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The Astros lost the series to the Royals three games to one, and they have now lost every series this season.
The Astros managed to get some good games from the team's starting pitching staff. The first three games they went a combined 19-1/3 innings, only allowing three earned runs. In the final game, Doug Fister did not bring it the way the others did in the games before, by allowing six earned runs during his start. The bats were just not able to help out the pitching staff out at all.
Below are three takeaways from the home series loss.
Bats froze
I think everyone knew going into the series that getting wins was going to rough. But the Astros are usually good for anywhere from four to six runs a game, and yet in the final three games, they only managed two runs a game.
With good pitching, they were able to stay close with the Royals. But once they sent it to the bullpen the Astros bats had no chance at score runs off Kelvin Herrera or Wade Davis. Jose Altuve tried his damnedest to single-handedly will the team to wins, but the rest of the offense did not follow.
New lights at MMP will be changed
One of the things that was noticeable to not only the players, but everyone that attended the games over the homestand, was the Astros' new L.E.D lighting system.
A few months ago the Astros announced that they installed a new energy-efficient lighting system. And this series was the first time the team got a truly good look at it in real game action.
Over the four-game stretch, you could see many times that Astros outfielders missed judging flyballs, sometimes going all the way down to a knee because it was so hard to find in the lights.
Hinch: "Lights are there and they're not going away."
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) April 15, 2016
Springer was then asked to compare the lights from this year to last year. "I like the old ones," he said.
— Jake Kaplan (@jakemkaplan) April 15, 2016
Springer on the new LED lights at Minute Maid Park: "They’re tough. It’s bright. It’s not easy to see the ball. Cost us a game today."
— Jake Kaplan (@jakemkaplan) April 15, 2016
If the stars say it's costing them games, it means that it's costing the team money, which means that they'll be gone.
No need to worry, just yet
It's three series into the season and there hasn't been too much to write home about so far.
The Astros have yet to have many complete games. On the road, they had the offense but no pitching. At home, they had the pitching but no offense.
They will get it right; the Astros just have so much talent that once they get going they will be hard team to stop.
Last season, it took the Astros all the way to the end of April until they got the 10-game win streak that would carry them for the rest of the year. If you are starting to fret, give it a few more weeks till you start pulling out your hair.