Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Kenta Maeda pitches against the Houston Astros during the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, June 16, 2024, in Houston.
10:40 JST, June 17, 2024
HOUSTON (AP) — Ronel Blanco had the second hitless outing of his brief Major League career but was retired after seven innings as the Houston Astros defeated the Detroit Tigers 4-1 on Sunday.
Manager Joe Espada shared part of the conversation he had with Blanco when he took the dominant right-hander out of the game.
“I just told him how proud I am of what he’s doing,” Espada said. “This is a guy who came from nowhere and he continues to perform at a high level. He’s really picked up his team through injuries and he’s going out there and doing things that we need him to do.
Blanco (7-2), who threw the only no-hitter in the majors this season on April 1 against Toronto, was just as good this time in the 20th start and 37th appearance of his career. The 30-year-old threw 94 pitches with 65 strikeouts and tied a season-high with eight strikeouts. He ran three.
“I just attacked the strike zone,” he said through an interpreter.
Ryan Pressly replaced Blanco to start the eighth and gave up the Tigers’ first hit, a two-out single by Wenceel Pérez.
Jose Altuve hit a three-run homer for Houston.
Blanco is the second pitcher in franchise history to have two starts with at least seven hitless innings in the same season, joining Framber Valdez, who did that last year.
The Tigers could do little against Blanco a day after racking up a season-high 19 goals in a 13-5 win over the Astros.
Blanco did not allow a baserunner until he walked Gio Urshela with two outs in the fifth.
He then walked Akil Baddoo and Carson Kelly to load the bases, but retired Zach McKinstry on a flyout.
Espada said it wasn’t a difficult decision to replace Blanco because of the number of pitches he’s thrown this year, noting he’s had four appearances with more than 100 pitches and two with 98.
“But did I want him to be more efficient sooner and give him a chance? One hundred percent,” Espada said.
Blanco said he wasn’t angry when Espada took him out.
“I’ve thrown a lot of pitches and I couldn’t finish them,” he said. “So I just accepted it.”
Blanco made a good defensive play for the second of the sixth when he grabbed a comebacker that was hit by Matt Vierling. He then dropped Riley Greene on a pop-up.
Urshela reached base with two outs in the seventh on a throwing error by third baseman Alex Bregman. Blanco then retired Baddoo on a catch that center fielder Jake Meyers caught on the warning track.
“We fought,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said. “Obviously we couldn’t do anything against him. With the three walks you have a chance with two outs, but he squeezes out. And then he just kept hitting spots and throwing a lot of different pitches.”
After Pérez’s hit, Pressly put down Vierling before Josh Hader took over for the ninth. Mark Canha singled with one out and scored on a double by pinch-hitter Andy Ibánez.
Urshela grounded out and Hader struck out pinch-hitter Jake Rogers to end it.
Detroit starter Kenta Maeda (2-3) allowed five hits and four runs in five innings.
Detroit Tigers’ Kenta Maeda (18) walks off the field with catcher Carson Kelly after being hit by a ball off the bat of Houston Astros’ Jon Singleton during the first inning of a baseball game on Sunday, June 16, 2024, in Houston.
Altuve hit a leadoff single before advancing to second base on a wild pitch with one out. The Astros took a 1-0 lead when he scored on a single by Yordan Alvarez.
Mauricio Dubón singled with one out in the second and Chas McCormick walked with two outs. Altuve made it 4-0 with his shot to midfield.
