It was Spaghetti day at Daikin Park today! Spencer Arrighetti(1-5, 6.14 ERA, 24 SO) got the start this evening for the Astros vs. Angels right hander Kyle Hendricks.(6-9, 5.04 ERA, 87 SO) After a narrow 2-0 victory yesterday, the Astros offense owed it to Spencer to do a lot better than 2-14 with RISP and 13 LOB.(gross) They also have a 3.0 game division lead they could build upon by winning their 4th straight today. (Would be their first four game streak since July 20th-23rd against the Mariners
and Diamondbacks)
Hopefully, the good times continue to roll and this team starts looking more and more like a playoff threat. Also, happy 50th to Joe Espada! First pitch at 6:10pm. Let’s go!
First Pitch: 6:10pm CDT
Arrightetti was rolling through 2.2 innings with 5 K’s before Zach Neto took him deep to the Crawford Boxes to make it 1-0 Angels. Spencer then struck out Yoán Moncada to make it 6 K’s through the top of the 3rd.
Jesus Sanchez scored Jeremy Peña with an RBI-single in the bottom of the 3rd to tie the game 1-1. It wasn’t pretty, as Jesús Sánchez dribbled a ball up the middle to where Zach Neto was going to be, but Luis Rengifo intercepted and bobbled it to the Astros’ benefit.
After Christian Walker struck out to end the inning, the offense already fell to 1-7 with RISP with 5 LOB.
Arrighetti then struck out Jo Adell to end the top of the 4th for 7 K’s. Double digit strikeout day incoming?
Bryan King replaced Arrighetti in the top of the 7th after he put runners on 1st and 2nd with 1-out. His final line: 1 hit, 5 walks(!), 8 K’s, 1 HR, 1 ER. Also, shoutout to Bryan King. Per the SpaceCity HN broadcast, he has inherited 16 baserunners on the season and has not allowed a single one to score.
Craig Kimbrel replaced Steven Okert in the top of the 8th and got Taylor Ward to fly out to center field to keep the game tied 1-1. (offense was 1-8 with RISP and 6 LOB at this point)
Bryan Abreu entered in the 9th and found himself in a bases loaded situation after three straight singles. That would end disastrously, as the Angels plated three runs to make it 4-1 after a 4th single by Oswald Peraza and a walk drawn by Mike Trout.
That would indeed be the dagger, as Walker, Yainer, and Cam Smith all made contact outs to end the game and lose a stinker 4-1. Bryan Abreu holds the L for this one on the scorecard, but it’s the offense that really should be ashamed of itself.
They collectively ended the night 1-8 with RISP and 8 LOB. In fact, the only reason why they weren’t shut out tonight was because of an error. Per Geoff Blum after the game, the Astros are 5-37 with RISP on the homestand. Absolutely unacceptable for a team with a Yordan, Correa, Altuve, Walker, Yainer, Cam Smith, and so on.
It’s a 1:10pm start tomorrow, as the Diesel (10-6, 2.37 ERA, 177 SO) takes the ball vs. José Soriano (9-9, 3.85 ERA, 136 SO) in game three of the series. The Astros are currently 26-19 in day games. Here’s rooting for win #27 in that department and the start of a new win streak.
