After six days of rest, Tatsuya Imai exploded with a career-high 11 strikeouts in a single game.

Japanese pitcher Tatsuya Imai, who surrendered five runs in just 0.2 innings in his prior outing, made a comeback after six days of rest. Against the Cleveland Guardians, Imai pitched six innings, racking up a personal best of 11 strikeouts in the big leagues, allowing just three earned runs, and notching his third career quality start. The Houston Astros defeated the Guardians 9-3, giving Imai his fourth win of the season.

Imai's first pitch of the game in the top of the first inning was hit for a single by Travis Bazzana. In that inning, the Guardians had runners on first and second with one out, but Imai struck out two consecutive batters to escape the jam. All three outs in that frame came via strikeouts.

In the bottom of the first, Isaac Paredes hit a ground-rule double to right field with one out and a runner on first. The runner originally stopped at third, but a wild throw by the Guardians' right fielder on the relay allowed the Astros to score their first run for free.

Armed with a one-run lead from his teammates, Imai faced four batters in the top of the second. Although he gave up a hit, all three outs in the inning were again strikeouts. In the top of the third, Imai once again allowed a leadoff hit to Bazzana, this time a double. The Guardians followed with another double with one out, tying the game 1-1. The next batter, Rhys Hoskins, hit a two-run homer, putting the Guardians ahead 3-1. In the bottom of the third, the Astros answered with a solo home run, cutting the deficit to 2-3.

In the top of the fourth, Imai recorded his first 1-2-3 inning of the game, including two strikeouts. He followed with another 1-2-3 inning in the top of the fifth. In the top of the sixth, Imai struck out two batters to complete yet another 1-2-3 inning. After giving up Hoskins' home run, Imai retired 11 consecutive Guardians batters.

In the bottom of the sixth, Jose Altuve hit a go-ahead three-run homer, giving the Astros a 5-3 lead and putting Imai in line for the win. Imai did not pitch in the top of the seventh. In this game, he threw 89 pitches over six innings, with 57 strikes, striking out a career-high 11 batters without issuing any walks, while allowing six hits and three earned runs.