HOUSTON -- Tatsuya Imai rebounded from one of the worst starts of his career to post one of his best, striking out a career-high 11 batters in six innings to lead the Astros to a 9-3 win, their third in a row, over the Guardians on Friday night at Daikin Park.
Imai, who recorded only two outs in his previous start a week earlier in Kansas City, retired the final 11 batters he faced after giving up a two-run homer to Rhys Hoskins in the third. He set a career high with 20 whiffs, including 17 on his slider, and gave up six hits and three runs.
The 11 strikeouts without a walk are the most by a Houston pitcher since Yusei Kikuchi struck out 12 without a walk on Aug. 31, 2024, against the Royals.
The Astros (36-41) are five games under .500 for the first time since they were 8-13 on April 17. They’ve gone 17-11 since May 19, winning five of their last seven games.
Hoskins’ homer put Cleveland ahead, 3-1, but Jeremy Peña hit a solo homer in the third, and Jose Altuve greeted reliever Matt Festa with a three-run homer on his first pitch in the sixth, a line-drive shot in the Crawford Boxes that put the Astros ahead, 5-3. Peña (3-for-5) led off the seventh with a homer off Daniel Espino, and Altuve added an RBI double later in the inning.
The Astros had prepared to use Mike Burrows, who was moved to the bullpen after making a team-high 14 starts, as a piggyback to Imai. He didn’t pitch until the ninth, after lefty reliever Steven Okert retired all six batters he faced in the seventh and eighth. Imai tied his season high by pitching six innings, throwing 57 of 89 pitches for strikes.