Astros fell to the Guardians 8-1 Saturday night. Spencer Arrighetti allowed three home runs, a very out of character performance for one of the best pitchers in the AL this season.
A rough night for a pitcher who has otherwise been the anchor of this rotation.
What Went Wrong
Travis Bazzana led off the game with a 382-foot homer off the very first pitch. The same thing happened to Imai the night before, both nights starting with a Bazzana homer. Arrighetti allowed three homers total across six innings, producing six runs. All three homers came off left-handed hitters, something that had not happened to him all season. Kyle Manzardo also went deep in the third inning on what both Arrighetti and Espada called a well placed pitch.
Arrighetti Still Saw Positives
Despite the rough final line, Arrighetti walked away from Saturday feeling good about a lot of what he saw from himself. "Stuff overall, I thought it was good," Arrighetti said, per the Houston Chronicle. He was around 70 percent strikes, the best mark of his season, and did not issue a single walk all night. The shape of his breaking pitches was much sharper than it had been in his last outing in Kansas City, and overall, he made the right adjustments even though the results did not show it. Once again, Arrighetti collected a loss, but not because he had a bad game and fell apart.
The Numbers Tell Two Stories
It has been a season of two very different stretches for Arrighetti. After being called up in April, he posted a 1.34 ERA in his first eight starts and went on to win AL Pitcher of the Month in May. Then June happened. Across four starts this month his ERA sits at 6.95, and his season ERA has climbed to 3.13 after Saturday. But not everything has trended in the wrong direction. He walked 17 batters in 29 innings in May and just six in 22 innings in June, a sign that some real improvement is happening even if the results have not caught up yet.
A tough loss for a team trying to build momentum after Friday's win. Arrighetti has been too good for too long to be worried about one rough month.
This was a step back for Arrighetti in terms of numbers, but the underlying signs, no walks, high strike percentage, are still pointing in the right direction. One bad night does not erase a historic start to his year.
