The Detroit Tigers hope to be better at the fundamentals when they host the Houston Astros in the second game of a four-game series on Friday night.
Houston won the series opener 2-1 on Thursday night following a duel by starting pitchers Tatsuya Imai of the Astros and Troy Melton of the Tigers.
Both teams hit solo home runs, but the difference came down to an insurance run by the Astros in the top of the ninth. Jeremy Pena led off with a single, stole second, took third on a groundout and scored on a sacrifice fly from Isaac Paredes.
“You talk about piecing at-bats together, they pieced three at-bats together in the ninth inning,” Detroit manager A.J. Hinch said of the Astros. “Those are things that created the difference in the game.”
Melton allowed just two hits in six innings, and a solo homer by Taylor Trammell broke up his perfect game with one out in the sixth.
“Our psyche’s fine,” Hinch said. “Our ability to bounce back is going to be key (Friday).”
Detroit plans to give the ball to Keider Montero on Friday.
Montero (3-5, 3.68 ERA) is coming off throwing a season-high seven innings against the Chicago White Sox on Sunday. The 25-year-old right-hander did not receive a decision after allowing three runs and six hits in the Tigers’ 5-4, 10-inning home win.
“Just kept my work (the same), being aggressive, attacking their hitters,” Montero said through a translator. “I know they’re very aggressive so I was trusting my pitches, trusting my teammates, trusting the fan base.”
Montero faced the Astros on June 16 in his only career appearance against them. He took the loss after allowing two runs (one earned) in 1 1/3 innings of relief in a 4-2 road defeat.
Houston plans to start right-hander Spencer Arrighetti, who has lost his past two outings and is winless in his past four with a 6.95 ERA.
Arrighetti was the American League Pitcher of the Month for May after posting a 4-1 record and 0.93 ERA in five starts covering 29 innings.
This month, though, he is 0-2 with a 6.95 ERA. The Astros have provided only one run of support combined in his past two outings.
Arrighetti (7-3, 3.13 ERA) most recently surrendered six runs and six hits over six innings in an 8-1 loss to the visiting Guardians on Saturday. Cleveland scored all of its runs against him on three homers, including one by Travis Bazzana on the first pitch of the game.
“First-pitch homers happen,” Arrighetti said. “It is not the first time in my career, certainly won’t be the last. I mean, dude knew I was going to throw a fastball, and he got it. Good for him. My stuff overall, I thought it was good. I made a couple of mistakes and I got punished. Other than that, I feel like I was in the zone a lot, competitive a lot.”
Astros manager Joe Espada said location was an issue for Arrighetti.
“There’s been some pitches kind of more in the heart of the plate, and they’re putting some good swings on it,” Espada said. “He’s still creating some swing and miss, and he’s still punching people out, but there’s just been some pitches he would like to take back.”
Arrighetti had eight strikeouts against the Guardians and didn’t walk a batter for the first time this season.
He is 0-2 with a 17.05 ERA in two career starts against the Tigers.
Arrighetti will hope to emulate Imai, who fanned 10 in six shutout innings.
–Field Level Media
