After losing three close ones to the Mariners, the Astros played a solid all-around game to avoid the sweep on Thursday afternoon. It all started with an outstanding performance from Spencer Arrighetti.
After a leadoff walk in the first, Spencer appeared to be in for a rough day, but he was able to settle in and strand the runner on first to start the game with a scoreless inning. Arrighetti struck out Julio Rodriguez with this nasty cutter.
In six innings of work, the Rookie only allowed two hits and three walks and struck out eight, all while allowing zero runs. Hopefully, this will be a preview of things to come.
Yordan Alavarez got the team’s first hit in the first inning on a rocket line drive to right field. He didn’t score, but it set the tone for the rest of the game.
The Astros got on the board at the top of the fourth with an Alex Bregman two-run shot, which was all the scoring Houston needed.
In the top of the fifth, Victor Caratini lead-off with a solo home run to right center field to increase the lead to three. That was a wise signing.
Not satisfied with a three-run lead, the Astros strung together several quality At-bats to pick up another run in the 6th via a triple from Alex Bregman and an RBI groundout from Caratini. The Astro’s offense made good contact for the rest of the game, but they would not score again.
The most impressive part of Arrighetti’s start was his finish. In the bottom of the 6th, facing the Mariners for a third time through the order, Spencer struck out JROD, Raleigh, and France consecutively to finish his day. More on that later.
The later innings have been dicey the past few days, but the bullpen did its job. Montero, Pressley and Hader combined for three innings pitched, no runs, four Ks, and only allowed two baserunners. Montero was, however, helped out by this stellar defensive play by Jeremy Pena.
Hader did make it a little more interesting than most fans would have liked, allowing two hits in the ninth, but his stuff looked good, and sometimes good hitters will hit good pitches.
Final Score: Astros 4, Mariners 0.
Observations:
The Mariners only took three At-bats with runners in scoring position today, and two of those were in the ninth down four runs. This made the game feel like a lot less close than it was.
Spencer Arrighetti was nothing short of outstanding today. His eight strikeouts today were a career-high. He generated 14 swings and misses on only 90 pitches, nine of which came on his cutter. I was not very high on him coming into the season, but he seems to be making progress. I am skeptical that he will stick as a starting pitcher; I do not think he has the command or a good enough fastball. However, I am happy to be proved wrong, and if he continues to improve like he has, then maybe he will.