NEW YORK - Eight pitches in, Ethan Pecko appeared on the edge of calamity. Francisco Lindor crushed a full-count fastball into the second deck at Citi Field. Juan Soto sent a first-pitch curveball over the wall in left-center. Bo Bichette punched a single through the right side of the Houston Astros' infield.
Houston pitching coach Josh Miller hustled to the mound for a visit. AJ Blubaugh began to throw in the visitors' bullpen. Turning there so early might have torpedoed an already tenuous staff. Pecko, still, was making his third major-league start, and a series against the Mets hung in the balance Sunday.
Miller's message?
"To be honest, I don't even know," Pecko said afterward. "I was pretty comfortable with where I was at. Obviously, you don't want to give up two home runs back-to-back. But even the single, like, I knew the stuff was good. And I kind of just knew I could shake it off and keep going."
Instead of an early exit, Pecko engineered a recovery. The 24-year-old right-hander stabilized his outing enough to work five innings that kept the Astros position to stage a comeback, preserved their pitching structure and offered perhaps the most encouraging step yet in his big-league introduction.
#astros
Houston pitching coach Josh Miller hustled to the mound for a visit. AJ Blubaugh began to throw in the visitors' bullpen. Turning there so early might have torpedoed an already tenuous staff. Pecko, still, was making his third major-league start, and a series against the Mets hung in the balance Sunday.
Miller's message?
"To be honest, I don't even know," Pecko said afterward. "I was pretty comfortable with where I was at. Obviously, you don't want to give up two home runs back-to-back. But even the single, like, I knew the stuff was good. And I kind of just knew I could shake it off and keep going."
Instead of an early exit, Pecko engineered a recovery. The 24-year-old right-hander stabilized his outing enough to work five innings that kept the Astros position to stage a comeback, preserved their pitching structure and offered perhaps the most encouraging step yet in his big-league introduction.
#astros
2 months ago
