The Astros now find themselves two games behind both the Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles in the race for the American League’s second wild card spot.
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After a slow start to the season, the Astros have jumped back into the wild-card chase in the American League, trailing the second spot by only 2 1/2 games.
“When he played catch on Sunday and felt uncomfortable, we made a decision to send him back”.
Astros: Manager A.J. Hinch said there was nothing new to report on Keuchel, who is expected to speak with the media Friday when the Astros begin a three-game series with the Cubs.
“We want to keep all of our options open”, said Francona.
Mike Clevinger (2-2) allowed a run in the first and was pulled after 1 2/3 innings.
“He uncharacteristically walked a couple and then he got ahead real quick 0-2 (on Springer)”, manager Terry Francona said of Kluber, who struck out eight over seven innings in his first loss since July 3. Perci Garner, Joe Colon, Dan Otero, Bryan Shaw and Cody Anderson also pitched for Cleveland. It ended Kluber’s streak of 10 consecutive quality starts (three or fewer runs allowed in at least six innings), which had been the second-longest such streak in the majors, behind only Detroit’sJustin Verlander.
The Astros took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, when Altuve drove a double off the left-field wall to score Bregman, who walked.
Tomlin worked the ninth inning, allowing an infield single and adding a strikeout.
In the fifth, Mike Napoli crushed a solo home run, his 30th of the season. Kluber is 15-8 with a 3.28 ERA while Peacock will replace Dallas Keuchel who was projected to start but is sidelined for this one and possibly even more.
The Astros are right in the thick of the AL Wild Card race, so expect them to play their hardest every game.
Keuchel’s injury means he won’t face Cleveland right-hander Corey Kluber, who won the AL Cy Young victor in 2014, on Tuesday.
The 28-year-old struggled to start the season after winning the AL Cy Young award last year, but had come on strong of late.
The Astros will need Keuchel to return if they have any hope of staying in the Wild Card race, as Lance McCullers is now on the disabled list.
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Kluber (15-9, 3.16 ERA) settled from there, finishing after seven innings and allowing four runs on four hits and three walks and striking out nine. Evan Gattis started behind the plate. He went 0-5 with an 11.47 ERA in six August starts, prompting Francona and pitching coach Mickey Callaway to take their unusual approach against Houston. Peacock had a 3.86 ERA in five relief appearances with Houston earlier this season, and went 5-6 with a 4.23 ERA at Fresno.
