Astros put on spectacular show in sweep of Indians
CLEVELAND — When the challenge arose in August, the Houston Astros responded like champions.
They’re doing it again in October.
Two months ago, last year’s World Series winners hit one of those predictable lulls that every team encounters during the dog days of a season. Maybe feeling a bit overconfident and invincible, the Astros were caught atop the AL West by the Oakland Athletics, a scrappy squad that sneaked up on everyone in 2018.
But just when it appeared the Astros might be in some trouble, they switched on their after-burners. After Aug. 18, Houston went 29-10 to finish with 103 wins.
“There is an extra gear that our guys have,” explained manager A.J. Hinch. “And once we hit the postseason, it looks like, as of right now, our guys really, really turned it on.”
Showing no weaknesses while exposing Cleveland’s flaws at every opportunity, the Astros took another step toward defending their crown Monday by finishing off a surprisingly easy three-game AL Division Series sweep with an 11-3 blowout of the Indians, who were overmatched on the mound, at the plate and in the field. Houston outscored Cleveland 21-6. The Astros outhit the Indians .327 to .144 and banged out eight homers with making an error.
“They beat us in every area of the game,” said Indians reliever Trevor Bauer, whose two throwing errors in the seventh inning of Game 3 propelled Houston’s convincing clincher. “They’re tough, man. They keep coming. We didn’t play our best. I’m not sure if they played their best either, but they played much better than we did.”