Howard (1-2) gave up four earned runs on six hits and three walks while striking out three over 4.2 innings to take the loss in a 5-4 defeat to the Athletics on Friday.
Howard had another rough outing, this time surrendering two home runs off the bats of Ramon Laureano and Seth Brown. The performance raised his ERA to 7.11 over five starts and seven appearances. The right-hander ranks in the bottom first percentile of many key Statcast indicators, including xwOBA, xERA and xSLG. The Rangers may continue to hand him the ball as Dane Dunning recovers from an ankle impingement. Look for Howard to take the mound on the road against the Angels next week.