Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Gomes leads Indians to sweep of AL West leaders
HOUSTON — In an up-and-down season, the American League champion Cleveland Indians left Houston feeling pretty good after sweeping the Astros.
Yan Gomes hit a home run and tied a career high with five RBI to lead the Indians over the AL West-leading Astros 8-6 on Sunday.
“This is the best team in the AL right now, and there’s a reason for it, and when we come in and play good ballgames I think we’re going to beat a lot of people,” Gomes said. “So it was good to see us do that.”
Gomes’ third-inning home run off Joe Musgrove (3-4) gave the Indians a 3-1 lead, and Cleveland added three more runs in the fourth. The Indians are 5-1 against Houston this season, dealing the Astros two of their three series losses.
“The Indians outplayed us in just about every area,” Houston Manager A.J. Hinch said. “They did a really good job this series, and that’s why they came away with the wins.”
Danny Salazar (3-4) yielded 3 runs and 4 hits in 52/3 innings with 7 strikeouts.
Manager Terry Francona said he is still looking for more from Salazar.
“We set up a high bar for Danny because of his stuff,” he said. “I just know that there’s more in there and we want him to reach that level so bad. I’m thrilled we won. I just think he can set himself up the way he’s pitched to have more success.”
Marwin Gonzalez hit a two run home run off Zach McAllister on the 13th pitch of an at-bat with two outs and the ninth, and Alex Bregman lined a home run on the next pitch. McAllister then struck out Nori Aoki.
Musgrove allowed a season-high seven runs and matched a high with eight hits. He lasted three-plus innings in his shortest start this season, and his ERA rose from 4.57 to 5.63.
Jose Altuve hit a two-run home run and Carlos Beltran had a solo shot for the Astros, whose tied their season high with their third consecutive loss.