Arrighetti, Astros trying to make sense of perplexing June swoon

DETROIT – Astros right-hander Spencer Arrighetti’s hard-to-figure “June swoon” continued Friday night, when he allowed eight runs on five hits (three homers) over three-plus innings in an 8-0 loss to the Tigers at Comerica Park.

He was named the American League’s Pitcher of the Month in May, which he completed with a 1.34 ERA that led all AL pitchers with at least 45 innings pitched through that month.

He owns a 9.00 ERA in five starts in June, which has raised his overall ERA to an even 4.00 with a 7-4 record that includes three consecutive losses.

How can this be explained?

“I don’t know,” Arrighetti said. “I’d be happy to answer that question at some other point, but I don’t have an answer for you right this second.”

Houston pitching coach Josh Miller said, “It’s kind of tough. You come into a game expecting good results. Your pitches are good. You’re missing bats. You’re punching guys out. But couldn’t stay away from the big inning, you know.

“Sometimes, those innings have gotten away from him lately.”

Arrighetti didn’t allow a hit and struck out four through the first two innings, but then Detroit tallied three runs in the third and five in the fourth to take a commanding, and ultimate, lead.

"His command wasn’t quite there,” said Astros manager Joe Espada. “[He had] first-pitch strikes in the first inning, and then after that he fell behind some of those hitters and left some pitches over the heart of the plate.”

Arrighetti has struck out at least seven batters in all but one outing this month, and had seven in this game. He had two walks total in three of the starts, and only faltered in that department with four against the Angels on June 8 before dropping further with five against the Tigers.

“To be able to put some of those hitters away, it’s got to be staying ahead and getting quicker outs,” Espada said. “The more you extend those innings, the more pitches you give your opponents to see; it can become an issue.

“But once he gets ahead, his stuff is there. He’s really good. We’ve just got to get him to finish some of those hitters a little sooner.

He needed 93 pitches to get nine outs, and only 49 were strikes.

“Yeah, my stuff’s fine,” said Arrighetti. “I wouldn’t say really good today, but I still struck out seven people. So, I feel like I put away some guys.

“I just didn’t get the strikes with five hitters that I ended up putting on first base. So, it’s hard to pitch when you walk five people.”

Arrighetti issued a pair of two-out walks in the second. But after Miller visited the mound, he struck out Matt Vierling to end the inning.

“I was just calming him down,” said Miller. “He looked a little frustrated. There were some close pitches that were called balls that he thought were close. I just wanted to get him back to the present. We went over the plan for Vierling, and he executed well and punched him out.”

But then a walk and an infield single surrendered in the third inning preceded a one-out, two-run homer by Kerry Carpenter.

Detroit’s Colt Keith led off the fourth with a homer, and then Arrighetti walked Zach McKinstry before Vierling singled. James Outman crushed a three-run homer to deep right-center, and the rout was on.

Arrighetti stepped off the mound and looked toward center field, where the fireworks were shooting into the air, and long plumes of white smoke followed.

But he walked calmly back to the pitching rubber, ready to go again. Still, after walking the next batter, Kevin McGonigle (who ended up scoring), reliever Nate Pearson was summoned.

“I mean, I was bad today,” Arrighetti said. “The short of it is, I was bad the last time out. And bad the time before that. I’m trying my hardest between games to try to right the ship, and it’s gone progressively worse.

“I mean, anybody in any job – if you were trying your butt off to get better at what you do, and the results just aren’t coming – like, everybody would react the same way. I’m scrambling right now trying to find out why.

“I feel like I’m throwing the ball the same way. If anything, I’m striking more people out than I was before. … It sucks, and I don’t really have an answer as to why the results are what they are right now.”

Searching for hope in despair is a true challenge.

However, if there was one great thing Arrighetti did in this game, it was that he got Detroit’s best hitter, catcher Dillon Dingler, who has 19 homers and 58 RBIs, to go down swinging twice.

He has to be doing something right, but doing it consistently is his current challenge.