Cleveland clobbers McCullers

CLEVELAND — The baseball soared through the air like most did during this mild Cleveland night, rapidly and without a chance of being caught. Lance McCullers Jr. neglected to look as it sailed above him, its final destination already determined by the crack of Edwin Encarnacion’s bat.

Encarnacion took time to admire this, the third home run struck against McCullers in four innings. He flipped his bat and sauntered to first base adjacent to the Astros’ dugout. Manager A.J. Hinch emerged from it to remove the starting pitcher who, six days ago, carved this Indians bunch.

Saturday, they returned the favor, tattooing McCullers for seven earned runs in four innings of a 8-6 win against the Astros. They handed the 24-year-old righthander his second-shortest start of the season, placing the Astros in a predicament too steep for even Jose Altuve’s heroics to remedy.

Altuve produced the 27th four-hit night of his career and finished a double shy of the cycle. His two-run home run in the third inning was his first since April 25. His seventh-inning triple off Zach McAllister preceded Carlos Correa’s grounder to second base, allowing Altuve to score and pare the team’s deficit to one.

Brad Peacock permitted a solo home run to Michael Brantley — the Indians’ fourth homer of the night — to erase any good it did. The maligned Indians’ bullpen, staggered by Andrew Miller’s return to the disabled list before the game, allowed just one baserunner in the last two innings, making their offense’s massacre of McCullers hold.

McCullers collected 13 outs. The Indians annihilated his mistakes. They hit three home runs, matching McCullers’ total in the 59 innings preceding this start. Their five total extra-base hits were more than McCullers had allowed in any start.

Against the Indians six days ago, McCullers carried a perfect game into the sixth inning. Seven scoreless innings produced just a single. The Indians swung aggressively, lending outs early in the count and McCullers the ability to mix his three pitches liberally.