Taiwanese pitcher Teng Kai-wei on Saturday recorded his first loss as a reliever for Houston, after giving up a home run to the New York Yankees’ Austin Wells, amid speculation that the right-hander could become a starter for the injury-ravaged Astros.
Although Teng only gave up one run against three batters, Wells’ tiebreaking solo shot sparked a three-run seventh for the Yankees, who eventually took the game 8-3.
Prior to Saturday, Teng had a 1.65 ERA, following a stellar 2-2/3 innings against the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday last week, when he struck out two and gave up no runs. After the Yankees loss, he had a 2.16 ERA, with 16 strikeouts and six walks after 16-2/3 innings.
Photo: AP
MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart on Saturday reported that the team was considering putting Teng into the rotation, but feared its effect on the bullpen.
“Phenomenal,” McTaggart quoted Astros manager Joe Espada as saying about Teng. “Just to bridge to the back end of our bullpen, [effective against] both righties and lefties, can create swing and miss. I really like what he’s done in that bullpen.”
Teng started seven games for the San Francisco Giants last season, but has not thrown more than 40 pitches in a game this year.
“You know, he certainly put himself in that conversation [to be a starter],” McTaggart quoted Astros pitching coach Josh Miller as saying. “He’s got really good stuff, he’s got dynamic weapons from both sides, and it should be a matter of finding a spot for him and stretching him out, if we choose to do that.”
Ace Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier and Tatsuya Imai have been on injury reserve, which has taken a heavy toll on the Astros rotation and bullpen, McTaggart said.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Lee Hao-yu, who got his first hit with an RBI single against the Boston Red Sox on Monday last week, was brought in to pinch hit for the Detroit Tigers’ Javier Baez in the ninth, hitting a fly ball that was caught by Cincinnati Reds’ left fielder T.J. Friedl.
The Reds beat the Tigers 9-2 in Cincinnati.
Taiwan’s Lin Wei-en started for Athletics’ Double-A affiliate the Midland Rockhounds, pitching five innings against the Springfield Cardinals, giving up one earned run and striking out five batters. Fellow Taiwanese Lin Chen-wei did not pitch for the Cardinals in the game.
Lin Wei-en signed with the Athletics in 2024 for US$1.35 million.
Taiwanese outfielder Ko Ching-hsien hit an RBI single for the Ontario Tower Buzzers, the single-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, in their 7-4 win over the San Jose Giants.
Elsewhere in the MLB, the Red Sox devastated the Baltimore Orioles 17-1, the Dodgers destroyed the Chicago Cubs 12-4, the Philadelphia Phillies surged to an 8-5 victory over the Atlanta Braves in 10 innings, the Washington Nationals took down the Chicago White Sox 6-3 in 10 innings and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Cleveland Guardians 5-3.
The Seattle Mariners overpowered the St Louis Cardinals 11-9, the San Francisco Giants reeled in the Miami Marlins 6-2, the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Minnesota Twins 6-1, the Texas Rangers pipped the Athletics 4-3, the San Diego Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-4, the Kansas City Royals dominated the Los Angeles Angels 12-1 and the Pittsburgh Pirates overcame the Milwaukee Brewers 6-3 in 10 innings.
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