Yordan Alvarez hit three home runs and rookie Spencer Arrighetti held a no-hit streak into the eighth inning, leading the Houston Astros to a 10-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies and Taijuan Walker on Wednesday.
Arrighetti, a 24-year-old right-handed pitcher, shut out the NL East-leading Phillies for seven innings, losing his no-hitter in the eighth inning when leadoff hitter Austin Hays reached on an infield single. Third baseman Shay Whitcomb just missed the ball, and shortstop Jeremy Peña was unable to throw Hays out after fielding the ball deep into the gap at shortstop. Whitcomb came in as a defensive replacement after Alex Bregman was hit in the head by an 88-mph pitch from Michael Mercado in the seventh inning.
Arrighetti (7-11) was ejected with two outs in the eighth inning and finished with 11 strikeouts and four walks while allowing two hits in his longest professional game in both the majors and minors.
“He was terrific,” said Houston manager Joe Espada.
He was trying to become the fourth major league pitcher to throw a no-hitter this season, joining teammate Ronel Blanco, who threw a no-hitter for the Toronto Blue Jays on April 1. Bryan King pitched 1 1/3 innings and teamed with Arrighetti to limit the Phillies to three hits.
“The next throw mentality,” he said of his key.
Alvarez hit the first of his three homers in the fourth inning off Walker, a two-run, opposite-field shot. He then knocked Mercado out of the park in the seventh and eighth innings to finish with four hits and four RBI. It was his third career three-homer game and tied Hall of Fame slugger Jeff Bagwell for the most three-homer games in Astros history.
“Are you kidding me?” Espada said.
Chas McCormick also went deep for the AL West-leading Astros, who avoided a three-game sweep and won for only the third time in nine games. Houston tied its season record with 18 hits.
Walker (3-6) was tagged for six runs on 13 hits in six innings. The Phillies have lost his last nine starts. The 32-year-old right-handed pitcher signed a four-year, $72 million contract before the 2023 season.
Manager Rob Thomson said the Phillies will have to decide whether to send Walker there for his next start. In the meantime, Walker felt like he was making progress.
“I thought it was a step in the right direction, with a lot of ground balls,” he said.
Jose Altuve put Houston on the board in the first inning by stealing home. With runners on first and third, Walker threw to first to keep Peña close. First baseman Bryce Harper lost sight of the speedy Altuve, who slid past Harper’s throw after the two-time MVP realized Altuve was running.
“That really set the tone for us,” Espada said. “We needed a little spark and he did that.”
Arrighetti took over from there, striking out four of the first five Phillies he faced. Arrighetti, a sixth-round pick in the amateur draft, began the game 6-11 with a 4.94 ERA and had allowed 112 hits in 116 2/3 innings. He was in terrific shape with his pitch count through seven innings, having thrown 53 of his 86 pitches for strikes.
Houston left fielder Mauricio Dubón kept the chance of a no-hit alive by catching a fly ball from Brandon Marsh against the wall on the last out of the seventh inning.
“I saw it as a home run the minute it came off the bat,” Arrighetti said. “Unbelievable.”
Houston has thrown 17 no-hitters in franchise history.
It was the Phillies’ worst home loss since Aug. 10, 2017, when they lost 10-0 to the New York Mets.
NEXT
Astros: Host the Kansas City Royals for four games starting Thursday. RHP Brady Singer (9-9, 3.38) takes on Houston’s Hunter Brown (11-7, 3.72) in the opener.
Phillies: Open a four-game series against NL East rival Atlanta on Thursday. LHP Cristopher Sánchez (9-9, 3.51) starts for Philadelphia against RHP Charlie Morton (7-7, 4.24).
