The Houston Astros have now lost five games in a row and eight of their last ten after falling last night 4-2 at the hands of the Miami Marlins on Sunday night.  Jose Altuve, the only hitter in the lineup batting better than .280, went 3-for-4 for his Major League-leading 46th multi-hit game.  He now leads the Majors in hits (148), multi-hit games and three-hit games (18), and he is hitting .429 during his nine-game hitting streak he is currently on.

"We're missing a huge part of our offense with Fowler and Springer, but at the same time, it's provided opportunity for other guys to show what it is they can do," Astros manager Bo Porter said.  "They have to take advantage of that opportunity.  There's nothing they can do about it. Injuries are a part of the game, and we just have to go with the 25 guys we have to go into battle with each and every day."

On the mound for Houston was Colin McHugh who went just over six innings while giving up four runs on seven hits.  The loss drops him to just 4-9 on the year and raised his ERA to 3.45.  "At the end of the day, you can pitch well -- if your guy throws a shutout and your score a run, obviously you win the game, 1-0 -- but you have to score runs," Porter said.  "We had opportunities, and right now we're not getting the big hit.  Altuve continues to swing the bat well, but we need some other guys in the lineup to get it going."

The Astros will now start another series against the division leading Oakland Athletics starting today.  Houston lost two of three to the A's just last week in Oakland.  First pitch for this game is set for 7:10pm from Minute Maid Park in Houston and you can hear all the action right here on Sports Radio 1340 the FAN.

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