Spencer Arrighetti’s June reached a new low Friday night at Comerica Park, as the Detroit Tigers torched him for eight runs in three-plus innings and coasted to an 8-0 win. The loss evened the four-game series and ended Houston’s three-game winning streak.
Arrighetti opened with two scoreless innings before unraveling in the third. A leadoff walk and a single put runners at the corners. Arrighetti struck out Dillon Dingler, but Yainer Diaz’s throw sailed wide on the play, allowing James Outman to score. Kerry Carpenter crushed a 3-1 fastball into the right-field seats to make it 3-0. Arrighetti returned for the fourth but did not record an out—Colt Keith homered, a walk and a two-strike single by Matt Vierling loaded the bases, and Outman drove a four-seamer deep to right for a three-run blast. A fifth walk ended Arrighetti’s night.
“My stuff’s fine—I wouldn’t say really good today,” Arrighetti said. “I still struck out seven people so I feel like I put away some guys. I just didn’t get to two strikes with five hitters that I ended up putting on first base, so that makes it hard to pitch when you walk five people.”
Arrighetti posted a 0.93 ERA in five May starts and was named AL Pitcher of the Month. He carries a 9.00 ERA across his last five outings. All six home runs he has allowed in his last two starts have come against left-handed hitters—four on his four-seam fastball—after he had not surrendered a homer to a lefty all season entering his previous start.
Keider Montero worked seven scoreless innings for Detroit, keeping the Astros off balance with five pitch types. Houston managed five hits and never seriously threatened. It was the Astros’ seventh shutout loss of the season. Nate Pearson, Bryan Abreu, and Jake Meyers—the latter taking the mound in the eighth—combined to allow no runs over the final five innings.
Kai-Wei Teng starts Saturday’s game three against Framber Valdez at 12:10 p.m. CT.
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