Astros take lead out of the gate and never give it back

Astros 9, Indians 4

box score

Indians fall to 38-44

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I haven't been around this familiar internet haunt as much in the past few weeks as normal. The powers that be have limited my access in the day time and life has been intervening in the night time. So, it may just be that I'm rusty at this. It may be that the old creative wheels need a little oilin'. Or, perhaps, it may be that this was another in a line of dreadful home performances.

Much has been made of the offense's performance and their inability to, at times, score. Afterall, that is what an offense is supposed to do. But they have now averaged 4.13 runs per game, which is higher than their 4.03 runs per game over the season, meaning they're actually hitting better within the confines of The Park Formerly Known as Jacobs Field. What is surprising is that they've given up a horrific 5.38 runs per game at home. Some of that can be chalked up to early bullpen woes, but certainly not all of it.

I tell you that so that I can tell you this - an offense will never look like it has enough power when it is consistently playing from behind. And for 9 innings tonight, that's exactly what they had to do. The offense actually managed 3 runs off of Dallas Keuchel which isn't too bad. That's only the 6th time this year he's given up 3 or more, if you were wondering just how good he's been. But when Carlos Carrasco gave up 4 runs before Jason Kipnis, your lone 2015 All Star Star, came to bat, the writing was on the wall. None of this is to say that the starting pitching is a problem, per say. I wouldn't give up any of our 5 starters right now (including Cody Anderson - ride the hot streak!), but run prevention is the core of the issue.

That's not to say that nothing good happened tonight. They did score 4 runs, led primarily by Yan Gomes and Brandon Moss who both went 2 for 4 on the night. Yan Gomes finally looks like he's settling in as both his hits went for doubles and he even threw out Jose Altuve in the first, cushioning the impending blow. If we have any hope of making a second half push, Yan will need to play a huge part in that. Lindor also collected two hits tonight as he continues to find his way against big league pitching.

Jason Kipnis also extended his Progressive Field hit streak to 29 with a single in the 5th. He was announced tonight as a member of the 2015 AL All Star Team, despite being arguably the AL's best position player to date and yet garnering 4 million less votes than his 2B counterpart this series. C'est la vie.

Win Expectancy Chart

Source: FanGraphs

Roll Call

Game Thread

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