Dallas Keuchel was one of the lone bright spots in the game. Entering the with a 5.11 ERA and three straight games of giving up five or more runs, Saturday he took a step back in the right direction.
"I thought Dallas (Keuchel) was as good as he's been all season," A.J. Hinch said, "(He) responded by controlling some damage and controlling himself after some misfortune, it's a positive sign for him, I was really proud of him, he competed, he did everything that you'd expect him to do on a night he was pitching."
Ultimately the lefty did not factor in the decision - was on the hook for a loss till a ninth-inning homer by Luis Valbuena - but he kept the Astros within reach of the Mariners. He was able to give the team a quality start (only his third of the season in seven starts) tossing seven innings, allowing two earned runs (solo homers), eight hits, one walk and eight strikeouts.
It began to feel like one of those old Keuchel home starts of last season. He challenged lots of batters, made some nice plays coming off the mound, and made the Mariners put the ball on the ground getting nine groundouts (zero flyouts).
"I felt really good, the command and the stuff was there," Dallas Keuchel said, "(I) tightened up a few things up after the fourth and the fifth and just felt better as the innings rolled on, we'll try to take the best results into Boston in the next start."
The most noticeable of changes Keuchel made from his past few starts was the focus on getting strikes early in the count. He was able to get first-pitch strikes to 14 of the 30 batters he faced and only two batters were able to get on base after Keuchel went up in the count 1-0.
"I felt good with the changeup finally and the slider later in the game," Keuchel said, "that's encouraging cause those are two pitches I really haven't felt good with and if I can establish strike one and get ahead or manipulate the strike zone throwing in with the cutter too I feel like I have a couple out pitches there."
Keuchel like all pitchers are at their best when he doesn't have to serve up a meaty fastball to a hitter. Keuchel however, unlike his peers is a magician with the ball. When he's up 1-0 or 2-0 he's deadly because he can tease you with pitches that sometimes end up not even being near the strike zone cause the movement is so deadly.
When Keuchel has his breaking pitches working, it's going to be a long day for batters. Against the Twins, he said he felt that the book was out on him as a pitcher, but he just might have added a few more pages to it.
Below are some thoughts from Keuchel from the loss to the Mariners.
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