A debut that lasted 3 2/3 innings
Ethan Pecko struck out four in his first major league start overnight and Houston beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-2. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up three hits, two runs and two walks before the Astros went to the bullpen with two outs in the fourth.
Houston drafted Pecko in the sixth round in 2023. MLB Pipeline ranks him ninth in the organization. He arrived because the rotation ran out of arms, not because the calendar said so.
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Seventeen starters, and a number from 1965
Pecko became the 17th pitcher to start a game for Houston this season. That ties a franchise record set in 1965, back when the club still played as the Astros in their first year under the name. Sixty-one years later a team fighting for position in August has burned through the same number of starting pitchers with six weeks still to play.
The bullpen covered the rest. Five relievers combined for more than five innings without allowing a run, which turned a shaky lead into a win. Christian Vazquez supplied the offense that mattered, driving his seventh home run of the season.
Houston needed it. The Angels had taken the previous game 3-1, and a second straight loss to a division rival would have cost the Astros ground they cannot spare in the closing stretch.
What happens to Pecko now
Four strikeouts in under four innings reads well for a first outing. Two walks and a 3 2/3 inning workload reads like a pitcher on a leash, which is what he was. Houston protected him and let the relievers absorb the middle of the game.
The Astros have not said whether Pecko keeps the spot. With 17 starters already used, the answer probably depends on which arms come back healthy before the end of the month.
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