Houston Astros Pitcher Makes First Start Since Return from IL

Houston Astros pitcher José Urquidy returned to the starting rotation on Sunday when the Astros beat the New York Yankees, 9-7.

Urquidy made his first start since April 30 when he left a game with the Philadelphia Phillies with what was diagnosed as right shoulder inflammation. He went on the injured list on May 1 and wasn’t able to throw any rehab starts until after the All-Star break.

He made two starts at Triple-A Sugar Land and Double-A Corpus Christi before re-joining the Astros (64-49) before they made the road trip to New York (58-54).

He was pitching on six days’ rest since the last rehab start.

Urquidy started the first inning by giving up a two-out solo home run to Gleyber Torres, briefly giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead. But the Astros staked Urquidy to a 3-1 lead in the second on a three-run home run by Jake Meyers. Yordan Alvarez hit a two-run home run in the third to give Houston a 5-1 lead.

That gave Urquidy some cushion, as he retired the side in order in the second and worked around a two-out walk to Jake Bauers in the third.

But the fourth inning got away from him.

Torres led off with a single and then DJ LeMahieu drew a one-out walk. After Isiah Kiner-Falefa walked to load the bases, Harrison Bader’s single scored Torres.

After that, manager Dusty Baker went to the bullpen for Phil Maton. But he was unable to stop the bleeding, allowing three more runs to score, all of which were charged to Urquidy.

He ended up going 3.1 innings, giving up three hits, five runs (all earned) and three walks. He strike out one and allowed a home run as his season ERA shot up to 6.10.

J.P. France, the starter that Urquidy displaced from the rotation, ended up getting the win in relief to improve to 8-3.

Still, Urquidy’s return was welcome for a starting rotation that has been beat up this season. The Astros have lost two starters for the season in Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis Garcia. They also gave up two top outfield prospects to re-acquire Justin Verlander at the trade deadline. Verlander pitched on both of the Astros’ World Series teams and won last year’s American League Cy Young award.

The Astros are off on Monday before starting a three-game series at Baltimore on Tuesday.

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