Royals 2, Astros 1: Blooper causes no laughs as Astros squander Feldman's start

Brakes. Breaks. Both of the words come in play for an Astros recap following tonight's game.

Brakes: Exactly what the bats did. Only putting up 1 run in 10 innings vs Danny Duffy, a pitcher who who has a 5+ ERA.

Break: This was only the Astros 2nd loss since the All-Star break bringing their record to 6-2 since the Mid-Summer classic.

Tonight was a rough night for the bats of the Astros to struggle when their pitcher put them in the best possible position for them to win. Scott Feldman, who has started both games the Astros have lost since the break, set the bar high for opposing pitcher Danny Duffy - but Duffy was up for the challenge. Feldman went 7 2/3, giving up 4 hits, walking 1 and was responsible for the game tying run that crossed the plate in the eight. Duffy allowed 3 hits and 1 run in his 6 innings before handing the ball to Ned Yost. Yost then proceeded to go to his lockdown bullpen to lockdown the Astros for the next 4 innings.

The Astros bats walked into Kauffman Stadium averaging 6.7 runs per game since the All-Star break. Danny Duffy had something to say about that. The Astros only notched five hits - in ten innings - with their only run on a sacrifice fly from rookie SS Carlos Correa. The Astros led off the ninth and tenth with lead off singles but no runner ever reached second due to a fielders choice and a double play ball off the bats of Correa and Carter.

The Royals didn't lead off the ninth or tenth with hits but they proved they didn't need them. They threatened in ninth with runners on the corners with 2 outs and ended it in the tenth with a Paulo Orlando single, stolen base and coming home on a Alcides Escobar single. Will Harris received the loss, his 2nd of the year.

The rubber match, match up will be Astros All-Star Ace Dallas Keuchel (12-4, 2.12 ERA) vs recently demoted and recalled Yordano Ventura (4-7, 5.19 ERA). The Royals will go into tomorrows game with very limited success vs Keuchel this year. The Royals faced Keuchel on June 30th totaling 7 hits but not crossing the plate once. The Astros walked away with a 4-0 win. For the Astros to walk away with a win tomorrow they will need to figure out Ventura, a pitcher they have not yet seen this year.