2015 SPRING TRAINING/GRAPEFRUIT LEAGUE Houston Astros (5-3-2) vs. Washington Nationals (4-6-1) RHP Asher Wojciechowski (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Max Scherzer (0-0, 3.60) Sunday, March 15, 2015 - Osceola County Stadium, Kissimmee, FL - 1:05 p.m. ET TODAY’S GAME: The Astros will play their 6th home game of the Spring Training season today in a 1:05 p.m. ET matinee vs. Wash- ington at Osceola County Stadium...RHP Asher Wojciechowski (wo-juh-how-skee) will take the mound opposite Nationals starter RHP Max Scherzer...vs. the Nationals: Tonight is the 2nd of 4 scheduled matchups vs. the Nationals this Spring and the 2nd of 3 matchups over a 4-day span since Friday. TODAY’S HURLERS: Starter RHP Asher Wojciechowski will be followed by RHP Pat Neshek, RHP Will Harris, LHP Joe Thatcher, RHP Brady Rodgers, RHP Jordan Jankowski and RHP Jake Buchanan. ON THE BUMP: Today’s start goes to RHP Asher Wojciechowski after a dominant outing in his last appearance in relief on 3/9 at TOR (0ER/3IP)...Wojciechowski, who is vying for a rotation spot, is scheduled to go 4.0 innings today...he’ll be opposed by RHP Max Scherzer, an All-Star the last two seasons (2013-14) and the 2013 Cy Young Award winner...Scherzer has made 2 starts this Spring, his last being a 3.0 inning appearance on 3/10 at MIA. LAST NIGHT’S RECAP: An entertaining game throughout, the Astros dropped a 6-5 contest to the homestanding Braves in a the first night game of the Spring for Houston last night...handed a 5-0 deficit thru 3.0 frames, Houston battled back, eventually trailing 5-3 and 6-4 before dropping the contest 6-5...RHP Collin McHugh (5ER/2.1IP) started for Houston and received the loss, his 1st this Spring... the bullpen after McHugh was solid, including scoreless innings from RHP Chad Qualls, RHP Luke Gregerson, RHP Michael Feliz and LHP Kevin Chapman...offensively, the Astros were led by LF Robbie Grossman (2x3) and CF Colby Rasmus (1x3, HR). UP FROM THE BACKFIELDS: Today the Astros will bring over RHP Tyson Perez from minor league camp...Perez spent the majority of his 2014 season at Double A Corpus Christi, posting a 4-0 record and a 2.09 ERA (9ER/38.2IP) in 30 relief appearances...last night, CF Brett Phillips joined the club from minor league camp and hit a solo homer in the 9th...the Astros 2014 minor league player of the year, Phillips is now 2x3 in Major League games this Spring. ON A ROLL: Prior to last night’s loss, the Astros had gone 4-0-2 in their last six games...at 5-3-2, the Astros enter today’s game 5th in the Grapefruit League in winning percentage (.625)...last year, the Astros went 12-15 in Spring Training Games. WHO’S HOT?: 3B Luis Valbuena leads the club in batting at .529 (9x17)...Jon Singleton (.444, 8x18, 5 2B), Jake Marisnick (.429, 6x14), Robbie Grossman (.421, 8x19), Jed Lowrie (.417, 5x12), Jose Altuve (.400, 6x15) and Evan Gattis (.357, 5x14) have also hit well...On The Mound: Today’s starter RHP Asher Wojciechowski has not allowed a run in his two apps. (5 IP)...RHP Jake Buchanan (3.1 IP), RHP Will Harris (3.2 IP) and RHP James Hoyt (3.2 IP) have also posted 0.00 ERA’s this Spring. BIGGIO IN CAMP TOMORROW: Newly-elected Hall of Famer Craig Biggio will report to camp tomorrow and stay thru March 20, while former Astros All-Star Jose Cruz is currently in camp...the club’s executive advisor Nolan Ryan will return from March 25-31... Jeff Bagwell, Enos Cabell, Lance Berkman and Roger Clemens have already visited camp, with Clemens scheduled to return at a later date...NOTE - Several additional, former Astros players are currently in camp as members of the minor league staff, including Cesar Cedeno, Morgan Ensberg, Adam Everett, Doug Brocail and Mark Bailey. ON THE AIRWAVES: Today’s game will be broadcast live on KBME 790 AM in Houston...as always, all broadcasts can be heard live on SiriusXM satellite radio and MLB.com Gameday Audio...virtually all 2015 Astros Spring Training games will be broadcast live or on tape delay on SportsTalk 790 AM or KPRC 950 AM...the broadcast team of Robert Ford and Steve Sparks will call the action today. ROOT DEBUT: The Astros will make their debut on their new television home, ROOT Sports, on Tuesday afternoon vs. the Pirates, which will be the first of four Spring Training telecasts: March 17 at PIT, March 20 vs. WSH, March 22 vs. PIT, March 23 vs. ATL... Bill Brown, Alan Ashby, Geoff Blum and Julia Morales return to call the action in 2015...the network is available to AT&T U-verse subscribers on channels 758 (SD) and 1758 (HD), and DIRECTV customers on channel 674...local Comcast customers can see the network via channels 39 (SD) and 639 (HD)...for a full schedule and channel listings, visit ROOTSPORTS.com. THE ASTROS REMEMBER: The Houston Astros join the rest of the baseball world in mourning the passing of former Astros General Manager Al Rosen, who passed away on Friday night at the age of 91...the fifth general manager in Astros franchise history, Rosen served in that position for five seasons, from 1981-85, guiding the 1981 club to the Divisional Round of the playoffs. TODAY’S SCHEDULED PITCHERS: -RHP #59 Asher Wojciechowski: Today will be his 3rd app. of the Spring and his 1st start...tossed 3.0 scoreless innings in relief on 3/9 at TOR, allowing 2 hits with 3 strikeouts...former supplemental first round pick (41st overall in 2010 by TOR) is entering his sixth professional season, and his second on the Astros 40-man roster...made 15 appearances (14 starts) at Triple A Oklahoma City last season, going 4-4 with a 4.74 ERA (40ER/76IP)...last year, suffered a lat strain in Spring Training and a right forearm flexor strain in May that delayed his season until June...had a strong finish to the year, going 3-1 with a 3.11 ERA (13ER/37.2IP) over his final 6 outings of 2014. -RHP #37 Pat Neshek: Today will be his 3rd outing of the Spring...tossed 1.0 scoreless inning in his last app. on 3/12 vs. DET...signed with Houston to a two-year deal on 12/12/14 after having an All-Star season with the Cardinals last year...posted a 7-2 record with six saves and a 1.87 ERA (14ER/67.1IP) in 71 appearances with St. Louis last season...has pitched in parts of eight Major League seasons with Minnesota (2006-08, 2010), San Diego (2011), Oakland (2012-13) and St. Louis (2014). UPCOMING SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS (ALL TIMES EASTERN) Date Time Opponent Pitchers Radio/Television Sun., March 15 1:05 Washington RHP Asher Wojciechowski (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Max Scherzer (0-0, 3.60) KBME/none Mon., March 16 1:05 Atlanta LHP Dallas Keuchel (0-0, 0.00) vs. LHP Alex Wood (0-1, 3.86) KPRC/none 1:05 at Washington RHP Mark Appel (1-0, 4.50) vs. RHP Jordan Zimmerman (1-0, 1.93) none/none Tue., March 17 1:05 at Pittsburgh RHP Roberto Hernandez (1-0, 3.60) vs. LHP Jeff Locke (1-1, 3.60) KPRC/ROOT -RHP #36 Will Harris: Today will be his 4th outing of the Spring...last pitched on 3/12 vs. DET, allowing 1 hit in 1 scoreless inning... claimed off waivers by Houston from Arizona on Nov. 3, 2014...has pitched in parts of 3 Major League seasons with Colorado (2012) and Arizona (2013-14), tallying 107 strikeouts with 30 walks in 99.1 innings...ended the 2014 season with a career-high, 16-game scoreless appearance streak (15.2IP)...marked a new ARI club record to end a season...in 2013, posted a 2.91 ERA (17ER/52.2IP) with a 4-1 record and 53 strikeouts in 61 outings. -LHP #54 Joe Thatcher: Side-arming lefty has appeared in 3 Spring games without allowing a run (3.1IP)...last pitched on 3/12 vs. DET (0ER/1.1IP)...pitched in the Majors in each of the last eight seasons...signed by Houston to a minor league contract with an invite to Spring Training on Feb. 13...has pitched in 340 MLB games, posting a 3.40 ERA (90ER/238IP)...owns a career .230 opponents’ bat- ting average against left-handed batters (101x439)...aside from a 16-game stint with the Angels in 2014, has pitched the entirety of his Major League career in the National League and ranks 7th among active lefties in games pitched in the NL (346)...posted a 3.86 ERA (13ER/30.1IP) in 53 combined games with the Diamondbacks and Angels in 2014. -RHP #64 Brady Rodgers: Received his first invite to a Major League Spring Training camp this season...has made 2 apps. this Spring, his last coming on 3/8 at DET...was drafted by the Astros in the third round of the 2012 draft out of Arizona State University...made 26 appearances (17 starts) at Double A Corpus Christi last season and led the Texas League in strikeout to walk ratio (4.58) while posting the lowest walks per 9.0 innings ratio (1.42) in the circuit.