Cleveland had the bases loaded, and two Indians runners scampered home, as the Astros just stood there expecting Joyce to rule a dead ball.
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Lonnie Chisenhall attempted to check his swing on a pitch in the dirt from David Paulino on Thursday. Houston catcher Jason Castro didn’t go chase after the ball and instead made a decision to stand and argue the call. As it bounced up, the ball connected with Chisenhall’s bat and should have been counted as a foul ball.
With the live ball dribbling away to the left side, Francisco Lindor ran home from third, with Mike Napoli behind him from second. Astros manager A.J. Hinch was understandably upset and earned an ejection for arguing the call.
Here’s video of the play, which very clearly shows the ball hitting Chisenhall’s bat and changing directions. The Dodgers ace (11-2, 1.79 ERA), making his first start since June, draws Marlins equal Jose Fernandez (13-8, 3.03), whose 1.91 ERA at home will be hard to compete with first time out.
Joyce explained he called time because he was discussing the play with Castro and wanted to stop the action on the field. “But with the way it happened – losing the last two the way we did – you’re going to be a mess, psychologically, about it”.
The call proved inconsequential as the Indians piled on six more runs over the next two innings, but try telling that to the Astros, who were passed by the Yankees in the AL standings because of the loss and now trail the Orioles by 2 1/2 games for the final wild-card spot.
“I thought it was pretty obvious it was a foul ball, ” he said.
Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Trevor Bauer and Carlos Santana (41) collide on a pop out to the pitcher by Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve during the fifth inning of a baseball game Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016, in Cleveland.
“It was a big ask for us to expect Paulino to go long”, Hinch said.
Carrasco improved to 3-1 in his last five outings on Friday after scattering six hits and striking out 11 in 7 1/3 scoreless innings of a 6-2 victory versus Miami.
Houston Astros’ Yulieski Gurriel rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run off Cleveland In … Afterward, the Astros roughed up Perci Garner for two more runs to cut the Indians’ lead to 10-7 before Cody Allen shut the door in the ninth to record his 26th save of the season.
Brian McCann hit two homers for the Yankees, who moved a season-high nine games over.500 (74-65).
Indians: RHP Danny Salazar takes the hill to begin a three-game series at Minnesota.
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Nova (12-6) pitched his second complete game in seven starts since being acquired from the Yankees in a trade on August 1.
