Kevin Kraczkowski

6 days ago | crawfishboxes.com | Kevin Kraczkowski

Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images Tonight, Houston will open their six-game homestand with the first of three games against the Cincinnati Reds. Houston Astros NewsRemember me?

1 week ago | sports.yahoo.com | Kevin Kraczkowski

GameTimes and Starting PitchersFriday, 7:10PM CT: Nick Martinez (1-3, 4.19) vs. Hunter Brown (5-1, 1.67)Saturday, 6:10PM CT: Brady Singer (4-2, 3.66) vs. Lance McCullers Jr. (0-0, 0.00)Sunday, 1:10 PM CT: Andrew Abbott (2-0, 2.25) vs. Ronel Blanco (2-3, 4.98)AdvertisementHistoryCincinnati and Houston used to play each other a whole lot more often when they were both parked in the National League. The two have faced off a total of 854 times, which makes them the Astros most common opponent.

1 week ago | crawfishboxes.com | Kevin Kraczkowski

Photo by Griffin Quinn/Getty Images Hopefully, .500 doesn’t leave the Astros behind instead. Bad luck only explains so much. A 9-1 victory provides much needed relief, as does the day off. Houston has the Reds on tap, and they haven’t defeated Cincinnati in nine years. The Astros are 22-54 since 2009 against the juggernaut Reds.

1 week ago | crawfishboxes.com | Kevin Kraczkowski

Photo by Matt Dirksen/Getty Images A lot of teams would be happy to hover near .500. The White Sox and Colorado, for example. Houstonians, conversely, have in the past decade become accustomed to a certain level of excellence from their MLB team. Will the generation of fans who only know postseason play for every season have the patience to stick around for some truly middling baseball?

1 week ago | crawfishboxes.com | Kevin Kraczkowski

Photo by Matt Dirksen/Getty Images Every team starts the season at .500 (technically, 0-0 is .000, but it’s also .500, kinda). After 34 games, Houston is still even with the starting line. On the plus side, tonight’s foe, the Milwaukee Brewers, are also a .500 team. If the teams split the rest of the series, they’ll complete it at .500 once more. I mean, at least we’re not the White Sox.