Astros Manager Joe Espada Praises Hayden Wesneski's Dominating Start vs. Athletics

After surging into first place in the American League West, the Houston Astros hit a bump in the road earlier this week, dropping two out of three at home to the Los Angeles Angels. Not exactly what manager Joe Espada and his team wanted to do to stay ahead of the Texas Rangers.

Following a lopsided 18-3 loss on Thursday night and a Rangers win over the Washington Nationals, the lead in the division race was down to one game. Winning the AL West is the clear goal of both the Astros and Rangers, with the final wild-card slot being a mixture of a handful of teams competing.

Looking to rebound from their series loss to the Angels, Houston turned to right-hander Hayden Wesneski to help them pick up a much-needed series win on Friday night at home. The 28-year-old has been good since returning from Tommy John surgery, and that continued against the Athletics.

Hayden Wesneski Gives Joe Espada Big Start Against Athletics

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

Facing a depleted bullpen following the Los Angeles series, Espada needed some length from Wesneski. That's what he got. Wesneski worked five scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and striking out four while working around three walks. Espada got four scoreless innings of relief from Bennett Sousa, Bryan Abreu, Steven Okert, and Enyel De Los Santos to pick up the victory.

“He was cruising the whole entire [start],” Espada said, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. “He threw a ton of strikes. His stuff looked really good. The sweeper was really good against righties and the changeup against lefties -- he just mixed all his pitches really well. It was a really solid performance.”

If Houston is going to keep Texas behind them in the AL West, Wesneski will be a big part of the rotation over the final month of the regular season. Since returning from surgery this summer, Wesneski is 3-1 with a 4.23 ERA in 27.2 innings, with 22 strikeouts and a 1.23 WHIP. He needed 91 pitches to get through his five innings, but Espada will take that when he throws up zeros on the scoreboard.

It was a good start to a series that the Astros need to win. There is no other way to put it. It needs to be a series win. They will hand the ball to Hunter Brown on Saturday night, looking for him to put them in a position to sweep on Sunday. However, the big takeaway from the weekend so far was Wesneski's timely start and a good sign for the rest of the season coming off surgery.

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