Astros Moving On To ALCS After Sweep Of Indians
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
A mentality to grind and grind away has become synonymous throughout the Houston Astros clubhouse.
Staying true to their identity, they took a step towards their ultimate goal vs an Indians team wishing they could have one inning back.
The Houston Astros defeated the Cleveland Indians 11-3 on Monday at Progressive Field in Game 3 of the ALDS to win the series 3-0 and advance to the ALCS.
It took a while, but the Houston Astros would chip away at the Indians before breaking them in Game 3 to book their reservations for the next round.
Houston Astros’ center fielder George Springer would hit two home runs and left fielder Marwin Gonzalez would put the Astros up in the seventh before pulling away late.
Springer, who won the World Series MVP last season vs the Los Angeles Dodgers for his 5 HR World Series performance, set a new Houston Astros franchise-record with his two home runs on Monday as he now has 10 career postseason home runs.
A.J. Hinch’s team brought their bats and broomsticks with them to Progressive Field as Houston recorded 13 hits while going 6-for-15 with RISP.
Dallas Keuchel, taking the ball for Game 3 at Progressive Field, would give the Astros a stellar performance. The former AL Cy Young winner would allow two runs on four hits and one walk while striking out two over five innings.
Collin McHugh (1-0) would pick up the win out of the bullpen as he shutdown the Indians lineup over two innings, allowing no hits while striking out four.
The ALDS sweep gives the Houston Astros their first postseason sweep in franchise history.
The Cleveland Indians offense would continue to struggle to get anything of note done against Houston’s pitching staff and bullpen as they failed to put pressure on Houston’s explosive offense.
Cleveland would go 0-for-3 with RISP, leaving four men on base as they were mostly outmatched on the day by the superior Astros.
Mike Clevinger, making his first career postseason start, would dazzle vs the Indians potent lineup to begin the game.
Clevinger with the home crowd behind him would strike out four batters over the first two innings, leaning on his curveball to get the job done.
He would encounter trouble in the third inning as a single, walk and hit batsman would result in the bases being loaded with one out. The 27-year-old would strikeout first baseman Yuli Gurriel before getting utility man Marwin Gonzalez to fly out to left to end the inning.
The Indians would get on the board first with a run with one out in the third inning after a RBI sacrifice fly by Michael Brantley off Dallas Keuchel gave them a 1-0 lead.
It wouldn’t last long as the Astros would tie the game at 1-1 on a George Springer home run off Mike Clevinger in the fifth inning.
In need of an answer, Francisco Lindor would provide one as the star shortstop smoked a home run off Dallas Keuchel in the fifth inning to give the Cleveland Indians a 2-1 lead.
With Clevinger exiting the game after 99 pitches, the Indians would go to right-hander Trevor Bauer. Bauer would strand a runner at first with by inducing a pop up by Carlos Correa before striking out catcher Brian McCann to end the inning.
The seventh inning would be a rough one for Indians’ right-hander Trevor Bauer, and put a wrench in Cleveland’s plans to extend their season.
It would be a inning in which Trevor Bauer would commit two costly throwing errors that led to a runner (Tony Kemp) advancing to second base with no outs and another that would turn a play that should’ve led to two outs leading to none.
Making a throw to second base to Francisco Lindor after the Astros had tied the game at 2-2, Bauer’s throw would pull Lindor off the bag and Lindor would be unable to throw out Bregman — who grounded out with one out in the inning — at first base. The costly error would lead to a bases loaded opportunity for Marwin Gonzalez, Game 2’s hero for the Astros.
After getting a 3-1 count, Gonzalez would hit a high fastball out of the zone down the line to left field that would fall for a base hit. It would be a two-run double for Gonzalez, who for the second straight game haunted Cleveland as the Astros now led 4-2.
That lead would balloon to 10-2 in the eighth inning as George Springer and Carlos Correa both homered in a six-run inning as Indians fans started making their ways to the parking lot in a attempt to beat traffic.
Terry Francona stuck with his right-hander Trevor Bauer in the midst of a troubling inning that saw him allow a leadoff single, commit two errors and load the bases with a walk.
With Cleveland’s bullpen woes being what they are, it’s hard to question that decision by Francona, but Bauer’s inability to get out of the inning with no damage done was a fatal blow to Cleveland’s season, which ended with a whimper courtesy of Houston’s explosion late.
Mike Clevinger would give the Cleveland Indians a strong performance in Game 3 of the ALDS. Clevinger would allow only one run on three hits and three walks while striking out nine over five innings.
It was a season in which the Indians dominated the AL Central with a 49-27 mark, but were mostly inconsistent vs non-divisional opponents.
After reaching the World Series back in 2016, the team takes a step back despite a third consecutive division title as they have been swept from the postseason for the first time in the Terry Francona era.
The Houston Astros showed the Cleveland Indians that there’s a difference between playoff caliber teams and championship teams in the ALDS.
Winning in every facet of the game — hitting, pitching, defense — is what won the Houston Astros this series as they outscored the Cleveland 21-6 and out-hit them 34-12.
A.J. Hinch’s team dominance over the Indians was a continuation of what we had seen throughout the regular-season when they finished the season with a run differential of +263, best in the major leagues.
They finished the regular-season with the best starting pitching and bullpen ERA in the MLB and their offense has not waned from the offense we saw a year ago despite injuries throughout the year.
It’s the Houston Astros, hungry to repeat as MLB world champions this postseason and are not resting on their laurels.
What are your thoughts on the Houston Astros advancing to the ALCS? Leave your comments below!