The Houston Astros’ starting rotation is at a crisis point. Houston has now used four different starting pitchers in three games, and none has made it past the fifth inning.
Cody Bolton lasted just one inning Sunday at T-Mobile Park, walking three in the second before being removed with mid-back tightness—the fourth Astros starter to exit with an injury in the span of eight days. Bolton had been struck in the back by a 102.5 mph comebacker in his previous start in Colorado and said the area began tightening up again mid-inning Sunday. Houston fell 6-1 to the Seattle Mariners, their seventh consecutive loss, as Logan Gilbert shut them down over seven innings and the offense managed just five hits.
Bolton allowed a run in the first inning and walked the first three batters he faced in the second before manager Joe Espada and a trainer came to the mound. He threw 42 pitches and recorded just three outs. Jayden Murray, Christian Roa, Enyel De Los Santos, and Bryan Abreu followed in relief, combining to allow four more runs.
Houston’s only run came from Yainer Diaz, who hit his first home run of the season in the fifth inning. Otherwise, Gilbert was in complete control, allowing just one run on four hits while striking out seven.
Houston walked nine batters on the day and went 0-for-1 with runners in scoring position. The Mariners stranded twelve and still didn’t need more.
Bolton joins Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Tatsuya Imai as starters who have left this road trip with injury concerns. Brown and Javier are on the 15-day injured list with Grade 2 shoulder strains. Imai flew back to Houston Saturday for evaluation of right arm fatigue. There was no update on Imai’s status Sunday.
General manager Dana Brown addressed the situation on the Astros’ pregame radio show Sunday, acknowledging the scope of the problem while expressing confidence in the organization’s ability to weather it. “This is a temporary turbulent time for us,” he said, “and we’ll fight our way out of it like we’ve done in the past.” Brown indicated that Ryan Weiss and Kai-Wei Teng could be stretched out as starters, and that Nate Pearson, currently rehabbing, would also be developed as a rotation option. Spencer Arrighetti is expected to join the rotation from Triple-A Sugar Land later this week, with several others available as options.
Mike Burrows starts Monday’s series finale. The Astros are 6-9 and have lost seven straight.
In the lone piece of good news Sunday, shortstop Jeremy Peña’s imaging came back negative on his right posterior knee. He remains day to day.
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