The Indians have one glaring weak spot in their rotation, and the Astros took advantage of it on Monday night. In a 6-2 victory over Cleveland, Houston rookie Alex Bregman launched a key home run and helped his offense capitalize on the Tribe’s bullpen day.
Without a clear fifth starter, the American League Central-leading Indians used an all-hands-on-deck approach for the opener of this four-game series. Cleveland gave reliever Mike Clevinger the start; he was one of eight Indians pitchers to appear in the loss, which shaved the Tribe’s division lead over Detroit to 4 1/2 games.
Houston remains two games back of the AL’s second Wild Card spot.
“It’s a big win for us to come into this place and beat a first-place team, so regardless of how they lined their pitching up, you’ve got to win as many games as you can,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “That was the lovable September marathon that we all enjoy. Better to be on the winning side than the losing side, but that one seemed like it was never going to end.”
Bregman’s two-run blast in the third, combined with an RBI double from Jose Altuve in the first and a three-run outburst in the seventh, helped back an effective outing by Houston right-hander Mike Fiers. Fiers went five innings, in which he allowed two runs on seven hits. Jose Ramirez contributed an RBI single in the third and Mike Napoli belted his 30th home run of the season in the fifth.
The Indians have not determined who will start when the fifth spot in the rotation comes around again. With expanded rosters, another bullpen day has not been ruled out.
Click here to read more of this story.
About Marion Online Sports
