Astros continuing to 'fight through' offensive struggles

HOUSTON -- The Astros finished May with an above .500 record for the month, but their recent offensive slog continued.

Houston scored in only one inning for the eighth time in its last nine games, losing to the Twins, 6-1, Friday night at Minute Maid Park for their fourth defeat in its last five games.

Houston’s bats remained cold, with its lone extra-base hit coming on a solo home run by Alex Bregman in the fourth.

“We just didn’t do enough offensively tonight,” Bregman said.

Bregman homered for the second consecutive game and finished the month on a four-game hitting streak in which he was 6-for-16 with three homers and five RBIs.

“It feels great,” Bregman said of his hot spell. “Just trusting my preparation before the game and working on the mechanics every day.”

Outside of Bregman’s solo blast, the Astros mustered five singles, but they still had their chances.

Jake Meyers and Mauricio Dubón singled in the second to put runners on first and second with one out, but Chas McCormick struck out and Yainer Diaz grounded out against Pablo López to end the threat.

The Astros had another chance in the fourth after a Jon Singleton single and Dubón walk with one out, but again, McCormick struck out and Diaz grounded out to end the threat.

The Astros finished 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left six on base.

“It’s not easy,” Houston manager Joe Espada said of scoring runs. “This league is hard. We have faced some pretty good arms. We just got to continue to fight through this. We will turn this around. We will start getting some runs here pretty soon.”

On the mound, Ronel Blanco suffered his first defeat of the season, surrendering a season-high four runs on three hits with six strikeouts and three walks in 4 2/3 innings.

“I felt good,” Blanco said in Spanish through an interpreter. “I went out there to compete. I felt better with some hitters more than others. Some of them were able to do some damage. You got to give them credit.”

The Astros lost for just the second time with Blanco on the mound, dropping to 8-2 in the right-hander’s starts.

Blanco used mostly a mix of slider, four-seam fastball and changeup, but he struggled to get swings and misses, getting nine out of 51 total swings. His changeup was most effective getting whiffs, with five on 15 swings.

“I thought his stuff was really good,” Espada said. “Their approach was pretty good. They fouled off some tough pitches. He made some quality pitches and they were able to stay on him, but he had the stuff to take us deep into the game. It was just one of those nights where their offense did a nice job of executing and staying in the game and getting some hits.”

Despite losing four of its last five, Houston had some encouraging signs during May.

Dubón finished May on a seven-game hitting streak, hitting .356 during the month. The Astros finished the month of May 15-14, five games better than their 10-19 mark over March and April.

“Compared to the way we started our season, I think we are heading in the right direction,” Espada said. “I think we’re playing really good baseball. The last five days we have faced some really good pitching, and we are getting after it. Our effort is there, our approach is there. We just got to continue to push. I think we’re playing better baseball than we did a month ago.”

Houston closed within five games of .500 four times during the month of May, last getting within 24-29 on Sunday. The Astros ended May at 25-33.

“I think the guys in this room know what we need to do to be successful,” Bregman said. “We come here every day preparing to do so, and I think, moving forward, this group’s going to have a heck of a season.”