SEATTLE -- In anticipation of their three-game series against a Mariners lineup that features impact left-handed hiiters Robinson Cano and Kyle Seager, the Astros called up left-handed reliever Reymin Guduan from Triple-A Fresno on Friday and optioned right-hander Dayan Diaz back down.
Guduan, who joined Tony Sipp as the only lefties in the 'pen, pitched two scoreless innings in Friday night's 13-3 loss to Seattle, allowing just one hit. He was 4-4 with one save and a 5.45 ERA in 25 appearances at Fresno this year.
"This series, the Oakland series coming up [next week], are really good series for him as far as the matchup goes," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "They're pretty left-handed here. With Diaz's workload, and obviously he has a few things to work on, we wanted to switch out and have a fresh arm here."
Diaz was rocked on Thursday against Oakland, allowing five runs in one-third of an inning to raise his ERA to 12.00 in seven games.
Morton makes progress
Hinch said right-hander Charlie Morton's rehab outing Thursday at Triple-A Fresno was a success. Morton, on the disabled list since May 25 with a right lat strain, threw 36 pitches (22 strikes) in two innings, allowing a homer. More importantly, Morton was throwing in the low-to-mid 90s mph.
"He felt really good coming out of it," Hinch said "We were very conservative with only two innings, but we feel like we can be a little more aggressive in five days."
Morton will start again Tuesday for Fresno and throw three or four innings as he continues to increase his workload.
"The first goal was to get him in a game and feeling pretty good," Hinch said. "Checkmark that box. Now it's increase the volume and see how he feels and make a determination on how he does. We don't have a minimum number of maximum number [of outings]. We just want to make sure he's ready."