The Houston Astros' offense entered Friday night's game at the Atlanta Braves in a serious rut. Rookie Zach Cole quickly proved to be the perfect spark plug for Joe Espada's club. Cole, a 25-year-old outfielder,

The Seattle Mariners had been gradually shrinking the gap in the American League West, and in a Thursday night thriller, they finally caught the Astros (79-68). Fans can certainly point to injuries, as Houston has been without impactful contributors for large stretches of the season, but the lineup is also underachieving.

The Astros have added Carlos Correa and Jesús Sánchez and seen return of Yordan Alvarez but offense has been inconsistent.

The Houston Astros are all of the sudden after a rough couple of weeks very much in a dogfight to try to stay alive in their pursuit of postseason baseball. For

“Houston has the necessary rotation depth to move on from Valdez,” he writes. “Hunter Brown has emerged as a Cy Young candidate in his own right, while the return of Ronel Blanco and Spencer Arrighetti should reinforce the 2026 group.

After losing four of first six on current road trip, the Houston Astros open a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves.

There are some tighter races in the American League. The Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros are neck-and-neck as they fight for the NL West title, and there's a logjam in the AL wild card race behind the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. The Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays lead the AL Central and East, respectively.

The Astros are reportedly promoting a prospect ahead of their game on Friday night against the Braves in Atlanta.