2014 Grapefruit League Recap, Game 4

Houston Astros 4, Miami Marlins 0

2014 Grapefruit League record: 3-1

W- Dallas Keuchel (1-0)
L- Jacob Turner (0-1)

Home runs: Marc Krauss (1, solo)

And there's the first shutout of the spring for Houston, as 8 pitchers collaborated on a 4-hitter.

Starting Pitcher: Dallas Keuchel

For a 3rd straight day, an Astros starter breezed his way through 2 innings. Keuchel allowed a 1-out single to Jeff Baker in the 2nd and promptly ended the inning by inducing a double play. It took Keuchel 17 pitches (14 strikes) to get through his 2 innings.

Final line: 2 IP, H

Bullpen

Peter Moylan tightroped his way out of a bases-loaded situation in the 3rd by getting Mike Giancarlo Stanton to fly out to end the inning.

Matt Albers' outing was much more quiet compared to his other appearance, when he was a bit shaken up against the Braves. All he did in the 4th was strike out 2 in a 1-2-3 inning.

Rhiner Cruz tossed a 1-2-3 5th. Ditto for Darin Downs in the 6th. As did Kevin Chapman in the 8th.

Josh Zeid allowed a hit in a scoreless 7th, and Chia-Jen Lo finished it off (no save), allowing a hit and striking out 1.

Offense

Marc Krauss finished 2-4 and hit the first spring training home run for the Astros with a 1st-inning solo shot off of Jacob Turner.

George Springer drew all the walks. 4, to be exact. He also scored twice; the first run came on an RBI double from J.D. Martinez in the 7th and the other on a sac fly from Tyler Heineman in the 9th.

Marwin Gonzalez joined Krauss in the multi-hit club, going 2-2 with an RBI single in the 7th.

Dustin's Random Observations

Robert Ford and Steve Sparks were briefly discussing the Oscars in the 4th inning and they brought up Matthew McConaughey winning Best Actor. They mentioned that he graduated from Clements High School in Sugar Land. (He was actually raised in Longview, and graduated from Longview High.)

We're only 4 games into Spring Training, and we all know that spring statistics don't matter in the grand scheme of things. But, if you are a player who is looking to win one of the final roster spots on the 25-man Major League roster for Opening Day, would you have a different mindset?

Three Stars

3.

George Springer, CF

0-0, 2 R, 4 BB

2.

Dallas Keuchel, LHP

W (1-0), 2 IP, H

1.

Marc Krauss, RF

2-4, solo HR (1)

Next Up

Rudy Owens takes the mound for the Astros against the Mets, who will go with Zack Wheeler. First pitch is at 1:10 Eastern.