Imai (4-3) earned the win against the Guardians on Friday, allowing three runs on six hits and no walks with 11 strikeouts over six innings.
Imai allowed three runs in the third inning but was otherwise as good as he's been in an Astros uniform, registering a season-high 11 punchouts while not issuing a walk for just the second time in 10 contests. He leaned heavily on his slider, generating a whopping 17 of his 20 swinging strikes on the pitch while throwing it 57 percent of the time. The 28-year-old still owns an ugly 6.15 ERA, 1.44 WHIP and 48:24 K:BB across 41 innings this season and will try to build on this performance in a road matchup against the Tigers next week.