Houston Astros' Rotation on a Historical Run Over Last Two Weeks

The Houston Astros' starting rotation was the achilles heel entering October of the 2021 season with injuries plaguing depth of the American League champions. But in 2022, the Astros sit atop Major League Baseball in ERA and are currently on a historic run from mid-June into July.

Looking back at June 15, Houston became the first Major League Baseball franchise to toss two immaculate innings in one contest. Starting pitcher Luis Garcia tossed the first in the second inning as relief pitcher Phil Maton followed with his own in the seventh inning against the same three Texas Rangers — Nathaniel Lowe, Ezequiel Duran and Brad Miller.

These two immaculate innings mark the eighth and ninth in Astros' history while also being the first and second immaculate innings catcher Martin Maldonado has been a part of.

Ten days later, Maldonado called a combined no-hitter with Cristian Javier, Hector Neris and Ryan Pressly, becoming the first catcher to call two combined no-hitters in MLB history.

The 14th no-hitter in franchise history also marked the first ever at new Yankee Stadium and the club's third combined no-hitter. Houston is the only franchise to no-hit the New York Yankees since 1958, and the Astros have done it twice — the first time in 2003, also a combined no-hitter in New York.

Jose Urquidy followed with his own dominance the next day. The righty took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, extending the Astros' streak to 16-consecutive no-hit innings which is now the franchise record.

In the expansion era, Houston became the fourth club to hurl 16 or more consecutive no-hit innings, joining the 1981 Astros, the 2012 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the 2014 Los Angeles Dodgers.

By Javier's next turn in the rotation, the righty was poised to match a similar outing now against the Angels. The 25-year-old fanned 14 hitters over a second-consecutive seven-inning show.

Javier combined for 27 strikeouts in his last two starts, the most of a two-game span in the Modern Era from a pitcher who allowed only one hit, according to ESPN Stats.

Jose Urquidy followed in the second game of the weekend series with a one-run outing, marking the Astros' fifth-straight game allowing one-or-fewer runs which is now the franchise record.

Closing out the the three-game set, Framber Valdez punched out 13 batters, 12 in a row which is now the franchise record. The lefty was relieved by Neris, Rafael Montero and Pressly who combined for seven strikeouts, totaling 20 for the club Sunday.

The 20 punch outs set a franchise record, tying the MLB record. As a staff, the Astros now rank second in ERA (2.93) in all of MLB, tailing the Yankees at 2.90.