in the seventh inning lifted the Houston Astros to a 4-3 win over the Oakland Athletics.

Yuli Gurriel scored on a two-out error by pitcher Emmanuel Clase in the 10th inning, allowing the Houston Astros to beat the Cleveland Indians 4-3 and complete a four-game sweep.

Carlos Correa had an RBI double to spark Houston's four-run third inning and the Astros defeated the Cleveland Indians 6-3.

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Kyle Tucker had a season-best three hits and tied a career high with four RBIs as the Houston Astros beat former bench coach Alex Cora and the Boston Red Sox 11-2.

Kyle Tucker had a season-best three hits and tied a career high with four RBIs as the Houston Astros beat former bench coach Alex Cora and the Boston Red Sox 11-2.

Martín Maldonado homered and drove in three runs, helping the Houston Astros beat the Oakland 8-4 to move ahead of the Athletics for the AL West lead.

The Astros defeated the Rays 4-3 and the Rays lead the series 3-2 games. The Astros forced Game 6 on Friday, a rematch of the first game started by left-handers Blake Snell of Tampa Bay and Valdéz. Otherwise, big league clubs leading 3-0 in a best-of-seven postseason series are 37-1. Correa also hit a walkoff homer in Game 2 of the 2017 ALCS off Aroldis Chapman of the New York Yankees. Houston became the first team with a leadoff and walk-off home run in a postseason game.

Houston Astros' Carlos Correa, left, celebrates with George Springer after they defeated the Oakland Athletics in Game 1 of a baseball American League Division Series in Los Angeles, Monday, Oct. 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)LOS ANGELES – A home run derby broke out during a hot, dry day at Dodger Stadium, and suddenly the Houston Astros have their swing and swagger back. “When you get the leadoff guy (Springer) getting on base every single time, good things are going to happen. Altuve's line-drive single to left scored Maldonado and Springer to put the Astros back in front, 6-5. Chris Bassitt put the potential tying and go-ahead runs on in the fifth with back-to-back singles by Springer and Altuve.

Bregman scored on Yuri Gurriel's sacrifice fly to center off Adam Kolarek for a 7-5 lead. The Astros improved to 7-17 on the road after coming in with losses in eight of their previous nine games. But there were multiple reminders that Dodger fans haven’t forgotten the Astros’ cheating scandal from their championship three years ago. Fans aren't allowed inside this season because of the coronavirus, but a group of Dodger supporters greeted the Astros' bus as it pulled in. Dodgers: RHP Dustin May, who took a line drive off his left foot in Arizona, had a CT scan that revealed a contusion but no fracture.

Sean Murphy homered and hit a two-run single to help Chris Bassitt snap a three-start winless stretch, and the A's beat the Houston Astros 6-0 on Monday night with both teams missing star players. Weve got some guys down right now, were going to need everybody on our roster. Carlos Correa had two hits for the Astros (21-20) as Houston's losing streak reached five games. We do realize how important this series is, five games in four days, its going to be a grind.Reddick was back in the Astros lineup. Melvin is optimistic he will play this series, perhaps as soon as one of Tuesday's games.

Bielak (3-0) allowed one hit and one run in six innings for the win in his third MLB start. The Rockies have dropped four of their last five games and six of the last eight. The Rockies didnt get another hit until Charlie Blackmon singled on a ball which hit Taylor on the thigh to start the ninth inning. It is the first time the Rockies have lost a game Freeland started this season after they won the first four games he started. Greinke got his first win of the season in his last start when he allowed one run in a season-high 6 1/3 innings against San Francisco.

HOUSTON Kyle Tucker hit a game-ending homer in the ninth inning, and the Houston Astros beat the Seattle Mariners 3-2 on Sunday for their fourth straight win. Tucker drove a 96-mph fastball from Erik Swanson (0-2) deep to right for his first career game-ending homer. Astros catcher Martn Maldonado, who turned 34 on Sunday, singled in Tucker in the fourth, tying it at 2. UP NEXTMariners: RHP Justin Dunn (1-1, 4.85 ERA) is scheduled to make his fourth start of the year on Monday against the Dodgers. The rookie has allowed just three earned runs in the first 14 1/3 innings of his career.

Houston Astros' Martin Maldonado hits a three-run home run against the San Francisco Giants during the sixth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)HOUSTON Martn Maldonado hit a three-run home run to back a strong start by Zack Greinke and help the Houston Astros to a 5-1 win over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night. Maldonado then knocked his two-strike homer into the seats in left field to make it 5-1. San Francisco starter Trevor Cahill, who was selected to the Major League roster before the game, walked four in 1 2/3 innings. UP NEXTGiants: San Francisco is off on Thursday before Johnny Cueto (1-0, 5.40) is scheduled to start on Friday night in the first of three games against Oakland.

HOUSTON Brandon Crawford's RBI single in the 10th inning lifted the San Francisco Giants to a 7-6 win over the Houston Astros on Tuesday night. An RBI single by Darin Ruf off Ryan Pressly with one out in the ninth tied it at 6-all. Flores also homered for the Giants, who snapped a six-game losing streak to the Astros. Alex Dickerson hit an RBI single to center field with two outs in the fifth to cut the lead to 4-2. Astros: OF George Springer missed his fifth game with a strained right wrist, but was Houston's runner on second base in the 10th inning.

PHOENIX Kole Calhoun lined a two-run single in the ninth inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks rallied to beat the Houston Astros 5-4 Thursday night to win their first series of the season. ROSTER MOVESArizona designated INF Ildemaro Vargas for assignment and optioned RHP Yoan Lopez to its alternate training site to get its active roster down to 28. The Astros got down to the 28-player limit by optioning RHP Bryan Abreu and INF Jack Mayfield to their alternate training site. TRAINING TABLEAstros: Reigning AL rookie of the year Yordan Alvarez took batting practice and did some running at the team's alternate training site. Diamondbacks: RHP Luke Weaver (0-2, 14.73) looks to get his shaky start to the 2020 season on track in Arizona's series opener against San Diego on Friday.

Bregman also looked good in live batting practice. However, there was plenty of it during the Astros practice Saturday. If a five-man rotation is intact for the Astros, McCullers would be asked to make no more than 12 starts. McCullers live batting practice results Saturday were a mixed bag, with some fastballs and breaking balls looking sharp and others missing their spots. Taylor gave up a hard hit to Yuli Gurriel in live batting practice but otherwise looked good.

HOUSTON – The Houston Astros have traded outfielder Jake Marisnick to the New York Mets in exchange for left-handed pitcher Blake Taylor and outfielder Kenedy Corona. Corona, 19, just completed his first professional season in 2019, batting .301 with 14 doubles, four triples, five homers, 19 stolen bases and an .868 OPS in 63 combined games between the Class A short season Brooklyn Cyclones, the Rookie Level Gulf Coast League Mets and the Rookie Level Dominican summer league Mets. Marisnick, 28, just completed his sixth season with Houston and was entering his final year of arbitration. In six seasons with Houston, he batted .232 with 53 home runs and 65 stolen bases while providing premium defense in 631 games in the outfield. With the addition of Taylor and the removal of Marisnick, the Astros 40-man roster stands at 38 players.