Houston Astros' McCullers Strikes Out Five in Third Rehab Start

Lance McCullers Jr. extended his third rehab assignment into the fourth inning as he creeps closer to a return to the Houston Astros.

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Lance McCullers Jr. made his third rehab start Tuesday, second for Triple-A Sugar Land. Facing former teammate Dallas Keuchel of the Round Rock Express, McCullers extended into the fourth innings — his longest outing yet.

The right-hander struck out the side in the first frame, stranding a runner at first. On 20 pitchers, McCullers tossed 15 for strikes with four whiffs against the first four Express batters to enter the box.

Working the second and the third innings, McCullers combined for 35 pitches with longer counts extending the second frame. The righty punched out two batters, yielding a second single and a walk before throwing his only clean inning in the third.

"First three innings, I felt really really good," McCullers said. "Little more pitches than I wanted to, but I was attacking the zone pretty good — a lot of foul balls, a couple weak hits."

McCullers extended into the fourth inning but was pulled after one out. He walked two batters before inducing a bloop single to right field which resulted in a run on a throwing error by right fielder Lewis Brinson.

Devin Conn relieved McCullers after 76 pitches with one out in the fourth inning. Conn allowed both bequeathed runners to cross home, leaving McCullers with two earned runs over 3 1/3 innings on three hits and three walks to his five strikeouts.

"And the fourth inning, I got a little cute," McCullers said. "I tried to do a few things and ended up falling behind a couple guys and raised my pitch count limit. All-in-all, this is about getting out there and continuing getting up and down and build my pitch count."

McCullers told the staff he wanted to push 70 pitches and get through the fourth inning. But after a seven-pitch at-bat to former Houston Astros prospect Nick Tanielu, manager Mickey Storey gave McCullers the hook.

"It's not really about the health so much anymore. I am healthy," McCullers said. "I just have to build up that stamina a little bit."

Topping at 94.9 mph on his sinker, the righty threw the pitch 41 percent of the time. He mixed in 17 knuckle curves, 15 changeups and 13 sliders apart of his four-pitch arsenal Tuesday, generating eight total whiffs.

McCullers noted his arsenal worked well, but he feels like his two-seam fastball is "escaping" him, coming with inconsistent movement. While his arm feels healthy, working out of deeper counts and honing his two-seamer are McCullers' next steps.

The consensus is McCullers will pitch again Sunday for the Space Cowboys in his fourth rehab appearance or another bullpen before he returns to the Astros staff. His 30-day rehab clock started July 22 in his start for Double-A Corpus Christi.

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