After a tough 7-2 loss in the first game of the American League Divisional Series, the Indians were primed and ready to exact revenge. Of course, in order to exact revenge and win a game, you need to score runs. Astros starter Gerrit Cole did not make this last task very easy for the Tribe. Cole went 7.0 innings for Houston, giving up one run on three hits and striking out 12.
The Indians had a tenuous lead until the 6th inning. Boy hero Francisco Lindor hit a solo shot in the 3rd to put the Indians up 1-0, and you know what happens when the Indians score first, right? For a while there, it looked like that single run might be all the Indians needed. Carlos Carrasco wasn’t particularly dominant, but he was able to keep Houston from scoring for five innings.
Then came the 6th inning. Oh, the evil 6th inning. Carrasco started the inning, giving up a single to Jose Altuve and a walking Alex Bregman. The Tribe managed one out on a line drive to left, but Cleveland Manager Terry Francona decided that Carrasco’s night was over. Andrew Miller came in and promptly gave up a long drive to right that Melky Cabrera fielded, shall we say, poorly? The two-run double to Marwin Gonzalez scored Altuve and Bregman, putting the Astros up 2-1.
If you didn’t need more reason to worry and wonder “What happened to Andrew Miller?” he walked Carlos Correa and then gave up a wild pitch that advanced Gonzalez and Correa. An intentional walk to Tyler White loaded the bases, and that was all for Miller. Trevor Bauer came in and got two quick outs to mercifully end the inning. Bauer gave up a solo home run to Alex Bregman in the 7th, making the score 3-1, and that’s where it stayed. Yan Gomes and Edwin Encarnacion drew walks in the 8th and 9th innings, respectively, the Indians couldn’t capitalize on having runners on base.
The Indians have six hits in two games, and two of those hits came from Lindor. Something needs to change fast before Monday at 1:30.