ASTROS GAMER: Houston returns to .500 after Colorado sweep

The Houston Astros returned to Minute Maid Park for a special afternoon aimed at getting back to .500 baseball against the Colorado Rockies.

HOW DID IT HAPPEN:

The first three innings of the contest saw strong pitching performances from former Louisiana Ragin Cajun Spencer Arrighetti and Ryan Feltner. Houston had some offense in the fourth thanks to a broken bat single by Jose Altuve followed by two stolen bases putting them on third. Yainer Diaz then hit a single to right field to score Altuve and put the Astros up 1-0.

Altuve added another run with an RBI single in the fifth inning to score Cesar Salazar and make it 2-0 in favor of Houston.

Arrighetti struggled for the Astros, pitching a career-high seven innings with just three hits and 10 strikeouts, the first Houston pitcher to reach double-digit strikeouts this season.

In the seventh, Jon Singleton and Jeremy Pena both singled before Joey Loperfido was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no one out. Salazar hit a sacrifice fly to score a run before Altuve reached on a fielder’s choice and Alex Bregman grounded into his own fielder’s choice, but a throwing error allowed a third run to score to give the Astros a comfortable 5-0 lead.

Later in the inning, Diaz again delivered an RBI single to score Yordan Alvarez to increase the lead in the final play of the home game.

Shawn Dubin entered the eighth and Colorado got on the board after a ground-rule double and a sacrifice fly scored the Rockies’ first run of the game.

The Astros got the run back in the bottom of the eighth with a double by Mauricio Dubon followed by an RBI single by Pena, giving Houston a 7-1 lead.

The Astros put together a three-run, three-run inning in the ninth to take the 7-1 victory, bringing their overall record to 40-40.

BIG NUMBER: 14

Houston pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts in today’s win as Arrighetti led the way with 10.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Spencer Arrighetti

Arrighetti shined in June’s final game at the Juice Box, allowing just three hits in a career-high seven innings of work while striking out a career-high 10 batters.

NEXT: Houston leaves for a 10-game road trip starting in New York against the Mets. The first pitch will take place Friday evening at 6:10 p.m. and can be heard on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette and 104.1 Lake Charles.