Blanco (5-1) took the loss Friday against Minnesota, allowing four runs on three hits and three walks over 4.2 innings. He struck out six.
Blanco faced 20 batters, marking a season low, not including his May 14 start against Oakland when he was ejected after three innings for a foreign substance. The Houston right-hander also yielded a season-high four runs, pushing his ERA up to 2.44 overall in 59 innings. Blanco is tentatively scheduled to make his next start against the Cardinals at home next week.
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Astros' Luis Garcia: Tosses simulated inning
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Garcia (elbow) threw 20 pitches in a simulated inning Friday, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.
Garcia faced live batters during the outing and didn't appear to suffer any discomfort or setbacks Friday while he rehabs from Tommy John surgery. The 26-year-old has been throwing small bullpen sessions for over a month and will need a rehab assignment prior to being cleared.
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Astros' Jeremy Pena: Getting first day off
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Pena is out of the lineup for Friday's game against Minnesota, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.
Pena had started each of Houston's 57 games this season but will receive his first day off Friday amid a 1-for-16 slump. Mauricio Dubon will play shortstop and bat seventh Friday.
Caratini went 1-for-4 with a solo home run and an additional RBI in Thursday's 4-0 win versus Seattle.
Caratini plated the Astros' final two runs in the contest, belting a solo homer in the fifth inning and adding an RBI on a fielder's choice in the sixth. The long ball has his first since the final day of April, and the backup catcher has posted a modest .205 average over 39 at-bats in May. On a positive note, Caratini is registering a career-best 15.0 percent strikeout rate on the campaign.
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Astros' Alex Bregman: Belts sixth homer
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Bregman went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run, an additional run and a triple in Thursday's 4-0 win against Seattle.
Bregman broke a scoreless tie with his two-run blast in the fourth inning and came around to score Houston's final run following a triple in the sixth. It was the third multi-hit effort for the third baseman across his past five games, and he's batting .350 (7-for-20) with a pair of homers and four RBI over that stretch. Bregman could finally be getting his bat going following a rough start to the season that has his slash line still at a meager .218/.280/.360.
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Astros' Spencer Arrighetti: Posts best outing of career
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Arrighetti (3-5) earned the win over Seattle on Thursday, pitching six scoreless innings during which he allowed two hits and three walks while striking out eight batters.
Arrighetti not only recorded the first quality start of his career, he also fanned a career-high eight batters and didn't allow any extra-base hits. The rookie right-hander did walk three batters -- he's issued multiple free passes in each of his nine starts on the campaign -- but none of those came back to hurt him. Arrighetti has been making a case to stick in the Astros' rotation following a slow start to the campaign. He held an 8.44 ERA after a poor outing May 8 but has since won three of his past four starts with a 3.63 ERA over that stretch.
McCormick isn't in the Astros' lineup for Thursday's game against Seattle, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.
McCormick had sat out three games in a row before returning to Houston's lineup Wednesday, but an 0-for-4 performance will put him back on the bench for Thursday's series finale. Yordan Alvarez, Jake Meyers and Mauricio Dubon will start across the outfield while McCormick sits.
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Astros' Jon Singleton: Getting Thursday off
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Singleton isn't in the Astros' lineup for Thursday's game against the Mariners, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.
Singleton went 1-for-11 with five strikeouts through the first three games of Houston's series with the Mariners, so he'll get a day to regroup Thursday. Jose Abreu will draw a start at first base instead, batting eighth.
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Astros' Yainer Diaz: Not starting Thursday
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Diaz isn't in the Astros' lineup for Thursday's game against the Mariners, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.
Diaz has slashed just .207/.221/.268 since the beginning of May, and he'll now sit down for the final game of Houston's series in Seattle. Victor Caratini will take over behind the plate and bat seventh.
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Astros' Yordan Alvarez: Two hits, stolen base in loss
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Alvarez went 2-for-4 with a stolen base and a run scored in Wednesday's loss to the Mariners.
Alvarez recorded a base hit in the top of the fourth before coming around to score Houston's only run of the contest on an RBI single from Jake Meyers. The outfielder would add another single in his next at-bat, giving him back-to-back multi-hit games, while also going on to swipe a bag for the second game in a row. Alvarez has now posted 10 multi-hit games this month and has nine extra-base hits in the stretch.
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Astros' Justin Verlander: Allows one run in no-decision
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Verlander did not factor into the decision in Wednesday's loss to the Mariners, allowing one run on three hits and one walk over seven innings while striking out nine.
Verlander got off to a great start, hurling 1-2-3 innings in three of the first four frames before surrendering a solo homer to Dominic Canzone in the fifth. The veteran right-hander would only allow a walk from that point on and managed to go seven innings for the third time in his last six starts. Verlander also matched his season high with nine strikeouts, which he also recorded in his previous start against the Athletics.
Brown did not factor into the decision Tuesday against the Mariners, allowing one run on four hits and no walks while striking out nine in six innings.
Brown had arguably his best performance of the season, tossing his third quality start while setting a new season high with nine punchouts. The Mariners scratched across a run on him in the first inning, and from there he was dominant, allowing just one runner to reach scoring position while retiring the final 11 he faced in order. Tuesday was also just the second time this season he went without walking a batter. It was certainly an encouraging outing, as it's been a mixed bag of results all year from the 25-year-old, who now owns a 6.39 ERA, 1.64 WHIP and 53:24 K:BB in 49.1 innings. Brown will look to pick up a win over the weekend when the Astros host Minnesota.
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Astros' Yordan Alvarez: Swipes bag in loss
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Alvarez went 2-for-4 with a stolen base in Tuesday's 4-2 loss to the Mariners.
Alvarez was just one of two Astros to have more than one hit on the evening and he recorded his second steal of the year in the sixth. Alvarez now has four multi-hit efforts in his last eight games and nine total for the month of May. For the season, the 27-year-old is slashing .269/.347/.447 with nine homers, 22 RBI, 27 runs and a 41:23 K:BB in 236 plate appearances.
