Contributed by Mr. Happy
The Astros break out of their three game skid by busting out the lumber against Toronto and riding the left arm of young Dallas Keuchel. Villar, who’s got some pop in his bat, hit a three run dinger while Robby Grossman, who had been mired in a 2-33 slump, added a two run shot and Jason Castro added a solo shot to round out the scoring. The bats only generated eight hits, but when three of them leave the premises, it really helps, and the team pulled its collective BA above .200. That gives the ball club 14 home runs on the young season, which is among the leaders in MLB. Who’d a thunk it, especially with Carter deeply mired in a strikeout spree. The Astros had as many strikeouts as hits, but they were 2-4 with RISP and only left four on the sacks.
Keuchel had tremendous command of everything tonight and was working both sides of the dish, which I believe is key to his future success. In my opinion, you need to work that inner half of the plate to keep hitters honest. Keuchel doesn’t have plus stuff, but he seems to know how to pitch to contact. Keuchel scattered five hits in his seven frames, while striking out six and issuing one free pass. Only the pesky Colby Rasmus, who had taken him out of the yard before, did so tonight.
The bully made it interesting in the ninth frame, with FIELDS! at the helm of the good ship Titanic. Inheriting a 6-1 lead, before you knew it, it was 6-3 and Bass was on with one out to get. Bass induced a nubber that he fielded and promptly threw over Krauss’s head, and it became 6-4 with the tying run at the plate and Joey Bats on deck. However, Bass was up to the task and induced another easily fielded ground ball that secured the 6-4 win and notched Bass his first save of the season.
The Game Zone was noticeably silent tonight, so I was lonely there. The Astros travel to Arlington for a three game set against the stRangers. First pitch tonight is at 7:05 CDT. Come check us out in the Game Zone. We don’t bite. Really. We might give you some shit, but we don’t bite.