Aside from a brief period when he neglected to cover first base, Spencer Arrighetti had……

Rangers Beat Astros 2-1; Spencer Arrighetti, Get Ready For More PFPs

Aside from a brief period when he neglected to cover first base, Spencer Arrighetti had a fantastic day at work. In the end, the rookie right-hander struck out seven and walked three while giving up just one run on two hits. He was getting good results with all of his pitches, 15 whiffs in 39 swings. Against him, the average exit velocity was almost 85 mph. Most days, that kind of effort would have been sufficient to guarantee a win. It also helps if the challenge to take out two runs on the aforementioned play is successful. If only Nathan Eovaldi, who threw seven innings of one-run ball on eight hits, struck out seven and walked none, hadn’t been the Astros’ batters’ opponent once more.

It’s in these kinds of games that a lineup genuinely misses Kyle Tucker. Tucker’s placement on the injured list may not have mattered, considering how Eovaldi was playing on Saturday. Alternatively, it might. We are never going to know. But the reason I write all of that is to emphasize how important Tucker is to the lineup, particularly with Chas McCormick still having trouble at the plate. The fact that the whole outfield—including Mauricio Dubón, who pinch-hit for McCormick—was just 1-for-12 didn’t help either. The main letdown in this game was the inability to convert with runners in scoring position (2 for 9) despite the top half of the lineup managing eight hits.

It was a tough day at the ballpark for both teams, as the score may have suggested. Although they gave up eight walks, the pitchers in Houston did a decent job of containing the damage. Bryan King and Seth Martinez let up a single and three walks while balancing on the edge of success and disaster. Sequencing counts, and in those situations, it benefited the Astros. Naturally, Nathaniel Lowe’s RBI single in the tenth inning brought home the winning run, owing to the zombie runner rule. Tayler Scott isn’t to be held entirely responsible for that one. Rather, the lineup’s inability to convert when it counted most caused the game to be lost.

The Astros are now 1 1⁄2 games behind the Mariners for the AL West lead with a 50-45 record. This evening’s game between the Angels and Seattle may see that deficit increase to two games or stay at one. There’s just one game left before the All-Star break.

READ MORE

Texas Rangers at Houston Astros odds, picks and predictions……