Houston Astros starting pitcher Lucas Harrell made a quick stop home Monday before traveling to St. Louis for Tuesday’s game against the Cardinals.  The former Ozark Tiger leads the worst team in baseball  in wins this season.  Harrell has earned 10 of the Astros 39 wins.

“Maybe I've been a little luckier than some of the other starting pitchers,” said Harrell.  “It was one of my goals in spring training, I wanted to win at least 10 games.  To get  10 wins in the big leagues is not easy, especially when you don't have 5 or 6 years of experience.”

Harrell told Tag Magazine he expects to get 8 or 9 more starts before the end of the season.  He’s won 3 of his last 4 starts.

“Towards the end of spring training I was throwing well and things started to click,” explained Harrell.  “Once I got the opportunity, I would have one good game and one bad one.  As I figured out why I was having the bad games I corrected my mistakes and got better.”

He calls his last outing one of the favorite starts of his career.  On August 14th, Harrell was credited with the win against the Cubs.  In 8 innings  pitched he gave up 1 run and 6 hits in the Astros 10-1 victory.

“The game against the cubs was probably my highlight because of the history of Wrigley Field,” said Harrell.  “The whole game I felt like my arm wasn't loose, I couldn't get loose all game.  On days when your arm doesn't feel as good are more gratifying to me.  It also lets you know that when your arm feels good, it's going to be a good game.”

Harrell will start for the Astros against the Cardinals Tuesday at Busch Stadium.