Vincent Velasquez remains win-less as Indians blank the Astros, 2-0

Offense quiet in shutout loss

Rookie pitcher Vincent Velasquez entered tonight’s game hoping to record his first Major League win, but his offense would fail to back him up as the Cleveland Indians blanked the Houston Astros by the final score of 2-0.

It’s not often you see this dangerous lineup fail to score a run. In fact, the last time a team held Houston scoreless was on May 31 when they were hosting the Chicago White Sox who were able to escape Minute Maid Park and the series with the 3-0 win.

More from Astros News

• Just how much better is the Houston Astros playoff rotation than the rest?
• Houston Astros: A Lineup Change to Spark Offense
• Astros prospect Hunter Brown throws 6 shutout innings in debut
• Always faithful Astros World Series champion Josh Reddick defends the title
• Michael Conforto declines Astros’ 2-year, $30 million offer

Tonight, the Indians would drive a run during the bottom half of the first inning and struck later on in the sixth with Velasquez on the mound. With two outs in the first, Michael Brantley singled on a ground ball to right fielder, Preston Tucker with infielder David Murphy getting ready to step into the batter’s box.

Murphy recorded an RBI double – his 10th of the season which scored Brantley from first base, backing up his starting pitcher, Corey Kluber with the 1-0 advantage.

Velasquez (0-1, 3.94 ERA) didn’t necessarily have a terrible outing in his sixth career big league start. In 6 1/3 frames, the 23-year-old hurler surrendered the only two runs of the ballgame on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

Cleveland (39-44), did, however, take him deep in the sixth inning to add a bit of insurance. Brantley, who came around to score on the RBI base hit by Murphy in the first, clubbed his fifth home run of the season to right field on the first pitch of the at-bat.

It was an 84 miles per hour changeup that he pulled the trigger on to make it 2-0.

Kluber (4-9, 3.45 ERA) had his work cut out for him tonight having to go up against this Astros (49-37) team that loves to score runs early and often. He turned in 6 2/3 scoreless frames, allowing only five hits while issuing two walks and recording seven punch-outs prior to handing the rest of the workload over to his bullpen.

Both Tucker and Evan Gattis were the only Astros with multiple hits. They combined 4-for-8 with a strikeout and two left on base.

All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve finished the night 0-for-4 with a strikeout while leaving four men stranded.

Next: McCullers Rookie of the Year Case