Astros Announce Starting Pitchers for Pivotal Series Against Rays

For a large chunk of the season, the American League West Division was one that was waiting for a team to take control and begin to pull away from the rest of the teams. Every time someone looked to be doing that, they would fall back to the rest of the pack.

However, the Houston Astros have grabbed control of the division and are now just two and a half weeks away from clinching it and securing a return trip to the playoffs after missing it last fall. Manager Joe Espada is managing for his job after the organization cut ties with general manager Dana Brown. It feels like a deep postseason run is needed for Espada to return in 2027.

Houston began a pivotal six-game road trip on Tuesday against the Philadelphia Phillies, who hold down the first National League wild-card spot. After that series, a three-game series in Central Florida against the best team in the American League, the Tampa Bay Rays. Espada's crew was able to take two out of three games from Philadelphia thanks to Cam Smith, then head to Tampa Bay to open another key road series, three games ahead of the Texas Rangers.

Astros Announce Probable Starters for Rays Series

Houston Astros starting pitcher Hayden Wesneski Credit: Kyle Ross | Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Could this be an American League Championship preview? Maybe, but there is way too much baseball to be played before anyone can even think about that. Here are the pitching matchups for the series at Tropicana Field.

Friday: Miguel Ullola (0-0, 3.86 ERA) vs. Drew Rasmussen (14-5, 2.88 ERA), 7:10 p.m.
Saturday: Peter Lambert (8-8, 3.67 ERA) vs. Ian Seymour (9-6, 4.33 ERA), 6:10 p.m.
Sunday: Hayden Wesneski (5-1, 3.35 ERA) vs. Freddy Peralta (8-11, 4.82 ERA), 1:40 p.m.

The good news for Houston is that they miss Nick Martinez, who pitched on Thursday afternoon against the Atlanta Braves. However, the Rays still have a strong pitching staff and the Astros will face Tampa Bay's second-best pitcher, Drew Rasmussen, on Friday night.

As for Espada and the Astros, Miguel Ullola gets the ball in the opener before Peter Lambert and Hayden Wesneski are slated to finish out the series. In two starts in September, Wesneski has a 2.08 ERA in 13 innings against the Chicago White Sox and Phillies. His last start was a six-inning effort in Philadelphia, where he allowed five hits and three runs in a 6-5 Houston victory.

Espada mentioned during the Phillies series that he enjoys playing teams like the Phillies and Rays at this time of the year. Winning a series in Tampa Bay would go a long way toward helping his team inch closer to winning the AL West. That would make the trip a very successful one this late in the season.

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