CHICAGO -- Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez is scheduled for his first day off this season on Sunday against the Cubs, which will come in Houston’s 54th game -- the one-third mark on the schedule. Alvarez has started every game so far and was pulled from Saturday’s 3-0 win at Wrigley

CHICAGO -- What makes right-hander Kai-Wei Teng’s sweeper so difficult for opposing pitchers to hit, says Astros catcher César Salazar, is that it resembles a fastball for a good portion of the time while traveling to the plate and then suddenly takes a hard left. By that time, the hitter

CHICAGO -- Jose Altuve drew a couple of ovations from Astros fans when he emerged from the first-base dugout at Wrigley Field about 90 minutes prior to Saturday’s game against the Cubs. Altuve waved to the fans and did a light workout in the outfield, marking the beginning of his

CHICAGO -- Astros pitcher Spencer Arrighetti had issues gripping the baseball Friday afternoon, which put him in a couple of difficult spots on a chilly afternoon against the Cubs. A walk and two hit batters loaded the bases with no outs in the third inning, and a pair of one-out

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HOUSTON -- It’s seven months early, but the Astros are turning to Santa for some help for their bullpen. Right-hander Alimber Santa, the team’s No. 16-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, is coming to town -- as in Chicago for the Astros’ series against the Cubs this weekend at Wrigley Field.

HOUSTON -- Just as shortstop Jeremy Peña returned from the injured list on Monday, the Astros are losing second baseman Jose Altuve to a Grade 2 left oblique strain, manager Joe Espada said following Sunday’s 8-0 loss to the Rangers at Daikin Park.

HOUSTON -- There were certainly bigger offseason acquisitions for the Astros, whose winter centered around adding pitching depth. No signing made more headlines than Japanese star Tatsuya Imai, who so far has fallen flat, and the three-team trade for Mike Burrows was seen as a solid move to get a

HOUSTON -- Astros second baseman Jose Altuve said he will undergo an MRI on Sunday after he was forced to leave Saturday’s 4-1 win over the Rangers in the eighth inning with an apparent injury. Altuve didn’t run out of the box while hitting into a double play and was

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HOUSTON -- The injuries that have devastated the Astros’ roster in the first quarter of the season have provided opportunities for others. Among those are rookies Braden Shewmake, Brice Matthews and Zach Cole, who have been tasked with trying to turn over the bottom of Houston’s lineup for mainstays Jose

HOUSTON -- Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña did not play his scheduled Minor League rehab game Wednesday afternoon for Double-A Corpus Christi while nursing a sore neck, which he sustained in a nasty collision Tuesday night with the Hooks. Peña, on the injured list for the last month with a hamstring

HOUSTON -- Astros starter Tatsuya Imai appeared to have struck out Seattle’s Randy Arozarena on a fastball at the top corner of the zone to start the fourth inning Tuesday night. The called third strike was challenged by Arozarena and overturned to a ball via ABS, having missed the strike

HOUSTON -- The Astros reached the one-quarter mark of their schedule while they were in Cincinnati over the weekend, returning home with a 16-25 record. The good news for the Astros is there were 120 games remaining after Monday’s 3-1 loss to the Mariners at Daikin Park, so there’s plenty

HOUSTON -- Astros third baseman Carlos Correa underwent surgery Monday morning to repair the peroneus brevis tendon in his left ankle. Correa, who will miss the rest of the season, suffered the injury while swinging a bat in the batting cage last Tuesday at Daikin Park. Astros manager Joe Espada

HOUSTON -- Despite another outing where he had trouble throwing strikes in a Minor League rehab start Tuesday night at Triple-A Sugar Land, Astros right-hander Tatsuya Imai will rejoin Houston’s rotation during next week’s series against the Mariners at Daikin Park.

HOUSTON -- The Astros spent all winter trying to trade third baseman Isaac Paredes in an effort to clear up their crowded infield picture. A deal never materialized, which now looks like a blessing in disguise. Astros third baseman Carlos Correa will be out for the remainder of the regular

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HOUSTON -- While Shohei Ohtani was pitching against the Astros on Tuesday night at Daikin Park, fellow Japanese pitcher Tatsuya Imai headlined a trio of Houston pitchers who worked in a Minor League rehab outing a few miles away at Triple-A Sugar Land. Imai, the Japanese star who has endured

HOUSTON -- The calendar reads early May, but everything about Tuesday night’s game -- from the back-and-forth chants of a charged-up crowd, the presence of Shohei Ohtani and an intense baseball rivalry that’s still flickering -- served as a reminder this game meant a little bit more.

HOUSTON -- The Astros were dealt another injury setback Monday when starting catcher Yainer Diaz strained his oblique while swinging the bat during batting practice at Daikin Park. Diaz was placed on the 10-day injured list Tuesday and will be out “a while,” manager Joe Espada said. Diaz was originally

HOUSTON -- So much for soft landings. Zach Cole, the Astros’ No. 9-ranked prospect, was recalled from the Minor Leagues prior to Monday’s series opener against the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers at Daikin Park. He went 1-for-4 with a home run while batting eighth and playing left field

BOSTON -- There’s not an Astros victory that has meant more to any player this year than Sunday afternoon’s 3-1 win over the Red Sox meant for reliever Bryan Abreu. Moved to the closer role when Josh Hader began the season on the injured list, Abreu gave up three runs

BOSTON -- One of the Astros’ best wins of the season was nearly marred when red-hot first baseman Christian Walker, who went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs in Houston’s 6-3 victory over the Red Sox on Saturday at Fenway Park, was struck in the head by a pitch

BOSTON -- The defending World Series champion Dodgers and former Astros slugger Kyle Tucker will be in Houston beginning Monday for a three-game series, but another game with significance to the Astros will take place Tuesday about 25 miles from Daikin Park. Astros closer Josh Hader, who has been out