Jose Urquidy Dominant in Spot Start, Astros' 2-1 Win Over Diamondbacks

Hours before Friday night's game, JP France was scratched from his start. In his place, Jose Urquidy pitched a gem, leading the Astros to a critical 2-1 victory over the Diamondbacks.

Jack Vita | Sep 30, 2023

Jose Urquidy Dominant in Spot Start, Astros' 2-1 Win Over Diamondbacks /

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Houston Astros

Jose Urquidy had not made a start in over a month, but his number was called upon Friday night. With his team's playoff hopes on the line, Urquidy led the Houston Astros to a critical 2-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Hours before the start of Friday's game, rookie JP France was scratched from his start, due to a family emergency. Urquidy made a spot start, and the Astros veteran did not disappoint, pitching what may have been his finest game of the season.

In a critical series opener at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, Urquidy mowed through the Diamondbacks' lineup with ease, allowing just two hits, three walks, and no runs over six innings, setting the tone for a 2-1 Astros victory.

Urquidy last started a game for the Astros on August 23, when he allowed four runs to the Boston Red Sox off eight hits and four runs. Urquidy had pitched out of the Astros' bullpen in the time since.

Arizona's offense went quiet until the ninth inning, when the Diamondbacks started a late rally that plated a run and put the game's tying run on second base with two outs. With closer Ryan Pressly on the mound for the Astros, Alek Thomas reached on a fielding error before Gabriel Moreno smacked an RBI double to bring the Diamondbacks to within a run. Pressly was able to get Jace Peterson to ground out to end the game, securing a key Astros' victory.

Friday's win moves the Astros to 88-72 on the season, with two games remaining. Houston had lost ten of its last 15 games, entering Friday. The Astros' victory keeps them one game in front of the Seattle Mariners for the third and final American League Wild Card spot. They are now only one game back of the Texas Rangers for the AL West division lead.

Published Sep 30, 2023

JACK VITA

Jack Vita is a writer and contributor to Sports Illustrated's Inside the Astros, and host of the Jack Vita Show, a popular sports podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and wherever podcasts are found. Jack is a 2017 graduate of Valparaiso University, in northwest Indiana. Since completing his degree, Jack has created his own independent sports media outlet (JackVita.com) and podcast (the Jack Vita Show). He has featured prominent guests from the worlds of sports and entertainment including Brian Urlacher, Scot Pollard, Bob Nightengale, Dan O'Dowd, and Survivor icons Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick, Cirie Fields, Danni Boatwright and "the Dragon Slayer", Coach Benjamin Wade. While studying at Valparaiso, Jack was the school newspaper's beat writer for the Valpo Crusaders men's basketball team, which won three straight Horizon League championships from 2015-2017. Traveling to cover the team, Jack had a front row seat to one of the nation's best mid-major teams, headlined by future NBA Draft pick Alec Peters and coached by NCAA Tournament hero Bryce Drew. Jack hosted a weekly sports radio show and provided play-by-play and color commentary services for ESPN 3 and the university's student radio station, WVUR-FM, 95.1 The Source, covering Valparaiso men's soccer, women's basketball, softball and volleyball. Jack also covered these sports, in addition to men's and women's tennis, baseball and women's soccer for the school newspaper, The Torch. While he was in college, Jack interned for and co-hosted Jewell On Sports, a sports radio program on AM 1050 WLIP in Kenosha, Wisconsin. There, he interviewed various pro athletes such as Ahman Green, Javon Walker and Javier Arenas, in addition to talking sports with the late, great Brad Jewell. Jack also interned for 22nd Century Media, a now defunct newspaper corporation that provided news to the North Shore of Chicago. With 22nd Century Media, Jack wrote post-game recaps, feature stories about local athletes, reviews of local restaurants and compiled the newspaper's "Pet of the Week" and "Athlete of the Week" sections, while providing copy-editing services. Before attending Valparaiso, Jack enrolled at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he studied for two years before transferring. He is a high school graduate of New Trier Township High School in Winnetka, Illinois. You can follow Jack on Twitter @JackVitaShow, subscribe to his podcast, the Jack Vita Show, wherever podcasts are found, and reach him via email at jack@jackvita.com.