Every outing Abreu makes, still, is magnified. The Astros are missing closer Josh Hader and set-up man Bennett Sousa to injuries. Bryan King is their only other healthy reliever who has regularly drawn high-leverage outings this season. Abreu has all three of their saves since Hader landed on the IL.

The Houston Astros had an ugly showing in what was a high stakes showdown between American League division leaders when they faced the Detroit Tigers in a three

The bats bailed out the pitching staff for a nice change of pace. For the first half of the season, the Astros’ best attribute was their run prevention capabilities. Only the Rangers (290) allowed fewer earned runs than Houston (308) through July 6 when the latter swept the Dodgers in Los Angeles.