Tribe offense stymied by Kuechel, team falls 4-2

Quick Recap
Dallas Kuechel was fabulous all game long for the Astros, posting a complete game and allowing just two runs on six hits.
The Tribe struck first tonight when Austin Jackson (who now is hitting .320!) homered to right center in the bottom of the third. The Astros were quick to respond in the top of the fifth on an RBI double to right field by Nori Aoki followed with
a Josh Reddick single that scored two. The Astros got an insurance run in the top of the ninth when Reddick, who also robbed a home run from Jason Kipnis defensively in the game, singled in a run. Michael Brantley started a rally with a home run in the bottom of the ninth, but it wasn't enough, as Brandon Guyer grounded out to shortstop to end the game. The Tribe had several rallies thwarted by double plays, as Brantley, Guyer and Francisco Lindor each grounded into one tonight. Still, the Astros had many more chances with runners in scoring position and went 4-for-14 in such situations while the Tribe were 0-for-3.

Michael Brantley

Player of the Game: Michael Brantley
Tough choice tonight, as no one really stuck out. But, someone who has won this honor several times already, took it home again. Brantley hit his fourth home run of the year in the ninth inning. Jose Ramirez also deserves mention for excellent defense and being the only player on the Indians with more than one hit. Ramirez doubled and singled.

The Last Word
Josh Tomlin started the year with two very bad starts, his last outing was his best of the year and tonight he found the middle ground between those outings. Typically, if a pitcher can go six innings allowing three runs, that player is giving his team a great chance to win. Unfortunately for the Tribe tonight, the pitcher on the other side was Dallas Kuechel, who notched his fourth win of the season already. Tomlin went six innings, gave up three runs and had six strikeouts and no walks. Kuechel's key is keeping the ball on the ground and he got 15 groundballs compared to just seven flyballs.Tomlin used a lot of pitches tonight and he made the Astros offense work. He didn't give up many home runs and yielded no walks. Most nights, Tomlin probably pitched well enough to get the Tribe a win, but not tonight. Tomorrow it's back to the mystery box for the Tribe pitching staff, as Trevor Bauer is to take the hill.

Good news? Dallas Kuechel isn't slated to pitch again in this series. Hopefully, the Tribe offense can rebound tomorrow against Lance McCullers.

Jose Ramirez

Fun Stat of the Game
Jose Ramirez has been phenomenal for the Tribe at the plate and in the field last year. The infielder leads the team in batting average (.319), on-base percentage (.378), runs batted in (17), hits (23) and is tied for first in home runs (5). Jose, Jose, Jose, Joseeeeeeeeeeee (chanting).


Linescore

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
HOU	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	1	4	11	1
CLE	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	6	2

W: D. Keuchel (4-0)

L: J. Tomlin (1-3)