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Astros 4, Yankees 0: "K" Is For Keuchel

Keuchel pitches a gem, and the Astros score four runs without a ball leaving the park

By erniebreakfast
Scott Halleran/Getty Images

What Happened

If you need to give the bullpen a rest with all these mortal pitchers only going six or seven innings, just call Dallas Keuchel down from on high.  He pitched one of the best games I have ever seen him pitch (at least since last month) throwing his second complete game shutout of the season. The only scoring threat the Yanks were able to muster was in the ninth inning, when Keuchel was well over 100 pitches on the night and appeared to be tiring.  Hinch came out for a chat and allowed him to stay in.  He induced one more grounder to end the game.  He ended up scattering six hits and one walk while striking out 12, a new career high.  Alex Rodriguez was a victim of the K three times tonight.

At the plate the Astros did what seems to be strange now for them, winning without hitting a home run.  Not that they didn't give it their best effort.  Luis Valbuena hit a ball that just slipped past the wrong side of the foul pole.  They scored one run in four different innings the regular way...getting on base, swiping bags, and well-timed hits.   In the second inning Preston Tucker hit an opposite field RBI double driving in Colby Rasmus to take a 1-0 lead.  In the fourth Rasmus hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Jose Altuve for the first of his three runs on the night.  Altuve would also score in the sixth on an Evan Gattis single, and in the eighth on a Gattis double.  We still had a few...shall we say...issues on the basepaths.  Without those the game may have not even been that close.

And how did the bullpen fare tonight?  Well, Luke Gregerson did get up and get warm with two outs in the ninth.  All in all a successful night for those guys.

The Astros will play game 2 of this series tomorrow as rookie Vince Velasquez faces the Yankees Nathan Eovaldi at 7-ish.

Fun Facts (Keuchel Edition)

Keuchel held the Yankees 2-3-4 hitters to a 1-for-11 night with seven K's.  The only hit was A-rod in the 9th.

Keuchel's best strikeout total before tonight was 11 way back on May 30 of this season in a complete game against the White Sox.

At one point tonight, Keuchel set down 15 batters in a row between the 4th and 9th innings.

Tweets of the Night

Respect...

The baserunning issues did not go unnoticed...

Classy...

Bonus peek into the future

In This Stream

AL Series: Houston Astros vs. New York Yankees, June 25-28, 2015

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