HOUSTON (Interstat) — Spencer Arrighetti pitched 7 1/3 innings of one-hit shutout ball, Isaac Paredes homered and the Houston Astros defeated the Texas Rangers 2-0 on Friday night at Daikin Park in front of 32,555 fans.

The game took just 2 hours, 19 minutes.

Arrighetti improved to 5-1 on the season, striking out five and walking two while allowing only a fifth-inning single to Justin Foscue. He faced the minimum 22 batters through seven innings, aided by a double play and a pickoff. Bryan King recorded the final five outs for his fourth save.

Jack Leiter took the loss for Texas, falling to 1-4. Leiter worked six innings, allowing one run on three hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

The Astros improved to 18-28, while the Rangers dropped to 21-23.

The decisive moment came in the third inning. With one out, Brice Matthews popped out softly to Leiter, bringing Paredes to the plate. Paredes launched a 1-0 pitch over the left-field wall for his fourth home run of the season, giving Houston a 1-0 lead.

The Astros added an insurance run in the eighth. After Cole Winn relieved Leiter, Paredes was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a single by Yordan Alvarez. Christian Walker struck out but a wild pitch moved pinch-runner Nick Allen to third. Braden Shewmake then lined a single to left, scoring Allen to make it 2-0.

Shewmake finished 1 for 4 with the RBI. Matthews had two of Houston’s five hits, going 2 for 4. Paredes was 1 for 3 with the homer and RBI. Alvarez went 1 for 3 with a walk.

Texas managed only one hit and struck out 10 times. Foscue’s single in the eighth was the lone Texas knock, coming after a walk to Alejandro Osuna. But catcher Christian Vázquez picked Foscue off first base to end the inning.

The Rangers had a chance in the fifth when Jake Burger walked and reached third on a fielding error by Paredes, but Arrighetti retired Kyle Higashioka on a groundout and Foscue on a groundout to escape.

Leiter worked efficiently despite the loss. He retired the first two batters in the first before Matthews singled, but left him stranded. Paredes’ homer was the only damage off Leiter, who also got a double-play grounder from Shewmake in the sixth after a leadoff walk to Alvarez.

Winn allowed two hits and one earned run in his inning, striking out three.

For the Rangers, Joc Pederson walked twice but also struck out twice. Brandon Nimmo walked once and grounded into a double play. Josh Jung grounded out three times. Texas left five runners on base.

The game was a stark contrast to the teams’ recent offensive outputs. The Rangers had scored at least three runs in four of their previous five games, including a 6-5 win Wednesday over Arizona. The Astros had dropped three of four entering the night, including an 8-3 loss to Seattle on Thursday.

Houston’s pitching dominated from the outset. Arrighetti retired the first nine Rangers in order before walking Pederson to open the fourth. He then set down eight of the next nine before Foscue’s hit.

King entered with one out in the eighth and struck out Zach Dezenzo to end the inning. In the ninth, he retired Ezequiel Duran on a called third strike, then got Nimmo and Jung on groundouts to seal the victory.

The teams continue their series Saturday, with the Rangers sending right-hander Jon Gray to the mound against Astros righty Hunter Brown.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Texas Rangers 5, Houston Astros 4. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Texas with a 52.00 percent probability to win. Texas had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 2 went over the over/under line of 8.5.