BASEBALL: Spencer Arrighetti strikes out 10, as Astros beat Rockies

Spencer Arrighetti struck out 10 batters in his season debut and Yordan Álvarez homered as the Houston Astros earned a 3-1 interleague victory over the visiting Colorado Rockies on Wednesday.

Elevated to the taxi squad on Tuesday, Arrighetti (1-0) became the second Astros starter to make a season debut in as many days. With three starters sidelined due to injury, he followed Colton Gordon into the rotation after opening the year at Triple-A Sugar Land and delivered a strong outing under pressure.

Arrighetti worked through early traffic, stranding two baserunners in the first inning before allowing an RBI double to Willi Castro in the second. Castro’s hit brought home Ezequiel Tovar to trim the deficit to 2-1, but Arrighetti quickly regained control by striking out Jake McCarthy and Edouard Julien to end the inning.

The right-hander piled up strikeouts throughout his start, including three in the third inning and key punchouts in the fifth and sixth. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth with a called third strike on Mikey Moniak. Arrighetti allowed one run on two hits, walked four, hit two batters, and threw 100 pitches (61 strikes).

The Houston Astros struck first with a two-run opening inning against Rockies left-hander José Quintana. Carlos Correa, Álvarez, and Isaac Paredes drew consecutive walks before Christian Walker and Cam Smith delivered back-to-back sacrifice flies to bring in the runs.

Álvarez added to the lead in the third inning with a 375-foot solo home run to right field, marking his seventh homer of the season. Quintana, recalled from the injured list for his second start, allowed three runs on three hits and four walks while striking out once over 3 2/3 innings.

The Colorado Rockies bullpen covered the final innings behind relievers Steven Okert, Bryan Abreu, and Enyel De Los Santos, with De Los Santos earning his second save of the series as Houston secured the win. -Field Level Media/Reuters