Send out an SOS for Cy Young Keuchel
There is little question Dallas Keuchel is good enough.
But for these Astros, the last-place Astros, he needed to be better. Saturday night, he was. But somewhat fittingly for the 2016 Astros, it wasn’t good enough.
Keuchel was a lot closer to being the dominant pitcher he was in last year’s superb Cy Young season, but as was the case with his earlier victory at home this season, he had to hold the Seattle Mariners scoreless if he wanted a win.
Luis Valbuena delivered a clutch solo home run in the ninth to send the game into extra innings, but Robinson Cano continued his mastery of the Astros’ pitching, with his second home run of the night in the 10th to lift Seattle to a 3-2 victory.
Keuchel left the game after seven innings with the Astros trailing 2-1.
In the last two years, the Astros had not lost more than two Keuchel starts in a row, but they have lost four in a row, including two at Minute Maid Park in less than a week.
The Astros were 16-2 in Keuchel’s home starts last season.
The Astros are just 2-5 in their ace’s starts. It took 15 starts and until late June before they lost five games with him on the mound last year.
You can tell the frustration is building for the 11-20 Astros.
Manager A.J. Hinch was ejected in the eighth inning for arguing a strike call after a pitch to Carlos Correa when plate umpire Ben May apparently decided mid-shin was the low end of the strike zone. Frustration boils over
Outfielder Carlos Gomez followed Hinch to an early shower for debating the strike zone when Jason Castro and George Springer were called out on strikes to end the ninth.
Keuchel, who had been shaky in three consecutive starts before Saturday, even used the “C” word to describe the poor umpiring he believes the Astros have seen at times this season.
“I feel like some conspiracy’s out against us, is what it feels like, and I know that’s not the case, but the guys are grinding and we’re quality major league players and sometimes it feels like we’re all rookies,” Keuchel said. “That’s just debilitating because we’re going up there grinding.
“Valbuena hits a rocket to tie the game up in the ninth inning and then all of a sudden it’s deflating because we’re getting (strike) calls at the ankles.”
Keuchel admitted last week that he was putting extra pressure on himself to perform, an acknowledgment that surprised Hinch.
“All he has to be is 1⁄ of the team,” 25 Hinch said.
I don’t know what type of cipherin’ Hinch is doing, but my calculations indicate Keuchel needs to be more than that if the Astros want to contend.
Last year when they suffered their 20th loss, the Astros had 20 more wins than they do now. The Astros, who were never more than two games below .500, need a nine-game winning streak to get to even on the season.
The Keuchel on the mound Saturday is the one the Astros will need going forward, and they have to take advantage of every good start. Otherwise, the Astros are playing a card game they can’t win.
Even with Lance McCullers almost ready to join the rotation for the first time this season after beginning the year on the disabled list with a sore shoulder, the starting pitching deck isn’t deep enough for them to take too many L’s when Keuchel has the ball.
He did enough to win Saturday, scattering eight hits over seven innings, and racking up eight strikeouts with only one walk.
Two pitches did him in. Two first pitches to be exact.
Keuchel was focused on throwing first-pitch strikes. But as important as that is to him, it’s not always how you start an at-bat; it’s where the ball finishes. First-pitch mistakes
Keuchel’s first offerings to Kyle Seager and Cano in the second and third innings, respectively, ended up over the right-field wall.
That was the difference in him earning a victory versus a no-decision.
The Astros believe they were held down by more than a strong pitching performance by the Mariners.
“It’s frustrating because (the umpire’s) taking the bat out of our hands, and we gotta go up there with a mini-bat,” Keuchel said. “That’s not the way it should be.
“As major leaguers, all we ask for is consistency, and it just seems like we’re not getting consistent calls from behind the plate.
“I’m getting treated like I’m a rookie and we can’t have that and it’s not good for the game of baseball. It’s just one of those things where we got the short end of the stick.” Sinking in the West
The frustration is increasing, as are the losses.
A year ago, the Astros had a six-game division lead after the first week of May. They enter Sunday’s series finale trailing the Mariners by 7½ games.
“Moving forward, the optimism rests with the talent in this room, that we can put it together for a stretch,” Hinch said.
The little team that could, thinks it can.
If that’s the case, it can’t afford to waste many more Keuchel gems.