Houston Astros Use Timely Hitting to Beat Cleveland Indians
The Houston Astros (1-0) manufactured both of their runs in a 2-0 win over the Cleveland Indians (0-1) on Opening Day at Minute Maid Park.
Reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, Corey Kluber kept the Astros hitless for the first five innings. However, the first hit he gave up, ended up leading to a run. Astros second baseman, Jose Altuve, blooped a hit into shallow center field with two outs in the bottom of the sixth. Altuve then stole second on the first pitch to George Springer and Springer lined a single into left that scored Altuve.
In the bottom of the eighth, with the Astros leading 1-0, the Astros played add-on. Shortstop Jed Lowrie walked with one out. Then, Lowrie then advanced to third base after a single down the right field line by Colby Rasmus. Lowrie scored on the next at-bat as Jake Marisnick hit a sacrifice fly ball to right-center.
Dallas Keuchel pitched seven shutout innings for the Astros and earned his first win of the season. Luke Gregerson picked up his first save as well.
The Astros and Indians have Tuesday off before resuming their series Wednesday night at 7:10p in Houston. Astros pregame starts at 6:45p on SportsRadio 1340 The Fan.