In a battle of rookie pitchers, River Ryan outdueled Spencer Arrighetti to avert an Astros sweep of the Dodgers.
Whenever Spencer Arrighetti pitches, I consider a winning outcome for the Astros a bonus.
No bonus points today.
In his last start, Arrighetti was the losing pitcher, although, allowing four runs in six innings isn’t a complete disgrace.
Today, Spencer had a no-hitter going after four innings. And after just three innings he had seven strikeouts. If Arrighetti can find that groove more often and stay there, he might just have a future in the big-leagues.
Unfortunately, his Dodger rookie counterpart, River Ryan, in his second major league start, was even more impressive. Ryan kept the Astros hitless for nearly five innings and scoreless for almost six, when Yainer Diaz got the Stros on the board with a two-run homer.
YAINER BOMB.#RELENTLESS pic.twitter.com/SyviZOC2Xm
— Houston Astros (@astros) July 28, 2024
Diaz’s 57 RBI lead the Astros.
However, despite looking indomitable through four, Arrighetti weakened in the fifth and sixth innings, surrendering a solo, just-barely Crawford Boxes homer to James Outman in the fifth, and two-run job to Gavin Lux in the sixth.
Nonetheless, despite the two miscues, Arrighetti left the game with a quality start under his belt, and his team only one run down.
But alas, last night’s Saturday Night Fever comeback heroics were not for the Astros this lazy Sunday afternoon. Former Astro Teoscar Hernandez expanded the Dodger lead to 5-2 with a two run homer off Bryan King. Jason Heyward added a run for the Dodgers in the ninth sacrificing Shohei Ohtani home with a deep fly to left field off Rafael Montero.
The Mariners won their game today against the White Sox leaving the Astros virtually tied for the lead in the AL West.
The Astros take on the Pirates tomorrow at MMP. Game time 7:10 CT.