CLEVELAND — Ryan Weiss made his second start of the season for the Houston Astros on Tuesday night at Progressive Field, taking the ball in the middle game of a three-game set against the Cleveland Guardians. The right-hander, who began the year in the bullpen, was making just his second career MLB start after stepping into the rotation last week.
Weiss signed a major league deal in December and opened 2026 as a relief option before getting his first start on April 16 against Colorado, when he allowed two earned runs in 3.2 innings. That outing was enough to earn another turn, and it came with Houston still trying to climb back from a 9-15 start while Cleveland entered at 13-11.
The Astros had already won at Progressive Field on April 20, improving to 5-1 in their last six games there. They also had history on their side in Cleveland, going 2-0 at the ballpark in 2024 and 2-1 there in 2025, even though they finished 2-4 against the Guardians overall last season. The clubs were scheduled to meet six times in 2026, including another three-game series at Daikin Park from June 19-21.
Houston’s lineup arrived with one of the sport’s hottest bats in Yordan Alvarez, who led the majors with 10 home runs through April 21 and matched the club record for homers through a player’s first 24 games. He also led the American League in RBI with 21, extra-base hits with 17 and total bases with 65, and ranked second in slugging percentage at.756, on-base percentage at.459 and OPS at 1.215. Jose Altuve, meanwhile, needed one more game to reach 2,000 for his career.
The roster moved before first pitch, too. The Astros placed Taylor Trammell on the 10-day injured list with a left groin strain, selected Daniel Johnson to the major league roster and designated Christian Roa for assignment to clear space on the 40-man roster. For Houston, the night was about more than one start; it was another test of whether the pitching shuffle that brought Weiss out of the bullpen can hold while the lineup keeps carrying the load.
