Even the best pitchers in the game can have an inning unravel on them. “Kluber really settled in after that, so it was important we got to him early”. Through Monday, Keuchel received only 3.58 runs of support per game, which ranked 76th in the league, via ESPN.
Advertisement
Indians: Kluber (15-8) is 7-0 with a 1.94 ERA in his last 10 starts. After shaking off the butterflies of his Major League Baseball debut last Wednesday, the 27-year old turned a few heads against the Astros.
Monday night’s 6-2 victory over Cleveland kept the Astros two games out of the second wild-card spot in the AL. In one start against the Indians this year he pitched seven innings and gave up two runs and six hits.
Jose Altuve, the AL’s leading hitter, was 2 for 5 with an RBI double and is batting.346 for Houston. The run came in the first inning when Bregman walked and scored on a double off the left-field wall by Altuve.Jeff Manship relieved Clevinger in the second, and Manship gave up two runs in the third.
Kluber sailed through the first inning, retiring the side in order on nine pitches, eight of them strikes. The unflappable 30-year-old had not lost in over two months, and whenever his team needed a big outing, Kluber delivered. But the right-hander had a bad sequence of six batters against the Astros, who have won the first two of four games between the playoff contenders.
“Obviously that was a big turn of events”, Francona said. But he then walked Evan Gattis and Colby Rasmus, putting two on. Shoot, I mean that’s three (runs), and it held up. Kluber tried to sneak his curveball past Gonzalez, but he was ready for it. “But the walks were the bigger issue”, he said. Lindor raced for second, but the throw from right fielder Teoscar Hernandez beat Lindor to second base, and Lindor was called out.Francona challenged the call, and after a video review, the call was overturned and Lindor was ruled safe with a double.One out later, Jose Ramirez lined a single to left, scoring Lindor and cutting the Houston lead to 3-1.The Indians added another run in the fifth on a solo home run by Mike Napoli, his 30th home run of the season but his first since August 11, a span of 73 at-bats without a homer.NOTES: Astros LHP Dallas Keuchel was scratched from his scheduled start Tuesday night because of inflammation in his left shoulder.
Kluber quickly dispatched the first two hitters in the inning, marking five straight outs to start the game.
Cleveland managed just three hits after the second inning, one a solo homer from Santana to start the eighth.
In the ninth, Jose Ramirez led off with a single off Giles. Lonnie Chisenhall struck out for the first out.
“If you ask me about every pitcher, we’ll be here all night”, Francona deadpanned.
The Indians, who couldn’t score on Peacock in the first despite opening with a single and double, got a run back in the second on Tyler Naquin’s RBI groundout.
Advertisement
Houston countered with a run in the top of the third.
