Astros’ rally can’t catch Indians
McCullers allows 5 runs as career trend continues
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Even though Lance McCullers is only 41 regularseason starts into his career, the 23-year-old righthander’s home and road splits are too drastic to ignore.
After allowing five runs over five innings in the Astros’ 7-6 loss to the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday night at Progressive Field, McCullers has a career road ERA more than three runs higher than when he pitches at Minute Maid Park. His only two poor starts this season have come on the road.
McCullers yielded seven hits, including three doubles, and issued three walks Wednesday to the defending American League champion Indians. He exhausted 90 pitches to record his 15 outs. Of the 36 power curveballs he unleashed, Cleveland’s
lefthanded-heavy lineup put eight of them in play.
The outing inflated McCullers’ 2017 ERA to 4.34 through the first 29 innings of his season. He has allowed 10 runs on 15 hits in 91⁄3 innings (9.64 ERA) in his two road starts compared to four runs on 14 hits in 192⁄3 innings (1.83 ERA) in his three starts at home.
In his young career, McCullers has a 5.32 ERA and .282 batting average against in 18 career road starts and a 2.08 ERA and .215 average against in 23 outings at Minute Maid Park. He has allowed three or fewer runs in every home start he’s made since he debuted in May 2015.
“I don’t do anything different midweek or preparation-wise or anything like that,” he said. “I just think two times I’ve come out not as sharp early to start the year on the road, and it’s cost me both times. But April’s over as far as road starts for me, so I’ll put it behind me and be better the rest of the season.”
Offensively, the Astros (14-7) narrowed three different three-run deficits to one run but failed to break through. Evan Gattis and Brian McCann each tagged Indians starter Trevor Bauer for a tworun homer. But the Astros also struck out 13 times, 11 of which were attributed to their Nos. 2 through 6 batters.
Long first inning
McCullers lacked the devastating curveball he usually exhibits and appeared to battle through mechanical inconsistencies with his delivery out of the gate. The Indians (11-9) got to him for four hits in a three-run first inning. Michael Brantley and Jose Ramirez both smacked run-scoring doubles that center fielder Josh Reddick got a glove on but failed to corral.
McCullers needed 27 pitches to escape that first inning. He worked himself into a groove in scoreless second, third and fourth innings before encountering more trouble in the fifth, which he opened with a “really bad” leadoff walk of Carlos Santana.
Francisco Lindor followed with a double on a sharply hit ground ball down the third-base line. Brantley then barrelled a McCullers curveball for a second time for a two-run single.
“People know I throw my curveball a lot,” McCullers said. “It’s not something I shy away from. I think if I throw good curveballs in the right situations that I’m going to be successful more than not.”
Tony Sipp relieved McCullers to begin the sixth, which the Indians opened with the lefthandedhitting Jason Kipnis and Lonnie Chisenhall and the switch-hitting Abraham Almonte. The beleaguered lefthanded reliever’s outing didn’t suggest progress. He allowed a single, a sacrifice bunt and a walk and also threw a wild pitch before he was pulled in favor of Michael Feliz.
Feliz struck out Roberto Perez but surrendered a two-run single to Santana. Both runs were charged to Sipp.
“A couple of the innings that they put together, there was a walk in there that was a little troublesome, and they capitalized,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said.
Bauer allowed four runs in six innings but improved to 6-0 with a 2.61 ERA in six career starts against the Astros. For the seventh inning, Indians manager Terry Francona deployed Andrew Miller, who escaped a bases-loaded jam by striking out Carlos Correa and McCann on nasty sliders.
In the eighth, the Astros put together a two-out rally against Bryan Shaw. Alex Bregman reached on a swinging bunt in front of the plate, and Nori Aoki followed with an infield single of his own, the second of the season he’s chopped high off the plate. Marwin Gonzalez capitalized by ripping a two-run double to left-center field, chasing Shaw.
4-out save for Allen
Francona summoned Cody Allen, who induced an inning-ending groundout from Reddick and tossed a perfect ninth in which he struck out Correa and McCann.
“I prefer when we play Cleveland, he doesn’t pitch,” Hinch quipped.
Even so, the Astros put up six runs with their No. 2 starter on the mound. McCullers, who with his curveball lacking relied more on his fastball and changeup than usual on Wednesday, is in line to next start on Monday night in the team’s series opener against the Texas Rangers at Minute Maid Park.
“There’s something to take out of everything,” he said. “It’s just unfortunate. When the guys give me six runs through nine, I feel like that’s got to be a ‘W’ for us.”