Spencer Arrighetti gave the Houston Astros exactly what they needed Sunday afternoon—and exactly what they have been unable to find for most of the first month of the season.
Working seven innings against the American League’s best team, Arrighetti allowed just one run on three hits, struck out eight and walked one, improving to 3-0 with a 2.00 ERA through three starts. The Astros backed him with a six-run outburst through the first three innings and held on for a 7-4 victory over the New York Yankees at Daikin Park, salvaging the series finale and avoiding a sweep.
It was the kind of outing Houston’s rotation has managed only a handful of times in a season defined by pitching struggles. Arrighetti was sharp from the start, retiring the first five batters he faced before allowing a Jazz Chisholm Jr. single in the second. He worked around trouble in the third, getting a flyout from Trent Grisham to strand Caballero after he was hit by a pitch. Through five innings, he had not allowed a run. Aaron Judge provided the only blemish, hitting a sweeper to left-center for a solo homer in the sixth — his tenth of the season. Arrighetti retired the next three batters to finish his outing.
The offense made his job easier with an early cushion. Carlos Correa drew a walk to open the bottom of the first, and Christian Walker followed with a two-run homer to center—his seventh of the season—giving Houston an early 2-0 lead. It was a theme for Walker, who has quietly emerged as one of the team’s most consistent offensive contributors. In the fifth, with Yordan Alvarez and Isaac Paredes on base, Walker delivered a two-run double to left, his eighth of the season, pushing the lead to 7-0.
Alvarez and Paredes were the other catalysts. Alvarez singled in the third, setting the table for Paredes, who drove a Luis Gil offering to left field for a two-run homer—his third of the year—to make it 4-0. It was the kind of middle-of-the-order production the Astros have relied on all season to compensate for their pitching woes.
Bryan King worked a scoreless eighth. Enyel De Los Santos closed it out in the ninth, though not without difficulty. Chisholm singled, Paul Goldschmidt doubled, and J.C. Escarra doubled to make it 7-4. Ryan McMahon singled to score Escarra before De Los Santos induced a lineout from José Caballero to end it.
The Astros finish the series 1-2 against the Yankees, who entered the weekend with the AL’s best record at 18-9. Houston improves to 11-18 and travels to Baltimore for a three-game series beginning Tuesday.
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