Hannah's Keys to the game 4/25 Houston Astros @ Cleveland Indians

Hannah's Three Keys

Josh Tomlin

1.) Make it two in a row! 
After struggling in his first two starts, Josh Tomlin pitched a solid six innings last week against Minnesota, allowing three runs on seven hits. Consistency will be the key to Tomlin’s success. He has to limit mistake pitches and continuously work the corners of the plate. He has never made a start against the Houston Astros, who are averaging 4.3 runs per game (15th in MLB). This Astros team is made up of both young energetic players and solid veteran leadership. One thing is for sure; they are coming into tonight’s game confident. Tomlin needs to make sure he keeps the ball down!

2.) No ERRORS!
For the second time in a week, we have seen our Indians defense commit three errors in one game. The first time they did it they won, the second time... it was ugly. We cannot give the Astros any extra chances, no freebies. I guarantee they will capitalize on them! Josh Tomlin is not one to rack up the K’s; he pitches for contact. He is trusting that the defense playing behind him will back him up and make the plays needed to get outs. Our defense better keep their heads in the game, stay focused and play fundamentally sound baseball!

Dr. Smooth

3.) Know Keuchel’s gameplan 
Dallas Keuchel has started the season off extremely well. He currently holds a 3-0 record with a 0.96 ERA. While he has struck out 22 batters in 28 innings of work, it is the 49 ground ball outs that are staggering! According to FanGraphs, 70 percent of balls put in play against the left-hander have been ground balls! He is pitching low in the strike zone, so be looking for him to use his breaking ball frequently. He will mix in his fastball and changeup, but his success right now is found in that breaking ball. Be aware of it and look for pitches that you can drive into the outfield. Be ready to make adjustments and battle, because we are going to need to. Keuchel’s 2017 stats so far are amazing. But, all I see when I look at them is that he is due for a bad outing.(Editor's note: regression to the mean, plz!) Let’s be the one to give it to him. Let's start winning at home and give the fans something to cheer about! The Indians started the year 2-4 at home, after going 53-28 at home last season.