Cole stymies Indians
Strikes out 12 in 7 innings to lift Astros to 2-0 edge
HOUSTON — Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole have been brilliant in the playoffs, keeping the Indians’ powerful offense in check to give the Astros a 2-0 lead in the AL Division Series.
Cole struck out 12 and walked none, combining with two relievers on the Astros’ sescond straight three-hitter in a 3-1 victory Saturday.
“There’s no doubt we expect to be good, but this is a team effort,” Cole said. “So we expect to keep our team in the ballgame. I don’t know about all the personal accolades or all the dominance or that kind of stuff, but we just want to put up a fight.”
Marwin Gonzalez had a two-run double and Alex Bregman homered for the second straight day.
Francisco Lindor hit a third-inning homer for the AL Central champion Indians, who have three runs in the two games. They are batting .100 (6-for-60) after a regular season in which the Indians ranked second in the majors with a .259 average. Jose Ramirez, Edwin Encarnacion and Josh Donaldson have combined to go 1-for-22.
“This is one of the best offenses in the league,” Astros manager AJ Hinch said. “They can do damage. They can put long at-bats together. (Cole) used all his pitches. He was awesome.”
Gonzalez put the Astros ahead in the sixth with the third of his four hits, an opposite-field double to right off usually reliable reliever Andrew Miller.
“With a one-run lead, and with Gonzalez coming up the way he had swung G1: G2: G3: G4: G5: the bat against him prior and Andrew’s history, I felt really good about it,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “Didn’t work out the way we planned.”
Bregman homered against Trevor Bauer in the seventh, and the defending World Series champions moved within a win of a second straight trip to the AL Championship Series.
Cole allowed one run and three hits in seven innings, joining Tom Seaver (1973) as the only pitchers to strike out at least 12 batters without a walk in a postseason game.