On short end of duel
2014 AL Cy Young winner Kluber gets overdue win, while Velasquez gets a ticket down
CLEVELAND — Vince Velasquez’s reward for pitching into the seventh inning for a third straight time Tuesday night was a trip back to Class AA, a move the Astros made not as punishment but as a precaution during a season in which they need to protect their young arms and, most importantly, keep them fresh for a potential postseason run.
Velasquez, one of two pitchers promoted to the Astros directly from Class AA Corpus Christi this season, had tough luck opposite defending American League Cy Young winner Corey Kluber in a 2-0 loss to the Cleveland Indians.
The expectation is he’ll return to the Astros after the All-Star break.
The Astros have lost three of their last four games with a split in the first two games of four at Progressive Field. Meanwhile, the surging Los Angeles Angels’ fourth straight win narrowed the Astros’ American League West
lead to 2½ games.
On May 3, with a 7-6 victory over Seattle, the Astros were 18-7 and seven games up. Since then, they’re 31-30.
The backdrop of the standings, when combined with the decision to send down a pitcher who’s throwing well because he isn’t built up to handle a full workload, reinforces the great truth of the Astros’ July: They need to acquire a stabilizing piece in their rotation before the non-waiver trade deadline on the last day of the month.
A 23-year-old righthander, Velasquez had 13 swings and misses and five strikeouts in 61⁄3 innings, his third consecutive outing of that length. Ten of the whiffs came on Velasquez’s fastball, which averaged 95 mph. He topped out at 97.1 mph, per BrooksBaseball.net.
Now he’ll rejoin Corpus for a time but won’t pitch in games.
“I feel like I settled in just fine,” Velasquez said of his six starts in the majors. “Throwing six innings — I couldn’t even get over five (in my first three outings). Now I’m going over five, six. I felt like I could probably go seven today. … I am feeling comfortable.”
Noted manager A.J. Hinch: “We have the All-Star break (starting Monday). Clearly, these guys are starting to enter some uncharted waters for their rest, recovery. Obviously, we know he’s a part of what we’re doing, and we’re expecting to see him again.
“Given how we’re riding our bullpen right now, where we are with the schedule with the All-Star break, we’re going to give him a little mental and physical blow for the time being and re-sort it out after the break.”
Time for a rest
Velasquez expected a throwing program would be set up for him, including live batting practice, and he wasn’t worried he’d be thrown off his routine.
Nonetheless, leaving the majors is never what a player wants.
“I guess it’s that time I need rest,” Velasquez said. “It’s not pleasant news, but they’re looking out for me, and we’ll go from there.
“I think I’ll be fully refreshed. I’ll be doing a lot of bullpens, a lot of work with my command in Corpus and (working to develop my) slider. I threw that today. It was working somewhat. It messes up the hitters’ timing. I probably could have utilized it a little bit more, but I think I’ll be fine in the second half.”
A two-out David Murphy double in the first inning and Michael Brantley’s leadoff homer in the sixth accounted for all the damage against Velasquez, who finished with a career-high 104 pitches.
Even at less than his best, Kluber was a force. In his last outing, the big Indians righthander struck out 14 in eight innings. Earlier this year, he struck out 18 in eight innings.
Tuesday was closer to pedestrian, if 62⁄3 shutout innings, seven strikeouts, two walks and five hits can be considered as such.
It was Kluber’s first victory since May 28, with four losses and two nodecisions in between.
All six Astros hits were singles, and they moved a runner past first base just twice. Hank Conger’s leadoff walk in the fifth eventually saw him stranded at second base, while Marwin Gonzalez made it to third base after reaching on a fielder’s choice in the seventh.
In both those frames, Alex Presley reached base with two outs ahead of Jose Altuve to put two on.
“You’ve really got to lock it in in certain zones against (Kluber),” said Presley, who singled and walked. “With his cutter and slider, he likes to throw it in on lefties, and it’s a tough pitch to hit.”
Altuve’s streak ends
In the fifth inning, Altuve’s grounder to third let Giovanny Urshela step on the bag for the final out with runners on first and second. In the seventh, Altuve struck out swinging on a Zach McAllister breaking ball in the dirt with runners on the corners. McAllister had just entered in place of Kluber to face Altuve.
“We had a hard time getting anything started against Kluber early,” Hinch said. “A couple opportunities late, but it was a well-pitched game on both sides. They got a couple runs, solo homer, couple back-to-back, two-out hits. Our opportunities late, we had good at-bats. I thought we had good at-bats most of the night against a really good pitcher in our league and nothing to show for it.”
At 0-for-4, Altuve saw his hitting streak snapped at 14 games. That’s tied for