Indians ace Corey Kluber looked every bit Monday night like the American League Cy Young Award winner he was a year ago. Astros left-hander Dallas Keuchel wasn’t about to play a supporting role.
Kluber carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before the Astros rallied behind Jose Altuve and George Springer to reward Keuchel for seven scoreless innings in a 2-0 Opening Day win over the Indians at Minute Maid Park.
“Both pitchers were good,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “Different styles — left, right — but, man, [Kluber] was good. On a lot of nights, we’re sitting here saying he had a great game, it was a win. But, their guy was good, too. In a different way, but there wasn’t a whole lot of offense going on.”
Houston’s revamped bullpen, which has been its weakness in the past few seasons, flexed its muscle when Tony Sipp threw a perfect eighth, including two strikeouts, and Luke Gregerson worked a perfect ninth for his first save with the Astros.
“That was two pretty good pitchers going at it, toe-to-toe pretty much every inning,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “There wasn’t a lot of action on the bases. There’s a reason these two both started Opening Day. They pitched deep into the game in Game 1 against some pretty good hitters. It was a well-pitched game.”
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