Fastball

Houston Astros Stay Hot Behind History-Making Outing From Young Pitcher

The Houston Astros have thrust themselves back into the playoff race because of a recent hot streak. The 'Stros won again on Wednesday behind a dominant start from young pitcher Spencer Arrighetti.

Brady Farkas

Houston Astros catcher Cesar Salazar (18) and starting pitcher Spencer Arrighetti (41) greet each other after retiring the side against the Colorado Rockies during the sixth inning at Minute Maid Park on June 26.
Houston Astros catcher Cesar Salazar (18) and starting pitcher Spencer Arrighetti (41) greet each other after retiring the side against the Colorado Rockies during the sixth inning at Minute Maid Park on June 26. / Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports
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The Houston Astros continued their recent hot streak on Wednesday by beating the Colorado Rockies, 7-1, at MinuteMaid Park.

After a season filled with injuries and underperformance, the Astros are now back at .500 (40-40) and are squarely in the American League playoff picture.

They only trail the Seattle Mariners by 4.5 games in the American League West race and are only 3.0 games back in the American League wild card chase.

Part of the reason for the win on Wednesday was the dominant pitching performance of rookie Spencer Arrighetti. The righty went 7.0 innings, surrendering no runs on three hits. He walked none and struck out 10 in moving to 4-6 on the year. Though he has a 5.68 ERA for the season, he's begun to figure it out for a rotation that is missing Justin Verlander, Lance McCullers, Cristian Javier (season), Luis Garcia, Jose Urquidy (season) and JP France (season).

His outing on Wednesday also made some unique team history, according to @JayHayKid of the Baseball is Dead podcast:

Spencer Arrighetti (7 IP, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K) is the youngest pitcher in Astros franchise history with a start with 0 R, 0 BB and 10+ K. He’s the 3rd-youngest in MLB overall this season, behind Jared Jones and DJ Herz.

The Astros will be off on Thursday before heading to New York to take on the also-surging Mets. FIrst pitch on Friday is set for 7:10 p.m. ET as Ronel Blanco (HOU) takes on veteran lefty Jose Quintana (NYM).

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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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