*Photo from The Associated Press*
When the Houston Astros lose 4 straight games like they have, they hope their offense can help them out. This time, they did. Jose Altuve hit a grand slam, Michael Brantley homered, and the Astros defeated the Cleveland Indians 7-2 on Thursday night, winning the opening game of the series.
Astros manager Dusty Baker said of his grand slam "That was huge. It gave us some breathing room, permitted us to take Framber an extra inning and he was actually better in that last inning than he was in the whole ballgame. It looks like when he gets tired, his breaking ball is better and his rhythm and everything is better. That was a tremendous lift for us."
Yordan Alvarez got the Astros started in the 4th inning, with a line drive solo homer to center field, making it a 2-1 Indians lead at the time. In the 5th, Abraham Toro scored on a sac fly by Yuli Gurriel, and Altuve hit a grand slam to left field, giving Houston a 6-2 lead just over halfway into the game. In the 7th, Brantley hit a solo homer to right field to make it 7-2 Astros, which was enough for the win.
For the Indians, they got their runs early on in this game. It started in the second inning, when Harold Ramirez scored on a wild pitch to give Cleveland an early 1-0 lead. In the 3rd, they upped their lead to 2-0 when Ramirez hit an RBI double to right center field, scoring Jose Ramirez.
Framber Valdez got the win in a solid start for the Astros, allowing two runs on 4 hits and 5 walks, recording 6 strikeouts in 7 strong innings for Houston. After Valdez left, it was easy for the bullpen. Peter Solomon threw a scoreless 8th despite loading the bases, and Ryan Pressly shut things down in the 9th inning with two strikeouts.
Baker said of Valdez's start that "It didn’t look good in the beginning. He couldn’t find his breaking ball. He had a couple of leadoff walks in an inning, and that always leads to danger. What saved him, us and his pitch count was the three double plays that he threw up. That was huge. When his sinker is working, that’s what he usually does, he throws up ground balls."
JC Mejia got the start for the Indians, taking the loss. Mejia allowed 6 runs on 5 hits and two walks, striking out just 3 hitters in 4 innings pitched. Justin Garza allowed the solo homer to Brantley in the 7th, otherwise not allowing much in two relief innings. Phil Maton threw two shutout innings in between Mejia and Garza, and Blake Parker worked the 9th.
The Astros and Indians continue their series tonight, with Sam Hentges getting the start for Cleveland, and Lance McCullers Jr going for Houston.
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