BOSTON -- One of the Astros’ best wins of the season was nearly marred when red-hot first baseman Christian Walker, who went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs in Houston’s 6-3 victory over the Red Sox on Saturday at Fenway Park, was struck in the head by a pitch in the ninth inning.
A few minutes later, after Walker had passed concussion protocol, he stood at his locker and told reporters that he expects to play in Sunday’s series finale. That’s terrific news for an Astros offense that continues to hum in support of a pitching staff that seems to be getting a bit more stable by the day.
Here are three big things from Saturday’s win in Boston:
Arrighetti leans on sinker to improve to 4-0
Astros starter Spencer Arrighetti remained unbeaten in four starts, lowering his ERA to 1.96 in 23 innings by holding Boston to one run, five hits and a career-high-tying five walks in five innings. He was throwing his sinker only eight percent of the time entering the game, but threw 23 sinkers (26 percent usage) against the Red Sox, including 18 to right-handed hitters.
The goal was to get the ball on the ground more, and Arrighetti benefitted when he got Trevor Story to hit into a 5-4-3 double play in the second and Willson Contreras to hit into a 6-4-3 double play with the bases loaded in the third.
“That’s a pitch I haven’t really thrown a ton in the big leagues so far and I was able to throw it really effectively today and I was really happy about that,” he said. “I didn’t really have the changeup, the curveball was spotty at best. I feel like I had to find other ways, and I was able to make it happen. Hats off to the defense behind me. Those guys are incredible night in and night out and they definitely got me out of some of those jams.”
Arrighetti credited catcher Yainer Diaz for continuing to call the sinker when he saw it was getting good results.
“It might not have been in my scouting report today, but I felt confident doing it and it worked time after time,” he said. “I’ve been toying around with this pitch since I was a rookie and I’ve put it in my back pocket more times than I care to admit because it’s never really been something that I felt good about.”
Walker says hot, survives a scare
The Astros have been hit hard by injuries in the first month-plus of the season and certainly can’t afford to lose Walker, who walloped his eighth homer in the fifth and has 26 RBIs, which is one behind Yordan Alvarez for the team lead. He is slashing .309/.386/.577.
“The confidence is high for sure,” Walker said. “I’ve been saying it all year, I think it has a lot to do with this lineup. There’s so much protection, there’s so much action on the bases. Every time I come up I feel like there’s a run to be driven in. Credit to my teammates for keeping the line moving, but also knowing that if you don’t get the job done somebody else behind you is going to pick you up.”
Walker said the 93.3 mph fastball thrown by Boston reliever Tyler Samaniego that struck him knocked his helmet off first and then glanced off his head. He said he was lucky it wasn’t worse.
“As long as I don’t wake up with some crazy neck stiffness or something like that, I plan on being in there [Sunday],” he said.
Matthews shows off bat, glove
After an Adley Rutschman fly ball glanced off his glove and went over the wall for a grand slam in the first game of a doubleheader Thursday in Baltimore, Matthews redeemed himself in the fifth Saturday by making a terrific leaping catch at the wall of a Willson Contreras fly ball to center. It went down as a sac fly, but kept the Red Sox from perhaps tacking on more runs that inning.
“I’m just happy I made the play, honestly,” said Matthews, who hit a three-run homer in the fourth and is 9-for-21 in his past five games. “[Former teammate Mauricio] Dubón texted me [after the Rutschman homer] and he was like, ‘Catch the ball next time!’ So I’m going to text him that I caught it and maybe some other choice words.”
Matthews, drafted as a shortstop, was introduced to the outfield in the Minor Leagues last year and had played 60 innings in his Major League career in center prior to Saturday. Arrighetti told Matthews he was going to get him something as a token of appreciation for the catch and asked him what he prefers as his drink of choice. He said water.
“I thought he meant, ‘What did you drink today?’” Matthews said. “Water is good for me.”