{"id":122678,"date":"2026-05-25T22:33:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T02:33:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=122678"},"modified":"2026-05-25T22:33:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T02:33:41","slug":"takeaways-astros-sweep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/05\/25\/takeaways-astros-sweep\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Takeaways From the Astros Huge Series Sweep Over the Cubs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Could this be the series that changes the season for the Houston Astros? It\u2019s been an <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/05\/17\/manager-joe-espada\/\" target=\"_self\">extremely difficult first two months<\/a> of the 2026 season for Houston, but it feels like something could be changing.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>After going down a season high 11 games under .500 after another series loss, this time to the Minnesota Twins, the hole just seemed to be getting bigger. A daunting three-game road trip to Wrigley Field to take on the Chicago Cubs, who were one of the better teams in the National League, lay ahead.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>It surprisingly turned into the best series of the season for the Astros, so much so that some belief has returned around Houston. Everything finally came together.<\/p>\n<p class=\"alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBWGrXhBJy\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 5520px; aspect-ratio: 5520\/3680;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n<h2>A Rare Astros Series Sweep<\/h2>\n<p>The Astros swept the Cubs in a three-game series at Wrigley and were by far the better team in every aspect. They improved to 23-31 on the season overall. This was the first series sweep since the second series of the season against the Boston Red Sox from March 30-April 1.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> This was the first time the Astros won a game at Wrigley Field since 2013 and the first sweep at Wrigley since 2011. Success has not been easy there.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Bring out the brooms, y&#8217;all!<\/p>\n<p>\ud83e\uddf9\ud83e\uddf9\ud83e\uddf9 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TGPjaqU7U8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/TGPjaqU7U8<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Houston Astros (@astros) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/astros\/status\/2058655182968205466?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 24, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Nothing has come easy for this year\u2019s group. Every win seems so hard-fought. The Astros just played some good baseball up in Chicago, and that could propel them towards the winning momentum needed to turn the season around. Houston won the first game 4-2, then won the series with a 3-0 win on Saturday and wrapped it up with an 8-5 win on Sunday afternoon.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> The Astros are now 7-4 in their last 11 games.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Here are two takeaways from this critical series sweep.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>1. Starting Pitching Consistently Delivered<\/h2>\n<p>This has arguably been the biggest issue all season for the Astros. The starters are unable to go deep into games, which just hurts the entire pitching staff. That was completely different in this series. All three starters came through.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>It started with the Astros\u2019 current ace, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/arrigsp01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spencer Arrighetti<\/a>. He\u2019s flat out been one of the best pitchers in baseball. Arrighetti didn\u2019t have his best stuff or command on Friday, but powered through five shutout innings and gave up just two hits. He did walk four and hit two batters, but had five strikeouts. Arrighetti threw 89 total pitches and had 53 strikes.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_122738\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-122738\" style=\"width: 4200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/USATSI_29034117.webp\" alt=\"Houston Astros starting pitcher Spencer Arrighetti pitching vs the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois on May 22, 2026.\" width=\"4200\" height=\"2800\" class=\"size-full wp-image-122738\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/USATSI_29034117.webp 4200w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/USATSI_29034117-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/USATSI_29034117-600x400.webp 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/05\/USATSI_29034117-1200x800.webp 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 4200px) 100vw, 4200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-122738\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">May 22, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Spencer Arrighetti (41) delivers a pitch against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The 26-year-old now has a 6-1 record in seven games, as well as a 1.32 ERA. Both are among the best in Major League Baseball. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/t\/tengka01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kai-Wei Teng<\/a> pitched the next day and has been stretched out as a starter. He initially started in the bullpen and has continued that success in the rotation.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>A New Starter to the Rotation<\/h3>\n<p>Teng had the best and longest start of his career against the Cubs with six shutout innings. He only gave up two hits, and one of them was on a dropped pop-up. Teng struck out six and also threw 89 pitches with 56 strikes. It\u2019s now back-to-back wins for Teng after he threw five shutout innings against the Rangers. He\u2019s gone 11 straight innings without giving up a run and his ERA has dropped to 2.19.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Six shutout innings for Kai-Wei. \ud83d\udd25<a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ChaseTheFight?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#ChaseTheFight<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/d0oFTyjjPG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/d0oFTyjjPG<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Houston Astros (@astros) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/astros\/status\/2058278575644541188?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 23, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Getting this outing from Teng was massive for the Astros, who have been looking for other starter options. He\u2019s now locked into the rotation.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Peter Lambert <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/05\/06\/peter-lambert-success\/\" target=\"_self\">closed out the series with a gritty outing<\/a>. It wasn\u2019t easy, nor was it his best day, but Lambert found a way to grind through five innings of three-run ball with 103 total pitches. The key was that he didn\u2019t blow the game completely in favor of the Cubs and managed to survive some tough situations. This outing spared the bullpen and prevented them from pitching a much higher amount of innings.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Lambert gave up five hits, four walks, and a three-spot in the second inning. He found himself in massive trouble in the third with the bases loaded and a 3-2 count. Lambert\u2019s biggest pitch was a strikeout that ended the third and kept the game alive for the Astros to come back.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>A Productive Astros Bullpen<\/h3>\n<p>Additionally,<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/04\/30\/the-astros-bullpen-is-constructed-differently-this-season\/\" target=\"_self\"> the bullpen<\/a> was reliable. They had the worst ERA in baseball, but that wasn\u2019t the case in this series. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/delosen01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Enyel De Los Santos<\/a> was fantastic against the Cubs. He came through with a crucial 1.2 perfect innings in the first game after <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/o\/okertst01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steven Okert<\/a> gave up two runs.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/abreubr01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bryan Abreu<\/a> made two appearances and didn\u2019t give up a run, although he allowed some traffic. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kingbr02.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bryan King<\/a> was the standout. He\u2019s really delivered for the Astros as of late and had a clutch 1.1 inning save in the first game. King had another one-inning save the next day. De Los Santos also pitched another scoreless, perfect inning while Okert bounced back in the second game. Even back-to-back day workloads didn\u2019t affect the back-end of the bullpen.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/blubaaj01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">AJ Blubaugh<\/a> gave up a two-run homer in the last game of the series but still got through two innings. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/pearsna01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nate Pearson<\/a> has looked effective with his high velocity and closed out the game and clinched the sweep. The pitching has generally improved over the past week or so. As long as multiple starters go deep, this pitching staff can be in decent shape.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>2. Power and Timely Hitting<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>While the offense went into a slump earlier this month, it seems like the Astros might be out of it. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/05\/22\/astros-roster-moves-may-2026\/\" target=\"_self\">Something that helped<\/a> was getting starting shortstop <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/penaje02.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jeremy Pe<span>\u00f1<\/span>a<\/a> and starting centerfielder <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/meyerja02.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jake Meyers<\/a> back. The Astros got contributions from across the board throughout the series, and in the first game, it was from the bottom of the lineup.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Starting catcher <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/v\/vazquch01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Christian V\u00e1zquez<\/a> has had a great season and hit his ninth home run of the season, and added another hit from the ninth spot. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/coleza01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zach Cole<\/a> added an RBI while <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/matthbr01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brice Matthews<\/a> came up big with a pinch-hit RBI single.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>It was the <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/w\/walkech02.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Christian Walker<\/a> show in the second game. He crushed two home runs and was the entire offense with three RBIs. Walker hit a two-run homer in the first inning, followed by a solo shot in the fourth. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/05\/09\/christian-walkers-hot-start\/\" target=\"_self\">He\u2019s delivered and is the Astros\u2019 RBI leader<\/a> at the moment.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"fi\" dir=\"ltr\">CHRISTIAN WALKER HALLELUJAH <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/87JkcZMF7u\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/87JkcZMF7u<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Houston Astros (@astros) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/astros\/status\/2058635811113845026?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 24, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>New Contributors to the Astros Offense<\/h3>\n<p>While the Astros lineup didn\u2019t look particularly great on Sunday, as <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/alvaryo01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yordan Alvarez<\/a> was given an off-day, that\u2019s when they scored eight runs. The whole lineup contributed in some way. Meyers hit his second home run of the season, and<a  href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/player\/nick-allen-669397?stats=gamelogs-r-hitting-mlb&amp;year=2024\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Nick Allen<\/a> surprisingly hit his first home run in over two years. Allen had three total hits as well as an RBI single in the ninth.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">RAKE MEYERS. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/xErAElVuTX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/xErAElVuTX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Houston Astros (@astros) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/astros\/status\/2058619170149802131?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 24, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The big inning was the fifth, where the Astros tacked on five runs. Pe<span>\u00f1<\/span>a stepped up with a clutch two-RBI single with the bases loaded and two outs. The Astros were down 3-2 at that point and flipped the game. Walker continued to stay on a heater and crushed a 427-foot three-run blast that broke the game open. The Astros went up 7-3. That was his 14th home run of the season.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">Pe\u00f1a puts the Stros on top! <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/pWFUTUYKX8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/pWFUTUYKX8<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Houston Astros (@astros) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/astros\/status\/2058634855106163057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 24, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The key contributors for Houston all had their moments, and they most importantly came through with timely hits. The power returned with six home runs in the three-game series. The Astros additionally didn\u2019t leave as many men on base (16) as the Cubs (22).<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>This is how you play like a winning baseball team. Alvarez has returned for the series against the Texas Rangers even after dealing with back spasms on Saturday, and this four-game stretch in Arlington is a great opportunity for the Astros to jump up in the AL West. The sweep over the Cubs can provide that boost for success.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Could this be the series that changes the season for the Houston Astros? It\u2019s been an extremely difficult first two months of the 2026 season for Houston, but it feels like something could be changing.\u00a0 After going down a season high 11 games under .500 after another series loss, this time to the Minnesota Twins, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5612,"featured_media":122736,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14,1071,35],"tags":[6483,29341,2517,3012,5107,5332,1379,28504,28441,2725],"class_list":["post-122678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-astros","category-mlb","category-news","tag-brice-matthews","tag-bryan-king","tag-christian-walker","tag-enyel-de-los-santos","tag-jake-meyers","tag-jeremy-pena","tag-nick-allen","tag-spencer-arrighetti","tag-steven-okert","tag-yordan-alvarez"],"modified_by":"Augustus Oswald, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5612"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122678"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122739,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122678\/revisions\/122739"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}