Spencer Arrighetti nearly made history Friday night. He settled for dominant.
Arrighetti carried a no-hit bid into the eighth inning before Justin Foscue lined a single over a leaping Isaac Paredes, ending the bid and Arrighetti’s night after 102 pitches. Bryan King inherited runners on first and second, induced a flyout, and watched Christian Vázquez snap a back-pick to first base, with Walker applying the tag on Foscue to end the threat. King finished the final five outs, and the Houston Astros shut out the Texas Rangers 2-0 at Daikin Park in the opener of the Silver Boot Series.
The Astros are 18-28. Five of those wins belong to Arrighetti.
Arrighetti was efficient where he could be and sharp when he had to be. He struck out five, walked four, and generated 12 whiffs on 41 swings. It was his second career no-hit bid taken into the eighth—he had another broken up by the Phillies in September 2024. Sharp defense kept him in it. In the fifth, Zach Dezenzo made a full-extension diving catch in left-center on a 101 mph Alejandro Osuna liner that Statcast projected at a .420 expected batting average. Zach Cole ran down a slicing flyout in the right-center gap in the third. Braden Shewmake slid to field a chopper up the middle and threw out Foscue in the same inning—Foscue, whose eighth-inning single would eventually end the bid.
Isaac Paredes provided the only offense Arrighetti needed. In the third, on a full count, he pulled a 97.4 mph center-cut fastball from Jack Leiter into the Crawford Boxes for his fourth home run of the year. Leiter was sharp himself, allowing just two other hits over seven innings and striking out six, but it wasn’t enough.
Braden Shewmake added a two-out RBI single in the eighth to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. He is hitting .366 on the season.
Arrighetti owns a 1.50 ERA through six starts. The Houston pitching staff carries the majors’ highest ERA—Friday was its fourth shutout of the season.
On the injury front, Jeremy Peña returned to the Corpus Christi lineup Friday after missing two days with neck soreness sustained in a collision during his first rehab game Tuesday. Manager Joe Espada said of Peña’s timeline: “We’ll see how he feels tomorrow and then we’ll go from there.” Jake Meyers is scheduled to play back-to-back games this weekend at Double-A. Nate Pearson was scheduled to make rehab outings Friday and Sunday as he works back from elbow soreness.
The Silver Boot Series continues Saturday at Daikin Park, with Kai-Wei Teng scheduled to start for Houston. The Astros will be looking to build on Friday’s momentum and take the series from the Rangers.
Heading to Daikin Park soon? Check the Astros promotions schedule before your next game.