Teng Kai-Wei Sets New Career High with 31 Innings Pitched in a Season, Aims to Eat More Innings for the Team

Houston Astros' Taiwanese pitcher Teng Kai-Wei pitched five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts to earn a win today, bringing his season total innings pitched to 31, a new career high. Teng stated that whether starting or relieving, his mindset is always to eat up more innings for the team. Playing for the Major League Baseball (MLB) team Houston Astros, Teng faced the Texas Rangers today, throwing 76 pitches over 5 innings. He gave up 2 hits, 4 walks, and 1 hit-by-pitch, but managed to escape jams with 7 strikeouts, helping his team to a 4-1 victory. In a post-game interview with local media, Teng said that two strikeouts at the beginning of the first inning helped him settle down, and the key to the whole game was to stay ahead in the count and aggressively attack the strike zone. Although Teng started the year as a reliever, he has stepped up to fill a starting role due to injuries in the team's rotation, starting in his last two appearances. His 31 innings pitched this season is a new personal record. Teng said that even as a reliever, he hoped to eat up more innings to give the manager more flexibility. 'That was my thought while pitching today, to eat as many innings as I could.' According to the MLB official website, Teng and Spencer Arrighetti, who pitched 7.1 scoreless innings yesterday, together achieved the Astros' first back-to-back scoreless starts of the season. Regarding his move from the San Francisco Giants to the Astros, Teng felt that the pitching coaches and staff have been very enthusiastic, 'which makes me feel more comfortable pitching here.'