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SEATTLE -- Dallas Keuchel tried to deflect the praise of his manager and teammates after his second complete game in his last three starts. But there is no denying the stellar performances Keuchel has delivered over the last month. The Houston left-hander pitched a four-hitter in leading the Astros to a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday. Keuchel (6-2) struck out six, walked none and allowed just an unearned run that scored on a throwing error in the second inning. He went 8 2-3 innings in a victory over the Angels in his last start, the only thing keeping him from three straight complete games. "He is definitely in a groove right now. Its a joy to watch," manager Bo Porter said. Keuchel has been nearly unhittable in his last four starts. He has earned four victories, thrown two complete games, walked just one and struck out 28. Hes allowed just four earned runs with a 1.08 ERA over that span. "Hes been lights out," first baseman Marc Krauss said. "Hes been everything you can ask for and more lately." Keuchel said hes not trying to nibble at the strike zone anymore; an approach that cost him at times as a rookie last season. Instead, hes trying to be more aggressive with his pitches. "Im just trying to attack the zone," Keuchel said. "Im not trying to be too fine anymore. Thats what I did my rookie year and obviously I had more walks than strikeouts." "Im just trying to go out there and help the team to the best of my ability." Krauss and George Springer hit two-run homers off Hisashi Iwakuma (3-1), who allowed a season-high nine hits. Seattle took the early lead with a two-out rally in the second inning. Mike Zunino and Michael Saunders each singled to put runners on first and second. Cole Gillespie followed with a dribbler off the end of the bat up the third-base line. Keuchel fielded the ball and threw wide of first base down the right-field line as Zunino scored. Keuchel retired the next 14 batters and faced the minimum 22 batters after Gillespies single in the second. Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon wasnt as impressed with Keuchels outing. He called Keuchel "average" and put the onus on his offence for not getting the job done. "I saw average stuff," McClendon said. "We didnt swing the bats very good. At some point, youve got to stop giving credit to average pitchers. That becomes a broken record. At some point, weve got to start swinging the bats." Meanwhile, the Astros finally broke through in the sixth inning. Jose Altuve singled and Springer followed with a two-run blast to left field for his fourth homer in his last three games. It was also Springers seventh home run of the month. Krauss added his homer in the seventh to extend the lead to 4-1, matching the most runs Iwakuma allowed this season. NOTES: Houston optioned OF L.J. Hoes to Triple-A Oklahoma City following the game and recalled OF Robbie Grossman. Grossman is expected to return to the lineup as the teams every day left fielder. ... Houston C Carlos Corporan was the only Astros batter that failed to get a hit. ... Mariners OF James Jones had his streak of hits in his first 15 starts and last 14 straight games ended with a 0-for-4 performance. ... Seattle 2B Robinson Canos streak of reaching base in a career-high 31 straight games also ended with a 0-for-4 day. ... McClendon didnt rule out the possibility of LHP James Paxton rejoining the starting rotation following a rehab start for Triple-A Tacoma on Saturday night. Paxton allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts in a 62-pitch outing. Paxton has been on the disabled list since April 9 with a strained left latissimus dorsi muscle. Zach Parise Jersey . Selected by the Titans in the 2007 NFL Draft, Johnson rejoined the club last season after a five-year stint with Indianapolis. Matt Dumba Jersey . Forsman closed with a 3-under 69 in windy conditions Sunday for his third Champions Tour title. He beat Jay Don Blake by two shots. http://www.authenticwildpro.com/Eric-staal-wild-jersey/ . According to Dave Stubbs of The Montreal Gazette, preliminary talks have begun between Markov - an unrestricted free agent this summer - and general manager Marc Bergevin. Mikael Granlund Jersey . Mitchell first announced on Twitter that he has signed with the Steelers and his agent Brian Hamilton confirmed the signing to The Associated Press. Financial terms were not released. The Steelers have not announced the addition of Mitchell. Ryan Suter Jersey . Patrick Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks were proof of that on Wednesday night.Indianapolis, IN (SportsNetwork.com) - Yogi Ferrell scored all 20 of his points in the second half, helping Indiana gain some long-awaited revenge on Butler with an 82-73 victory over the 23rd-ranked Bulldogs at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Troy Williams tied a career high with 22 points and pulled down a personal- best 11 rebounds to aid Indianas cause in the first meeting between the in- state rivals since Butler stunned the then top-ranked Hoosiers in overtime in Indianapolis during December of 2012. The outcome also was a special one for Hoosiers head coach Tom Crean, who garnered his 300th career win. Butler (8-3) received 23 points from Kellen Dunham and 14 out of Andrew Chrabascz, but struggled offensively for a second straight game. The Bulldogs shot just 39.1 percent overall and went 3-of-16 from 3-point range, six days after shooting 33.3 percent from the field in a loss at Tennessee. Indiana (9-2), meanwhile, hit on 8-of-17 tries from long distance to offset a five-point effort from leading scorer James Blackmon Jr. The teams were deadlocked at 61-61 with 8 1/2 minutes left before the Hoosiers began to pull away behind their more consistent offense. A Williams jumper was followed by a 3-point play from Blackmon that put Indiana up by five. Back-to-back buckets by the Bulldogs Roosevelt Jones got Butler within 66-65 with six minutes to go, but the Hoosiers answered with a 10-0 surge that effectively sealed the result. Nick Zeislofts 3-pointer ignited the run and Ferrell capped it with a trey of his own after two straight baskets from Williams, with Ferrells make staking IU to aa 76-65 lead with 3:09 to play.dddddddddddd. Ferrell then hit four key free throws in the final minute to help keep the Bulldogs at bay. Indiana put together the games first big run midway through the first half, going on a 9-1 spurt to claim a 26-18 advantage 12 minutes in. It was a 10- point bulge after Hanner Mosquera-Perea tipped in Blackmons missed shot to send the Hoosiers up 37-27 with 3:44 left in the period, but Butler closed out the stanza on an 11-1 tear to pull even. Dunham netted the final seven points of the flurry, with his trey 56 seconds prior to the intermission knotting the score at 38-38. He finished with 18 first-half points, but went just 2-of-7 from the floor after the break. A 7-0 sequence gave Butler its largest lead of the day, a 53-47 edge with under 14 minutes left, but Ferrell scored the first five points of a 7-0 Indiana push later on that had the Hoosiers ahead by a 59-57 count midway through the second half. Game Notes The game was the opener of the Crossroads Classic, a doubleheader featuring Indianas four premier basketball schools. Notre Dame and Purdue will square off in the nightcap ... Butler had won seven straight times at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and entered Saturdays showdown 9-2 all-time at the venue ... The Hoosiers ended a string of six straight losses to ranked teams away from home ... Blackmon, whose 19.2 points per game coming in led all Division I freshmen, went 2-of-12 from the floor but had eight rebounds ... Butlers Kameron Woods posted a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds. ' ' '