Drawing a blank
Rusty ace suffers first loss as offense offers no support
Even before the Astros’ front office whiffed at executing a significant trade deadline deal Monday, one would have had a difficult time arguing against Dallas Keuchel as the team’s most important player.
The lack of a rotation upgrade only brightens the spotlight on Keuchel, the ace of a staff relying on several pitchers who have battled injuries this season. If the Astros are to contend in October for the franchise’s first World Series title, they will need the version of the resurgent former Cy Young Award winner who dominated in April and May.
Considering the Astros’ enormous division lead, Keuchel has ample time to regain his AllStar form. But in each of his two starts since he returned from a two-month injury absence, the bearded lefthander has lacked the crispness with his pitches and pinpoint command on which he thrives.
Keuchel wasn’t hit particularly hard in the Astros’ 3-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night at Minute Maid Park but had to work hard to complete five innings of three-run ball. The Rays laid off pitches at which hitters typically swing. They inflicted all of their damage with two outs.
“It makes my job a lot harder when I’m not in the zone,” Keuchel said. “It definitely needs to be cleaned up in that aspect.”
University of Houston product and The Woodlands native Austin Pruitt outpitched Keuchel. Pruitt, who came into the game with a 6.63 ERA, limited his hometown team to five hits over 61⁄3 scoreless innings.
The Astros squandered opportunities against Pruitt and Tampa Bay’s bullpen. Baseball’s best offense grounded into inning-ending double plays three times, including in a third inning in which they had runners on first and third and no outs. They were hitless in nine at-bats with runners in scoring position.
A day after voicing his disappointment with the Astros’ lack of a significant trade deadline deal, Keuchel (9-1) was tagged with his first loss in 13 starts on the season. The three runs Keuchel allowed pushed his ERA to 2.15. He issued two walks and struck out only two.
The Rays ran Keuchel’s pitch count to 79 through four innings. He was pulled after 87 pitches over five innings. Five of the seven hits he allowed came with two outs. His sinker velocity averaged 87.4 mph, according to MLB’s Statcast, down from 88.9 mph in his start Friday.
Keuchel pitched better, though, than he had Friday, when he threw 79 pitches and completed only three innings of threerun ball. He doesn’t attribute his lagging command to his long layoff.
“It’s probably just me having a little bit more adrenaline than I’m used to,” he said. “I’m trying to calm myself down a little bit more. But I don’t really think the layoff had much to do with so many pitches the last couple outings. It’s more of just me not making good pitches.”
The biggest swing against Keuchel on Wednesday came in the first inning. He threw a 1-0 sinker down in the strike zone that Logan Morrison drilled to right-center. It carried over the wall and into the Astros’ bullpen for a two-run homer to give the Rays an early lead.
Keuchel faced a basesloaded situation in the second but mostly on account of bad luck. Shortstop Marwin Gonzalez committed an error on a grounder to put the leadoff runner on, and Mallex Smith and Corey Dickerson each reached on well-placed, two-out infield singles. Keuchel escaped by inducing a weak popup from Trevor Plouffe.
The third went no more smoothly for Keuchel. After he retired the Rays’ Nos. 3 and 4 batters, Evan Longoria and Morrison, he walked Wilson Ramos and allowed consecutive singles to Adeiny Hechavarria and Brad Miller, the latter knocking in Tampa Bay’s third run.
Keuchel faced only four batters in the fourth but exhausted 22 pitches. Joe Musgrove began warming in the Astros’ bullpen in the fourth and again in the fifth, the only inning in which Keuchel faced the minimum number of batters.
“We’ll clean it up,” Keuchel said. “I need to be better. It all started with me.”