Astros right-hander Mike Burrows spent the first inning searching for the strike zone and came up empty. He spent the next four proving why Houston stuck with him in a 6-4 win.
Burrows came into Tuesday’s start against Minnesota at Daikin Park off a strong showing last Wednesday in Toronto, where he pitched six innings, allowing only two hits, one run and one walk. Against the Twins, he allowed two hits, three runs and two walks in the first inning alone.
The bases were loaded early, then hitting ex-Astro Victor Caratini with a pitch brought a runner home. Ryan Kreidler, the next batter, hit a two-run single, with a fielding error by left fielder Yordan Alvarez in left field advancing the runners to second and third. Burrows finished the inning without futher damage as the Astros trailed 3-0.
“I wasn’t really locating in the first, was missing out of the zone, couple walks, couple hits, never good in one inning,” Burrows said. “I just felt like I never really cooled off (from pregame warmups). I went out there and it was just kind of one long inning from the bullpen to the mound.”
He had to power through 30 pitches in the first alone. Catcher Yainer Diaz visited the mound twice trying to get Burrows composed. Astros manager Joe Espada said it was a tough start, but Burrows righted things quickly.
“He settled in, ton of quick outs, ton of strikes, you know a strong five innings,” Espada said.
After the opening frame, Burrows limited the Twins to just one more run over his five-inning outing. He finished with 90 pitches (58 strikes). The Astros’ six-run fourth inning wiped out the early deficit.
After Alvarez put the Astros up 6-3 with his third grand slam of the season. Burrows had only one goal in mind — keep the Astros ahead.
“(The grand slam) was a huge pick me up,” Burrows said. “After that, it was get through as many (innings) as possible, help the bullpen and just keep our team in the lead.”
He did just that, retiring 11 of 13 batters in his last four innings, striking out three.
Burrows turned it over to the bullpen, where Enyel De Los Santos and the lefty trio of Steven Okert, Bryan King and Josh Hader each tossed a perfect inning to close things out. That improved Burrows to 4-8 on the season with a 5.58 ERA. The win was his first since May 27 at Texas.