Fernando Abad News

The Houston Astros have placed left-handed reliever Fernando Abad on the 15-day disabled list because of strained right side, and purchased the contract of lefty Xavier Cedeno from Triple-A Oklahoma City.

For a nine-inning game that took three hours and 50 minutes to complete, it seemed only right that the Dodgers ' most patient hitter was at the plate with the game on the line.

Houston Astros starting pitcher Lucas Harrell throws to a Los Angeles Dodgers batter during the first inning of a baseball game, Friday, May 25, 2012, in Los Angeles.

The Astros aren't as bad as the doomsayers said they would be, and they've done it with pitching.

What a week it's been for Astros pitching. Both the starter's and the bullpen have really performed well over the last week.

Jason Castro and Chris Johnson each hit three-run homers and Bud Norris threw seven scoreless innings to give the Houston Astros an 8-4 victory over the slumping Chicago Cubs on Monday night.

The Astros have optioned Jordan Lyles after a poor start in which he gave up 6 earned runs in 5 innings pitched.

The San Diego Padres still haven't been able to win three straight games this year, and Edison Volquez hasn't been able to win three consecutive starts since 2008.

Jed Lowrie hit a two-run homer and J.A. Happ threw six sharp innings before three relievers completed the Houston Astros' 4-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night.

What a fun, uneventful, exciting, tense game to lose. The Astros continue their trend of losing extra innings game with their now fifth loss in extras.

With the forecast clearing up for baseball today, the Astros made the long-speculated move, adding righthander Jordan Lyles to the roster to make the start against the Phillies and Cliff Lee.

Joe Blanton until the top of the 8th inning, where things got interesting. Marwin Gonzalez told the baseball to go over the right field wall, and it complied: Carlos Lee also had a good game, going 3-4. But overall, the Astros couldn't get an extra-base hit other than Marwin Gonzalez's homer.

To learn about our efforts to improve the accessibility and usability of our website, please visit our Accessibility Information page.

For an explanation of the methodology for these rankings go to the inaugural post of the Player Performance Rankings .

It's Friday again Astros fans, and that means that it's time to check in on how the Astros pitchers performed over the past week.

Is there one major league that would make enough difference in the Astros' lineup to make them competitive -- even contenders -- in 2012? General Manager Jeff Luhnow indicated recently he's not in a hurry to trade away veterans like Wandy Rodriguez, Carlos Lee or Brett Myers.

The Astros five game winning streak came to an end today with an 8-1 loss to the Cardinals.

Chris Johnson belted his first career grand slam and the Houston Astros pounded the St.

This is my first time for the Three Things column. Let's see if we can find three quick hits about the Astros today.

I'm changing the format a bit and including every player who has been with the Major League team a majority of the year.