Houston Astros Pitchers Shine in Record-Setting Sweep of Red Sox

The Houston Astros made history during their sweep of the Boston Red Sox.

Aug 10, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Houston Astros relief pitcher Josh Hader pitches at Fenway Park. / Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Astros have been one of the hottest teams in baseball for over two months now, and they kept rolling at Fenway Park over the weekend.

The surging Astros swept the Boston Red Sox, extending their winning streak to five games to remain in first place in the AL West. While Houston's bats stole the show with 23 runs during the three-game sweep, it was two of the team's pitchers who made their marks on the record books.

Saturday's game was the closest of the series, producing a 5-4 win for the Astros, not to mention some history for the 35,443 in attendance.

For starters, Spencer Arrighetti was masterful for Houston, racking up 13 strikeouts over seven innings of two-run ball. The 13 whiffs were a career-high for the 24-year-old rookie, exceeding his previous best of 12 from his prior start against the Tampa Bay Rays last week. That made Arrighetti (5-10, 5.14 ERA) the first rookie in American League history with at least 12 strikeouts in back-to-back starts.

Spencer Arrighetti of the @astros is the first rookie in American League history to have 12+ strikeouts in back-to-back starts. pic.twitter.com/i0NAWoqOGU

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) August 10, 2024

Despite Arrighetti's gem, the game remained in doubt until the final inning. With Houston nursing a one-run lead, Joe Espada summoned Josh Hader to pitch the bottom of the ninth.

Hader, who's been shaky at times this year, immediately surrendered a leadoff double to Rafael Devers. He buckled down after that, retiring the next three batters to strand Devers at second and secure the victory.

In the process, Hader successfully converted his 25th straight save opportunity -- a new franchise record. He has only blown one save all season, and it came more than four months ago on April 2 against the Toronto Blue Jays. Since then, the All-Star closer has a 3.42 ERA, a .173 opponent batting average and 71 strikeouts in 47 1/3 innings.

Arrighetti and Hader have both been instrumental to the Astros' recent turnaround, so it wasn't surprising to see them at their best during last weekend's pivotal series in Boston.