Player of the Game
The player of the game tonight was without a doubt the Indians starter for the night, RHP Trevor Bauer. Coming into this series, Bauer has three wins against the Houston Astros, with a 0.90 ERA over the course of his career. He got locked in early, and much to my surprise, kept his focus and command intact through all 7 innings pitched. It’s a nice change of pace to see a Trevor Bauer who gains a good kind of confidence early on in a game, and can ride that without giving up a single run, with seven Ks, striking out SS stud Carlos Correa twice. After coming out of the bullpen only three starts ago, Bauer has continued to get better as a starter, both with his arm, proof being in his mid-90’s fastball that raked in the strikes, and his head, by way of not getting caught up in that big brain of his. If he can keep on this path and pitch again like he did tonight, I have successfully been shut up on wanting him in to stay in the bullpen. Kudos.
Feathers Up
Other than a stellar outing by Bauer, the Indians offense did in this game what they’ve been doing all season so far, their job. It’s not even so much that the bats were HOT, but that they showed up when they were needed. For example, Francisco Lindor going 0 for 3 before finally getting a single in the 8th inning to drive in Jason Kipnis from third to make it a 3-0 game. Going backwards a bit, in the top of the 2nd inning, it seemed like there was a hit in almost every part of the field, Mike Napoli hits one down the middle into center, Carlos Santana walks, Jose Ramirez bunts (successfully!), Juan Uribe got an RBI with an infield hit, and Lonnie Chisenhall shot one down to the right field corner, all this after Lindor exhausted the Astros’ rookie starter RHP Chris Devenski, with a 15 pitch at bat. All of this with some solid fielding, put the Tribe up 4-0.
Feathers Down
The Houston Astros bats against Indians pitching, giving the Tribe a 4-0 shutout with only four hits in the game. In game one of the series, Cleveland was dominated by the Astro’s bats, falling 7-1, but they couldn’t continue their effort to regain control of their season in game two. I have to admit though, offense aside, they had some impressive defense that needs noting, like the catch on the warning track by RF George Springer, and it was the first time their rookie pitcher Devenski had faced Cleveland, but as it rings true, the bats are what will make the game and tonight proves no different.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians 4- Houston Astros 0
On Deck:
The Tribe, Danny Salazar and his hot 1.91 ERA will face the Astros their RHP Doug Fister tomorrow for some day baseball. It’s a 2:10 first pitch at Minute Maid Park and the last game of the series for these two until September. Get your fix of Orbit while you can!
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
