Kansas City Spencer Arrighetti’s Major League pitching debut was going great through two innings. However, as the third inning approached, the Royals’ insane hitting attack—unlike anything he had witnessed at Triple-A Sugar Land—utterly destroyed the optimistic feelings surrounding the Astros’ highly-regarded prospect.
The Astros were down 4–9 after Kansas City had scored seven runs and was on its way to defeating them 11-2 when Arrighetti could record the final out in the crucial third inning.
“He kind of got away from him in the third inning,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “Everything they put in play fell for them as he began to leave some balls over the plate. Thus, it wasn’t the outing he had anticipated.
The big inning started not with a bang, but with a whimper.
Kyle Isbel hit a weak roller to a safe spot on the left side where shortstop Jeremy Peña fielded the ball on the run. But Peña felt he didn’t have a play at first with Isbel running and didn’t risk a throw. From there, it went downhill quickly for Arrighetti as the Royals’ hitters peppered him with five more knocks in the inning that went up-the-middle or the opposite way. Left-handed-hitting Vinnie Pasquantino, who didn’t have an RBI all year, struck the first big blow with a two-run double to left and then it went from bad to worse for Arrighetti.
“I’ve definitely had better days,” Arrighetti said after his 79-pitch outing. “I made some mistakes with four-seam [fastballs] and I made some mistakes with spin. These guys are really good hitters. Even if I miss [only] by a little bit, it gets put in play. I learned that really quickly today.”
Espada made it clear after the game that Arrighetti will have the chance to build on what he learned in his MLB debut.
“He’s going to get a second opportunity,” Espada said. “Pitching in the big leagues is not an easy task. But he has the weapons to be successful.”
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