The Launch Angle

So, yeah, Spencer Arrighetti is the best starter on the Astros who isn’t on the IL. Life comes at you fast.

For Houston to have any hope for a rebound, they’ll need Arrighetti to pitch well. Or, rather, well enough. I wouldn’t expect Arrighetti to continue with a sub-2.00 ERA as he has in his first four starts this season. While the final result in his start earlier today against the Red Sox was positive (5 IP, 5 H, ER, 4 SO), we also saw more walks, with five in total. And this pitching staff has had a season-long problem with issuing too many walks. 14 in his first 23 innings. Sooner or later, Arrighetti will get burned by some of these walks. That could pose a problem in the future.

But, for now, you take any good news if you’re the Astros. And his performance in these first four starts has helped keep this team from undoubtedly hitting rock bottom. I mean, the record still isn’t good. There are a lot of issues with this roster at the moment, mostly involving the pitching staff. But Arrighetti isn’t one of those problems, at least right now.

Neither is the lineup, for the most part. Brice Matthews and Christian Walker would combine for two home runs, driving in five of the Astros’ six runs today. Carlos Correa was also responsible for an RBI in the fourth inning.

Through five innings, the Astros were in control with a 6-1 lead. Of course, there isn’t a lead that feels completely safe with Houston’s bullpen. And, in typical 2026 fashion, not everyone had the best day in the office. Enyel De Los Santos and Bennett Sousa each had some bumps in the road to navigate, with the latter failing to generate even one out.

But, to De Los Santos’ credit, he did pitch a scoreless sixth before being brought out to throw in the seventh. Five outs total. Arrighetti not getting past five innings created additional strain on a bullpen not equipped to handle it at the moment. Between the two, Boston would score two in the seventh to make it a 6-3 game. Kai-Wei Teng and Bryan King kept the last two innings relatively stress-free. The scariest part of the game? When Walker was hit by a 93 mph fastball, but appears to be fine now, thankfully.

Overall, it was a quality win for the Astros, who are now 13-21. And, nearly as important, the pitching staff limited an opposing lineup to three runs in back-to-back games. In fact, it is only the third time that Houston has limited an opposing lineup to three runs or fewer in consecutive games this season, the first time since April 15-16 against the Rockies. The other time? March 30-31 against these same Red Sox.