Astros rookie starter Spencer Arrighetti gave up seven runs in the third inning of Wednesday night's game and Houston dropped its second straight against the Kansas City Royals.
The final score was 11-2 in favor of Kansas City, but it was a big third inning that made the clear difference between the two teams.
Arrighetti, the Astros' top pitching prospect making his major league debut, was able to get through the first two innings without any damage. He struck out the first two batters he faced and allowed just one base runner in both innings.
Then it all started to unravel in the third.
Kyle Isbel singled and stole first base to lead off the inning. Two batters later, Bobby Witt Jr. walked. Then Vinnie Pasquantino, who had a career-best 5 RBIs on the night, doubled to bring both runners in.
The next five at-bats went like this:
- Single by Salvador Perez
- MJ Melendez walks
- Single by Nelson Velazquez
- Single by Adam Frazier (who then stole second base)
- Double by Hunter Renfroe
And there would be no comeback for the Astros. They scored a couple of runs in the fourth inning on a double by Yainer Diaz, then a sacrifice fly by Jose Abreu. But the score was mostly cosmetic at that point.
Despite the rough outing, Astros manager Joe Espada said afterward that Arrighetti would get another shot in their rotation.
The last game Houston won, it had to overcome a rough start from another pitcher making his major league debut.
Blair Henley surrendered a two-run lead in the first inning by allowing the Texas Rangers to score five. But the Astros' lineup was able to add another eight runs and the bullpen limited damage the rest of the way. Henley was optioned back to the minor leagues soon after the game.
This will be different, especially given the Astros injury situation. With Framber Valdez, Justin Verlander, Jose Urquidy, Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr. all on the injured list, they are running out of options.
The rotation now consists of Cristian Javier, Arrighetti, Hunter Brown, J.P. France and Ronel Blanco. Together, they combine for just over five years of big league service time, four of which belong to Javier and the other mostly to Brown.
Following Wednesday's loss, the Astros dropped to last place in the American League West at 4-9. It also dropped their run differential, which had been even despite the losing record, to a -9.
