CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Guardians had their chances to score in the eighth and ninth innings but were held to only two runs on three hits in the series opener against Houston. The Astros scored five runs on 13 hits on a rainy night at Progressive Field.
The Guardians have now lost seven of their last 10 games to the Astros. Cleveland hasn’t won a season series against Houston since 2017. Friday’s win marked the first time in club history that Houston struck out 13 times, left 12 runners on base, and still won in a nine-inning contest.
Astros starter Ronel Blanco pitched five innings in the series opener. He held Cleveland’s offense hitless until Will Brennan hit a two-out single in the fifth inning. The Astros improved to 20-9 this season with Blanco on the mound.
The Guardians were close to scoring in the eighth inning when Spencer Arrighetti walked three batters, but Bryan Abreu came in to clean up the mess by striking out Kyle Manzardo and Jose Ramirez. The only other hits by the Guardians came in the ninth inning on a single by Lane Thomas and an RBI double by David Fry.
It was the top of Houston’s lineup that did most of the damage. Jose Altuve, Kyle Tucker, and Alex Bregman combined for eight hits, two runs scored, and two RBI.
Houston hit back-to-back home runs off Eli Morgan in the fifth inning. Victor Caratini and Zach Dezenzo each hit homers on 1-2 offspeed pitches. It was Dezenzo’s second career major league homer out of Ohio State. It’s the seventh time that the Guardians have given up back-to-back homers this season.
Morgan entered the game following 3.2 innings pitched by Joey Cantillo. In his ninth career major league start, Cantillo gave up three runs on six hits, walked two batters, and recorded seven strikeouts.
“I thought he threw the ball pretty well overall,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “They made him work. I think they had a good plan against him. They took the changeup away from him early. He did a good job dodging damage for the most part and just unfortunately ran out of pitches.”
Cantillo will finish his regular season with a 2-4 record and a 4.89 ERA. His 10.24 SO/9.0IP ratio is the fourth highest by a rookie in club history. It remains to be seen if the southpaw will pitch in the postseason, as he’s been in the rotation while Alex Cobb heals a right-hand blister on the injured list.
“I think I’ll just be ready to throw whenever they ask me to throw,” Cantillo said. “I think everyone in there is trying to be ready for whenever their name is called, whatever capacity that is. You gotta be ready to go.”
34,149 fans were in attendance for the rainy series opener. It marked the 14th sellout of the year, the most in a single season since 2001. It’s the first time since 2017 that Cleveland has had two million fans visit Progressive Field in a season.
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Aside from Jose Altuve’s strikeout in the eighth inning, the fans were loudest when Jose Ramirez nearly hit his 39th homer of the season.
Ramirez flew out to right field in the sixth inning, but the ball came feet away from reaching the bleachers. He’ll have to hit two homers in the final two games of the year to become the first Cleveland player to have a 40/40 season.
The 5-2 loss snapped a four-game home winning streak for Cleveland. The Guardians still own an American League-best 50-29 record at home this year.
The Guardians and Astros continue their weekend series on Saturday. Ben Lively (13-9, 3.80 ERA) will make his first career start against Houston. Justin Verlander (4-6, 5.55 ERA) will pitch for the Astros. Verlander has a record of 23-24 with a 4.41 ERA in 56 career appearances against Cleveland.