Spencer Arrighetti, who has largely struggled since the start of June, was tagged for eight runs in four innings Wednesday against the Nationals.
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WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 08: Yainer Diaz #21 of the Houston Astros reacts after hitting a double in the fifth inning during a game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on July 08, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Houston Astros/Getty Images)
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WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 08: Isaac Paredes #15 of the Houston Astros celebrates at second base after hitting a double in the fourth inning during a game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on July 08, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Houston Astros/Getty Images)
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WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 08: Yainer Diaz #21 of the Houston Astros hits a double in the fifth inning during a game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on July 08, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Houston Astros/Getty Images)
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WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 08: Spencer Arrighetti #41 of the Houston Astros warms up before a game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on July 08, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Houston Astros/Getty Images)
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WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 08: Spencer Arrighetti #41 of the Houston Astros pitches to the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Nationals Park on July 08, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images)
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WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 08: Zach Dezenzo #9 of the Houston Astros catches a ball hit by Dylan Crews #3 of the Washington Nationals during the third inning at Nationals Park on July 08, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images)
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WASHINGTON — If the Houston Astros are to climb back to .500 before the All-Star break, it will require a sweep this weekend in Arlington.
Wildness sunk Spencer Arrighetti in his outing Wednesday against the Washington Nationals. Left-hander Foster Griffin stymied the Astros’ offense. And they fell 8-2 in the rubber game of their series at Nationals Park to return to three under at 46-49.
A Nationals offense averaging the most runs per game in the majors hounded Houston’s starting pitchers all series. None of Mike Burrows, Tatsuya Imai or Arrighetti lasted five innings in his start. Astros relievers protected an early lead Tuesday but never had that chance in the finale.
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Washington built a 5-0 lead by the fourth inning against Arrighetti, who ultimately allowed eight runs for the second time in three starts. Arrighetti owns an 8.74 ERA over his last seven outings since he received AL pitcher of the month honors in May, a stark and puzzling pivot.
Houston’s lineup could not overcome the deficit. Its top half was quieted for a second consecutive night. The 1-through-5 spots combined to go 3-for-20 with one extra-base hit. Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez were hitless in the top two spots, with Alvarez in a 1-for-18 mini-funk.
The series loss was the Astros’ second in their past eight tries. An off day Thursday will offer a chance to regroup before they visit the Rangers, one of two teams sitting above them in the AL West, for a three-game set at Globe Life Field.
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Walks hurt Arrighetti
Arrighetti issued a career-high six walks, the most by an Astros pitcher in a game since Framber Valdez walked six March 28, 2024. He threw 38% of his pitches in-zone, per Baseball Savant, and threw 48 strikes on 94 total pitches. Three of Arrighetti’s walks came around to score.
Arrighetti navigated two walks in a scoreless first. He began the third inning with walks to James Wood and Luis García Jr. A one-out sacrifice fly from CJ Abrams drove in Wood. Daylen Lile doubled on a full-count cutter to give the Nationals a 2-0 lead.
García grew it in the fourth. Arrighetti notched two outs before a Keibert Ruiz single. Wood worked his third walk against Arrighetti, who showed little interest in challenging the leadoff man and left-handed slugger. García then sent a curveball into the right-field seats.
Abrams attacked a 2-0 fastball for a home run to lead off the fifth. After a line-drive single and a check-swing grounder that found open space, Arrighetti issued a walk to Jorbit Vivas that filled the bases and ended his outing. Two runners he bequeathed to Alimber Santa scored.
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Ready for the curve
García’s three-run home run was the first home run Arrighetti has allowed on his curveball this season. Left-handed hitters didn’t have an extra-base hit in 54 at-bats ending on the pitch before Wednesday. It was a glaring example of the Nationals being ready for Arrighetti’s best offering.
Arrighetti threw his curveball 43% of the time against a lineup with seven left-handed or switch-hitters. Lefties began the day with a .167 batting average and a 48% whiff rate against the pitch.
The Nationals took 12 swings on the 40 curveballs that Arrighetti threw. Just one yielded a whiff. Seven put the ball in play. Five of those carried an exit velocity above 95 mph, the Statcast hard-hit threshold, with four falling for hits.
Arrighetti induced just two whiffs on 33 total swings. His two strikeouts were a season-low. Arrighetti’s earned run average is 4.50 through 15 starts.
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Foiled by Foster
Griffin, the 30-year-old left-hander who pitched the past three seasons in Japan, is quietly compiling an excellent season for the Nationals. He entered the day with a 2.87 ERA through 18 starts. Wednesday marked his fifth quality start in his last six outings and his seventh consecutive start allowing one run.
That scored in the fifth. Yainer Diaz struck a leadoff double. Brice Matthews singled to drive him in. The Astros took three other at-bats with a man in scoring position against Griffin and were hitless in them.
Griffin scattered five hits, did not walk a batter and struck out nine. He mixed seven pitch types while generating 22 whiffs, the most by a pitcher in an outing against Houston this season. Sixteen balls put into play against him averaged just a 79.4 mph exit velocity. Three qualified as hard-hit.
No Astro reached second base until Isaac Paredes doubled with one out in the fourth. Griffin induced two groundouts to leave him there. After Matthews’ run-scoring single, Griffin retired eight of his last nine batters faced, erasing the exception, a Paredes single, with a double-play grounder.
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Rehab updates
Shortstop Jeremy Peña played in his second rehab game at Triple-A Sugar Land on Wednesday ahead of his likely return from the injured list this weekend against the Rangers. Peña, on the IL due to a left calf strain, will be eligible for activation Friday.
Lance McCullers Jr. threw four innings Tuesday in a rehab start at Triple-A and “felt fine” afterward, manager Joe Espada said. Ronel Blanco threw two innings in that game before it was suspended by weather.
Espada said the Astros are still discussing the next steps for Blanco and McCullers. The Astros have not named a starter for Sunday’s finale at Texas, the rotation spot opened by Mike Burrows’ option to Triple-A. Espada said the team was “still having conversations” about who will start that game, as well.