Astros 8, Indians 1
WP: Keuchel (1-0, 1.29)
LP: Gomez (4-7, 5.18)

by Mr. Happy

All eyes were on young Dallas Keuchel, who was making his home debut, and he would not disappoint. Today’s game started out much like last night’s game, with the Astros still mired in their hitting doldrums. Asdrubal Cabrera took Keuchel deep for a solo shot to give the Tribe what would be their only lead and only run on the afternoon.

After retiring the first 12 Astros, Jeanmar Gomez, no doubt a mixed breed mixed up Frenchman with that name, dug a hole from which he could not rescue himself, courtesy of the perfecto gris gris that the denizens in the Game Zone had put on him after the end of the fourth inning. The Astros teed off on Gomez in the fifth frame, with back-to-back doubles from Bogusevic (who was in the cleanup spot today) and CJ and back-to-back jacks from JD and Schreefer (who was in the eight) to give the home nine a 4-1 lead that ultimately proved to be more runs that Keuchel would need.

Inexplicably, agent Manny Acta had a brain fart and let Gomez (who was clearly, at least to me, done) hit for himself in the top of the sixth and come back out to attempt to pitch in the bottom half of that frame and the Astros made him pay. After a leadoff walk to Lowrie, El Caballo cranked what would prove to be his first of two doubles to plate Lowrie to increase the lead to 5-1. After getting the next two guys, Acta brought on his designated situational lefty, Tony Sipp, who struck out Castro to end the sixth.

Menawhile, Keuchel changed speeds effectively and just kept the Tribe off balance all day, mixing in a very effective Uncle Charlie that he wasn’t bashful about throwing early in a sequence. Keuchel was in command all day, throwing approximately 65% strikes. The opposing broadcasters on STO thought very highly of his poise and pitchability. The Astros brass may encounter some difficulty when they send Keuchel back down to OkC when Norris comes back, especially if Happ stinks it up tomorrow. AstroFan on talk radio will likely have an aneurysm over it, which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, would it?

The Astros played add-on against a hapless Jeremy “Acky” (according to our own Ron Brand) Accardo in the bottom of the eighth. Altuve welcomed Mr. Accardo to Houston with a rocket home run (his fifth on the year) in the Crawford Boxes on his first pitch. Jed Lowrie followed that up with a double, and Carlos Lee then doubled home Lowrie to make 7-1. CJ then hit his second double of the game to score Lee to finish the scoring and make 8-1.

In the ninth inning, Keuchel surrendered a leadoff two bagger to Shin Soo Choo, but he would get no further than 3B, as Keuchel surrendered only another harmless single by Kipnis. The ballgame ended with two straight flyballs to Bogusevic, who got another opportunity to showcase his cannon on a strike to home plate after catching a flyball near the line. Fortunately for Choo, he stayed put at 3B. Keuchel on the day scattered six hits en route to the complete game win, the first by an Astro this season, striking out three and only walking one, tossing just 108 pitches on the afternoon, which was a rare 3:05 p.m. saturday afternoon matinee. I say let’s play more of these if this is how our boys can play then.

Our own JA Happ goes for the series win tomorrow against the Indians, whose lefty-heavy lineup has real trouble with left-handed pitchers, hitting around .220. We’ll see. The magic number today was nine: nine innings for Keuchel and nine (count ‘em nine) extra base hits. Additionally, the Astros were an uncharacteristically high 4-11 w/RISP.

Indians 2, Astros 0
By NeilT

I grew up on Cleveland’s gritty east side, in the Amish Ghetto, and the Indians have always been my team.  Who didn’t love the ‘89 Indians’ playoff run?  Take that, Yankees.  And I like saag paneer.  I love interleague play because I get to see real baseball, Cleveland American League baseball, complete with that great two-color cap and a stylized depiction of a Designated Hitter.
 
Of course I love this Astros team, too.  Ain’t they spunky!  They actually make me think of that great ‘89 Indians team.  They have a speedy centerfielder with an arrest record, a power hitter who can’t  hit, a short second baseman who never should have made the majors, and a closer with decorative tattoos.  They have a cut out with tear-away clothes in the clubhouse.  How great is that!  Just like Hollywood!  It’s too bad that redhead is leaving us.  She could have played Renee Russo.

I didn’t get to watch much of tonight’s game though.  We were driving to Tyler for a high school reunion.  I don’t know why.  Neither of us went to high school in Tyler, but there you are.  When you get old as us it’s fun to crash high school reunions.  Everybody thinks they’re supposed to know you, and can’t really remember that they don’t.
 
Harrell pitched 7 outstanding innings with 2 hits, 3 bb, one ER.  He should really be an all-star.  Wright pitched a 1-2-3 8th.  There is nothing but good to be said about Wright.  Carpenter got pulled after a hit in the 9th.  He was just about to put it all together, too.  And then my favorite Astros reliever, Abad, took the mound.  Before tonight he’d had 11 innings of work with only 10 hits.  He kept on pace, and now has 11.1 innings of work with only 11 hits.

FeRod has an era of 6, but he’s had lots of bad luck.  Did I miss something?  Where’s Myers?

12 Astros Ks.  7 lob.  Lots of fly balls that might have been but weren’t.  It’s even worse than being in Tyler.

Royals 2, Astros 1
WP: Chen (6-6, 4.81)
LP: Lyles (1-4, 5.04)

by Sphinx Drummond

The thing that first comes to mind whenever I think about the Kansas City Royals is George Brett. And when I think of Mr. Brett, a great player with some amazing accomplishments, the first thing that comes to mind is always hemorrhoids followed closely by the pine-tar incident, and then the amazing catch of Brett’s head by Lee May as Brett tumbled into the Royal’s dugout making an equally amazing catch of a pop foul by Tom Nieto in the ’85 World Series.

The next thing I think about is Darrell Porter out of his mind on dope and speed. Porter was a really good player and a great clubhouse guy. No one had anything bad to say about him, except he was out of his mind on dope and speed. Porter was so wrapped up in his addictions that he once found himself so paranoid that he stayed up all night guarding his front door–clutching billiard balls and a shotgun, convinced that Bowie Kuhn was trying to sneak in his house to ban Porter from baseball for life.

Kansas City had a good run in the ’80s. They had some good pitching staffs, anchored by Saberhagen and Quisenberry. Dick Howser was a great manager. They peaked in ’85 with their WS victory against the Cardinals in what was known as the “I-70 Showdown” and alternately the “Show-Me Series.” The Royals have been pretty much a non-factor for the past 20 years. A team with no hope of winning a division. In some respects I relate to them as an American League version of the Pirates.

It drives me to nuts to see the Astros fall to such depths that they are now looking up at teams like Kansas City and Pittsburgh. Yesterday, I had to work and was too busy to even listen to a day game on radio. But I hear the Astros lost. Meaning they dropped two of three to the lowly KC Royals. It would be nice if the Astros had better players, if they’d be a better team, and won more games. In time maybe, for right now, they are just a bad team looking to get better. Not bad guys, just not good baseball players.