"We didn't play well," Astros Manager A.J. Hinch said. "Losing the series at home bothers me, but we're doing a lot of things that are not in the box score that are not considered errors. We're not playing clean enough to win."
With all the injuries piling up and pitching woes, the most recent Triple-A call-up Cy Sneed made his Major League debut. He came in relief in the fourth inning after Peacock made it just three innings giving up seven hits and six runs. Sneed had a serviceable outing, eating the final six innings but surrendered four runs on seven hits.
"I didn't want to use him in that way... but he picked up the entire bullpen," Hinch said about Sneed.
Peacock has hit a rough patch in his last five starts. He has allowed eight home runs and has a 6.39 earned run average. The six runs he allowed Thursday are the second most this season behind his May 2nd start at Minnesota where he gave up seven.
The Astros offense went fairly quietly against former Astro and 2017 World Series champion Joe Musgrove. In six shutout innings Musgrove allowed nine hits, all of them being singles. Jose Altuve and Yuli Gurriel each had two hits.
Now with a record of (12-12) in the month of June, the Astros lead in the division currently stands at five games. The Rangers are in second, two games ahead of the third place Athletics. Eight games remain before the All-Star Break.