Dallas Keuchel will take the mound for the Houston Astros on Thursday night against the St. Louis Cardinals. If the trend continues, Keuchel will need to keep the Cardinals at bay for Houston to have a shot at avoiding the series sweep.
Over the last three games the Astros' bats have slumped, generating just three runs and knocking out just 14 hits. In the six games since defeating the Cubs 10-1, Houston has scored only 10 runs.
Keuchel takes the mound with a 1-5 record and 4.99 ERA, with more walks (28) than strikeouts (25) on the year. Opposite him will be Jake Westbrook for the Cardinals. Westbrook holds a solid 12-9 record and 3.50 ERA, and has struck out 95 hitters over 154.1 innings this season.
On Wednesday night, the Astros jumped to a 2-1 lead after three innings on solo home runs from Brett Wallace and Chris Snyder, but were then held without a hit for the final six innings.
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