Before Houston’s Jose Altuve flipped the opener of a three-game series against the Cleveland Guardians with a three-run homer in the sixth inning, he struck out twice in two at-bats, the first of which ended with Altuve slamming his bat and helmet into the turf in disgust.
Altuve will look to lead the host Astros to a series victory against the Guardians on Saturday night.
Altuve powered Houston to a 9-3 win on Friday by going 2-for-4 with four RBIs. He snapped an 0-for-12 drought with his eighth home run of the season, a skid that included him batting only .158 over his first 11 games off the injured list dating to June 5.
“He knows he is better than what he’s showing right now,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “And he’s getting to that point where he wants to come through for the team, and we know eventually it’s going to happen.
“I love the fact that he threw his helmet, by the way. That really fired me up.”
Altuve followed his home run with an RBI double in the seventh inning off Guardians reliever Daniel Espino, a 385-foot shot to left-center field that would’ve been a homer in eight other ballparks.
“I actually liked the double off Espino in the seventh inning,” Espada said. “I think that was more impressive because that was 99 (mph) up in the zone, and he was able to be down on time and get on top of it and hit it off the wall.
“When he’s down on time and able to make his adjustments, he can drive the ball to any part of the field.”
Altuve is batting .234 with 20 RBIs in 54 games this season for the Astros, who will start right-hander Spencer Arrighetti (7-2, 2.57 ERA) on Saturday.
Arrighetti was the pitcher of record in a 4-0 road loss to the Kansas City Royals on Sunday after allowing four runs on eight hits and one walk with seven strikeouts across six innings.
He is 0-1 with a 6.19 ERA in three starts this month after earning American League Pitcher of the Month honors for May, when he finished 4-1 with an 0.93 ERA across five starts.
Arrighetti is 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA in three career appearances (two starts) against the Guardians. He allowed two runs on five hits and four walks with three strikeouts across five innings in the Astros’ 9-2 road win over Cleveland on April 20.
Left-hander Joey Cantillo (5-3, 4.38 ERA) has the starting assignment for the Guardians on Saturday.
Cantillo earned a 3-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers last Saturday after allowing one run on six hits with four strikeouts over five innings. Despite the win, Cantillo posted his sixth consecutive start without logging at least six innings, going 2-2 with a 6.75 ERA during that stretch. He has recorded at least 18 outs only twice in 15 starts this season.
Cantillo is 0-1 with a 7.04 ERA in two career starts against the Astros. In his previous appearance against them, Castillo allowed three runs on five hits and three walks with seven strikeouts in four innings but did not factor into the decision of a 10-6 road win last July 8.
On Friday, the Guardians switched Kyle Manzardo to designated hitter and Rhys Hoskins to first base after Manzardo complained of back tightness upon arriving at the ballpark.
“We thought nine innings in the field is probably not the best thing when you’re dealing with back tightness,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “Nothing alarming. We just thought it was a smart switch since they were both in the lineup already.”
–Field Level Media
